Hindu Law and Custom (Recht und Sitte) c7.487

c7.487

There is an unmistakable similarity between the polyandry of the Sanskrit literature and that of the present day, which, as Sir R. West remarks, is much more common than is generally believed¹. Thus in Kumāon group-marriage is practised among the Brahmans as well as among the Śūdras and Rajputs,² in this particular form that all the brothers marry only one woman like the Pāṇḍavas and the children belong to the eldest living brother³. This form of polyandry is in evidence also among the hill tribes of the Punjab but the children are divided among the brothers as in Sedrāj, Lahoul and Spiti. It is said that poverty and the desire of keeping the family property undivided are the causes of this polyandry (as also in the case of the polyandry of the ancient Spartans)⁵. Similar customs are, in general, widely prevalent in the Himalayas⁴. It is alleged that among the Jats of the Punjab the wife of the eldest brother has often to accept the younger brothers as consorts, because they have no means to meet the expences of a marriage⁵. There are similar reports about the people of the opposite extremity of India¹. The Nairs of northern Kanara have gradually given up their infamous polyandry only under British rule. Among the Thiyens the legitimate wife of one brother is the wife of all. The women of the Tottiyars and Vellars of Madura have sexual connection with the brothers and other near relations of their husbands. Also among the Todas of the Nilgiris the wife is the common property of all the brothers. Other polyandrous tribes and castes exist principally in Cochin, Travancore and Malabar. About group-marriage in Ceylon see § 13.