Essay on the distribution, causes, advantages and disadvantages of polyandry in India

Polyandry

Marriage is normally of two types – monogamy and polygamy. Polygamy again has been classified into – polygyny and polyandry. In polygyny a male marries several females. In polyandry on the other hand, a female marries several males at the same time.

The custom of polyandry is found among the Khasi tribes of district Dehra Dun, Tiyan, Kurumb, Kot of Kerala and the Toda tribe of Nilgiri. Martin has mentioned its prevalence in Oraon tribe and Maine has mentioned it in the case of Santhals.

This custom is also found among the Nayars of South India. It is also found in Laddakh, Kangra, Chamba, Kullu and Mandi.

Types of polyandry.

The custom of polyandry has been divided into following two types:

1. Adelphic or fraternal polyandry

In this type of polyandry a woman marries all the brothers of her husband. Such is the custom found in the Khasi tribe of district Dehra Dun, which has been elaborately described by D. N. Majumdar and R.N. Saxena. In this tribe, while the elder brother marries a woman, she is considered to be the wife of all his brothers.

No younger brother is allowed to marry any other woman. If at the time of marriage any younger brother is a minor or he is born after marriage he is considered to be the husband of the woman after he becomes adult. But if a younger brother marries any other woman after being an adult the elder brother has an equal right over his wife also.

In the Khasi tribe though the woman is considered to be the wife of all brothers, the eldest brother has special rights over her. She cannot refuse to cohabit with him, failing which she can be divorced.

It the eldest brother asks her not to cohabit with any other brother, she has to follow his command. If the other brothers quarrel over this issue only the elder brother has a right to allow for the dissolution of the marriage. If the woman has got any child prior to marriage, the eldest brother has the sole rights over the child.

In Khasi tribe, the paternity is decided by a social ceremony According to Dr. Majumdar if there are three brothers in family, the children will call them by the names of Bari Baba, Dangar Baba and BhediBaba respectively. According to Frazer the eldest brother is considered to be the father of the eldest son, the youngest brother that of the youngest son and so in the case of other children.

The eldest brother is the head of the family. He has the sole rights over the house, fields, gardens, cattle and grain, etc. He is the highest authority concerning the matters of women and children. In the case of division of property, he is given the biggest share and the wife and children stay with him.

The children, however, have a right in the property of all the fathers. In these people if it is desired to marry more than one woman, generally this other woman is the sister of the first wife. This is done to ensure the peace of the family. The Khasi tribe is patriarchal. The system of polyandry in it is consequently known as patriarchal polyandry.

2. Non-fraternal polyandry

In this type of polyandry, as is clear by its name, the husbands of a woman need not have fraternal relationship among themselves. Thus the woman can also choose her husband from the males other than her husband’s brothers. She successively lives in the houses of her different husbands, and while she is staying with some one, the other husbands have no right over her.

Non-fraternal polyandry is also known as matriarchal polyandry because in it the woman has all the rights of property and otherwise. The example of non-fraternal polyandry in India can be found among the Nayars of Malabar.

According to Aiyappan, this custom is also found in langu tribe. Among the Nayars the girl stays with her family even after marriage and visits her husbands from time to time or allows them to visit her sometimes.

Sometimes the man has no relation with the wife after a certain period and the girl maintains sex relationships with several boys while living with her parents. The husbands have no right over the children or the property of the wife.

Characteristics of Polyandry

The following are the important characteristics of polyandry found in Indian tribes:

1. A woman can marry more than one husband.

2. The several husbands of a woman may be brothers or may not be so.

3. Though every husband has got right over the woman the eldest brother has the maximum right.

4. If there is more than one woman in the family every brother is free to enter in sexual relationships with any one of them.

5. The eldest brother or the first husband has maximum rights over the property and children.

6. In matrilineal families the woman herself selects the husbands and lives with them successively. But while she is living with some one husband, the others have no right over her.

7. Bothmen and women haveequal rights of dissolvingthe marriage through divorce.

Causes of Polyandry

Normally, the following are the two important causes of prevalence of polyandry.

1. Poverty

In Laddakh where the custom of polyandry is found, its cause is poverty. It is seen that when a person gathers sufficient amount of money, he prefers to marry a woman and lives separately from his house. According to Sumner, in Tibet, where agriculture products are insufficient, several males together keep a woman. According to Lowie among Chinese several males together use a woman and meet her demands. According to R.N. Saxena, the Jaunsari woman is herself anxious to have several husbands because a single person cannot earn sufficient money to meet her demands.

2. Scarcity of women

According to Westermarck, an important cause of polyandry is the scarcity of women. For example, among the Todas of Nilgiri, the number of women is much less in comparison with that of men and therefore polyandry is the normal custom. Now, with the increase ofthe number of women due to legal check on murders of daughters, the custom of polyanday is gradually diminishing.

This reason advanced by Westermarck may be true in some cases, but as has been rightly shown by Robert Briffalt, polyandry can be prevalent even where there is no scarcity of women. For example, there is no appreciable difference in the number of males and females in Lahaul, Sikkim, Tibet and Laddakh and yet the custom of polyandry is prevalent there. It can be, however, safely admitted that scarcity of women though not the sole cause of polyandry, is an important cause of it,

Disadvantages of Polyandry

The custom of polyandry is very much defective and therefore, it is gradually diminishing. The following are its important disadvantages:

1. It injures the health of women who develop many viral diseases because of sexual intercourse with several males.

2. According to some thinkers this custom encourages barrenness among women.

3. In the long run polyandry leads to population problems.

4. According to some thinkers in polyandrous marriages there is more likelihood of the birth of sons and therefore, the cycle of polyandry never ends.

5. Polyandry increases the number of divorces.

Thus the custom of polyandry does not fulfill the psychological and spiritual requirements of a marital relationships. It is not even a sufficiently legal contract. In the words of Westermarck, “The polyandrous unions of the Nayars can hardly be called marriages even from a non-legal point of view, considering that they were of the lowest and most fugitive character, that the male partners never lived with the woman and that according to some accounts the duties of fatherhood were entirely ignored.” Polyandry, however, cannot be eliminated without the elimination of poverty.