Social Life in Ancient India: Studies in Vatsyayana's Kamasutra c6.108

c6.108

The boundaries of this country as given by the Chinese pilgrim show that it lay near to the Tibetan frontier and it is seen from his account that there was a so called king of the country who was rather the Prince consort, and probably Mahārāja Sugāla, the Strīrājyādhipati of the Mahābhārata was one such king by courtesy. We have no reason to think that this Strīrājya was entirely mythical because we find that Strīrāj or polyandry is still prevalent about these regions, specially in the higher Himalayas. Thus we read in the Census Report,² "Polyandry or the custom of a woman having more husbands than one at one time, is peculiar to the Himalayas. It exists in the Kulu sub-division, the Bashahr state (Simla Hill States) and to a smaller extent in the Nahan, Mandi and Suket states." Again we have here, "Polyandry is confined to the upper Himalayas—i.e. Spiti, Lahul and Siraj in Kulu; Chamba Lahul in Chamba, Siraj in Mandi, Rampur, Chini (including Kavawar) and the upper minor states in Bashahar (State) and the Transgiri part of the Nahan State."³ Similar customs are also prevalent among the Brahmans and Rajputs in Kumaon.¹