History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c28.s1.1.3

v2.c28.s1.1.3

Bṛhaspati first referred to the practice of marrying a maternal uncle's daughter as prevalent amongst the southerners (dākṣiṇātyas) in his day and then adds that a practice of giving a girl to the family is in vogue in other countries. So he clearly means countries other than those of the dākṣiṇātyas. Prof. Keith appears to follow Dr. Jolly without any independent examination of the original passage (in E. R. E. vol. 8 on marriage, p. 453). Just as Bṛhaspati refers to the Pārasīkas, he speaks of polyandry as current among other countries (but not Aryan India). There are two types of polyandry,¹²⁸⁸ one matriarchal (where a woman forms simultaneous alliances with two or more men who are not necessarily relations of each other and therefore succession is traced through the female) and the other fraternal, where a woman becomes the wife of several brothers. The former practice once prevailed among the Nairs on the Malabar coast, but it has now died out. The latter form of polyandry is still to some extent found in Kumaon, Garhwal and among peoples in the Himalayan area up to Assam.¹²⁸⁹ Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji (I. A. vol. 8, p. 88) says that in Kumaun between the Tons and Jumna river about Kalsi, Rajputs, brāhmaṇas and śūdras all practise polyandry and the children are attributed to the eldest brother who is alive. Nīlakaṇṭha,¹²⁹⁰ the commentator of the Mahābhārata, raises (on Ādiparva 104.