bridewealth

Goods or property presented by a man's family to his prospective wife's family as part of the marriage agreement. It is common practice among many societies in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, and some American Indian groups. In most European and South Asian countries the alternative custom is dowry.

Bridewealth is sometimes regarded as compensation to the woman's family for the loss of her productive labour, and it usually means that the children she bears will belong to her husband's family group rather than her own. It may require a large amount of valuables such as livestock, shell items, and, increasingly, cash.

Bridewealth creates webs of obligation since it must often be raised by the groom's relatives and friends, and it may function to cement alliances between kin groups (often accompanied by economic and political cooperation). It also enables the bride's family to repay debts and to marry off their own sons, and it ensures the stability of the marriage because it usually must be repaid in the case of divorce.

Western colonizers created an inflation of bridewealth by introducing cheap manufactured goods – for example, cloth, steel axes, and glass beads – thereby upsetting the delicate balance of indigenous economies and relationships.