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Polyandry in India refers to the practice of polyandry, whereby a woman has two or more husbands at the same time, either historically on the Indian subcontinent or currently in the country of India. An early example can be found in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, in which Draupadi, daughter of the king of Panchala, is married to five brothers.[1]
Polyandry was mainly prevalent in the Kinnaur Region, a part of Himachal in India which is close to the Tibet or currently the Indo-China border. As mentioned in the epic Mahabharata, the Pandavas were banished from their kingdom for thirteen years and they spent the last year hiding in this hilly terrain of Kinnaur. Some Kinaauris claim that this practice has been inherited from the Pandavas, who they identify as their ancestors [citation needed]. The Garhwali people similarly identify their practice of polyandry with their descent from the Pandavas.
Polyandry is also seen in South India among the Todas tribes of Nilgiris, Nanjanad Vellala of Travancore.[2] While polyandrous unions have disappeared from the traditions of many of the groups and tribes, it is still practiced by some Paharis, especially in the Jaunsar-Bawar region in Northern India.
Recent years have seen the rise in fraternal polyandry in the agrarian societies in Malwa region of Punjab to avoid division of farming land.[3]
- ^ Samuelson, James (1890). India, Past and Present, Historical, Social, and Political. London: Trübner & Co. pp. 18, 20, 46, 47. Retrieved 6 September 2018 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Lakshmi Raghunandan. At the Turn of the Tide: The Life and Times of Maharani Setu Lakshmi Bayi, the Last Queen of Travancore, 1995. p. 185.
- ^ "Draupadis bloom in rural Punjab" The Times of India. 16 July 2005.