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Dowry is one of the most serious problems touching women's lives in modern India. Yet, it remains the least explored subject of historical study. Taking dowry as a crucial index for women's status, Ranjana Sheel locates it within a broad historical framework and a feminist perspective viewing it not as a static custom but as a product of changing political, economic and social processes to comprehend its present shape as well as various dimensions. In doing so, the study raises the questions: how integral was dowry to the ancient prevalent marriage forms? How far was it legitimized by a tradition or traditions? What were its linkages with property and inheritance structures? And how did it become so pervasive over time? Marriage in pre-modern times took varied forms. Dowry or voluntary gift-giving was particularly linked to Brahma form of marriage which was prevalent mostly among the propertied and the upper castes. The modern form of dowry with its forced demands for gift-giving, the author argues, emanates from the colonial reinvention of a tradition whereby patriarchal Hindu tradition and customs were selectively appropriated and deployed. Simultaneously, the colonial restructuring of the socio-economic order strengthened the process of Brahmanization that in effect institutionalized and expanded dowry to other classes and castes of the society. The consequent unprecedented reach of dowry over Indian society provoked divergent responses from both national and regional women's groups and the state. It built up a strong women's movement. The state, however, failed to contain dowry primarily because its enactment eventuated from a patriarchal structure and ideology with its specific articulation of property, marriage, and gender issues. The study thus skilfully links complex historical developments with the entrenchment of dowry practices in modern India.