Polyandrous societies in india

POLYANDROUS SOCIETIES IN INDIA
RELEVANCE AND STATUS
GENDER,SCHOOL AND SOCIETY

1. POLYANDROUS SOCIETIES IN INDIA : RELEVANCE AND STATUS Course title : GENDER,SCHOOL AND SOCIETY . Course Code : B.ed 210 (4 th Semester) BY : TIRU GOEL Roll number : 07314902117

2. MEANING : Poly means ‘many’ and ‘ andry ’ means husbands . Polyandry type of marriage is one where a woman marries more than one man at a time . In the broadest sense , Polyandry refers to sexual relations with multiple men within or without marriage. The classic example is found in our epic – Mahabharata in which DRAUPADI- daughter of king Panchala is married to five brothers.

3. CAUS ES OF POLYANDRY SOCIETY Polyandry is more likely in societies with scarce environmental resources It is believed to limit human population growth and enhance child survival It is a rare form of marriage that exist more in peasant families of India The eldest brother is superior to other husbands and has the right of children to take

4. People practicing it believe that allows family land to remain intact and undivided Both men and women have equal right to end the marriage Traditionally , It is based on the principles of joint family and distribution of family burden

5. TYPES OF POLYANDROUS MARRIAGE : FRATERNAL POLYANDRY : It is when the woman is married two or more brothers of the same family. The children in this case would be off-springs of the eldest brother. This type of marriage is practiced in Tibet , Laddakh , Assam .

6. NON-FRATERNAL POLYANDRY : It is when women marry multiple men but they are not from one single family or are brothers . In case of children , a special ritual is arranged and the parents of the children are selected in this type of marriage This type of marriage was practiced in Arab before the prophet.

7. RELEVANCE OF POLYANDRY TODAY: KINNAUR Many villages in this district of Himachal Pradesh practice fraternal polyandry . People use paternity tests using DNA to resolve inheritance disputes in this region The rules of breaking the marriage are strict and a brother going against them is out casted while losing his share in the property

8. TODA Tribal people living in Nilgiri hills in South India practice a form of polyandry which is considered classic as it is a mix of both f raternal and sequential polyandry  A Toda woman when married is automatically married to her husband's brothers . When the wife became pregnant, one husband would give a bow and arrow to the wife, and would be the father of that child. When the next child arrived, another husband would perform the ceremony and become the father

9. JAUNSAR - BAWAR A distinct group of people called  Paharis  live in the lower ranges of Himalayas in Northern India practice Polyandry. The practice is believed to have descended from their ancestors who had earlier settled down in the plains from Himalayas. Polyandrous union occurs in this region when a woman marries the eldest son in a family. The woman automatically becomes the wife of all his brothers upon her marriage. The brothers can be married to more than one woman if the age difference of the brothers were large. The wife is shared equally by all brothers and no one in the group has exclusive right on the wife. The woman considers all the men in the group her husband and the children recognise them all as their father.

10. OTHER POLYANDROUS SOCIETIES : Fraternal polyandry exists among the Khasa of Dehradun ; and among the  Gallong  and  Memba  of Arunachal Pradesh, the Mala Madessar , the  Mavilan etc. of Kerala. Non-fraternal polyandry exists among the  Karvazhi ,  Pulaya ,  Muthuvan , and  Mannan in Kerala. In the 1911 Census of India, E.A. Gait mentions polyandry of the Tibetans,  Bhotias ,  Kanets  of Kulu valley, people of state of  Bashahr ,   Thakkars  and Megs of Kashmir ,  Gonds of Central provinces   Todas and  Kurumbas  of  Nilgiris ,  Kallars  of Madurai ,   Tolkolans  of Malabar,  Ishavans ,  Kaniyans  and  Kammalans  of Cochin,  Muduvas  of Travancore and of Nairs . [

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