TIV MARRIAGE SYSTEM BEFORE 1914

This study examines the Tiv marriage system before 1914 as a central socio-cultural institution deeply embedded in the people’s lineage-based organization, religious worldview, and economic life. It analyses the decentralized nature of pre-colonial Tiv society and demonstrates how marriage functioned beyond a personal union to serve as a mechanism for lineage continuity, alliance formation, social regulation, and spiritual balance. The work explores the evolution and conduct of major traditional marriage forms including exchange marriage (yamshe), marriage by capture (iye), kem (bridewealth) marriage, companionship unions, marriage by purchase, and elopement, highlighting their origins, processes, and social significance. It further underscores the role of elders, kinship networks, akombo rituals, and tsav in regulating marital relations and maintaining communal harmony. The study argues that Tiv marriage practices before colonial rule were systematic, adaptive, and reflective of a sophisticated indigenous social organization, contrary to earlier colonial misinterpretations.