The Institute of the Mari Ethnos Family in the XVIII-XIX Centuries

This article is devoted to the analysis of the norms of a customary law of the Mari peasants in the XVIII-XIX centuries, which are regulating the institute of the matrimonial relations. During this period the regulation of the legal relations between the rural population was carried out on the basis of official laws. The process of registration of the Russian legislation was happened with the help of certain influence of a customary law and allowed an application in legal proceedings of local legal customs. It allows to create an idea of the family rights of the people of the Mari region, who were under the influence of the Russian legislation, which was entered after accession of the territory of Central Volga area to the Russian state in the middle of the XVI century. We investigate the legal awareness of Mari peasants, the role of the customary law in the form of law-making community and its institutes. It is making the conclusion about the value of the rural community containing rich actual material about the real life of the Mari village of the Volga region.