ABSTRACT
The South Asian gift economy is fundamentally linked to the reproduction of a hierarchical caste system and may be typified as a 'hierarchical' gift economy, in contrast to gift economies based on the exchange of women, the inalienability of land and incremental or competitive gift exchange between equals. Key ceremonial gifts may be regarded as metonymic exchanges of substance between groups or persons who regard themselves as sharing substance in some respect. Marriage constitutes the nexus of the Punjabi Muslim gift economy. It is the beginning and culmination of all gifting. The Pakistani bride, like all South Asian brides, is regarded as a wonderful, marvellous gift, and she must therefore leave her natal home bedecked in precious jewellery, a queen or a goddess. The daughter given as a bride is a 'pure gift' and as such a representative of a species disassociated from her natal family status.
