ABSTRACT
Court cases dealing with the validity of a “Christian marriage,” as with cases involving inheritance, illustrate the role of the Indian judiciary in defining religious boundaries. Efforts to define a valid “Christian marriage” were complicated by the fact that Christians participated in multiple sets of social relationships, crossing lines of caste, vocation and church affiliation. Village Christians often married members of their own caste, who were not necessarily Christian. How would courts assess the validity of such “mixed marriages,” involving only one Christian partner?1 The Madras High Court’s decisions in such cases further isolated Christians from the customs and usages of “Hindu caste society.” By constructing a Christian community around a single law of marriage for Christians within all of British India, the courts bifurcated “Hindu” and “Christian” identities.
