Page 96 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Sociology of Kinship

Notes 5. Polyandry is also practiced to prevent the partition of the property. If all brothers marry
separately then the property will be distributed among them and their children. On the
other hand, if all brothers live with one woman in a family, then the property will also re-
main common.
6. Geographical Conditions: Where Toda and Khas people live, there is a lack of agricultural
land and the whole province is hilly and stony. Thus, they have to struggle strongly with
the nature in which a lonely person feels himself helpless. Thus all the brothers unite to
maintain their wife and children.
7. Religious Reason: Khas people believe them successor of Pandavas. Thus they also practice
the custom of “Draupadi Vivah”.
In this way, polyandry is a result of different Geographic, Religious, population and Economic
Reasons.

Consequences of Polyandry

Several consequences of polyandry has came forward. Its main merits and demerits are as
following:

Merits

(1) Fewer children born due to polyandry. Thus this marriage helps in making an ideal fam-
ily and in limiting the population. (2) The property remains intact due to such marriage. Thus
agricultural land is prevented from being pieced due to no partitioned. (3) Polyandry prevents
the partition and defragmentation of the family, due to this unity of the family is maintained.
(4) Due to such marriage, the family gets cooperation in fulfilling its all needs as well as in per-
forming economical activities. As well as it also helps to struggle with nature in a united way.

Demerits
(1) This type of marriage leads to infertility in females. Due to which biotic factor it happens is
unknown yet. But it as a fact that the population of polyandrous society is declining day by day
and a time may come when it will be completely eliminated. (2) In polyandry more boys are
born in comparison to girls. Thus sexual imbalance is produced automatically; as a result poly-
andry custom runs steadily. (3) In polyandry a woman has to make sexual relation with many
men which leads to sexual diseases and the health of the woman falls. (4) In the societies of such
marriage, due to more sexual liberty to woman, sexual immorality increases.

(b) Polygyny

One form of polygamy is polygyny also in which one male marries more than one female.
Kapadia believes that in India polygyny was popular from Vedic Period to modern period. In
ancient period, in India Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vashiya and Shudra four categories were found.
Except Shudras, the three categories were permitted to marry a girl of its lower category in
addition to his category. In this way Brahmin can marry a girl of four categories, Kshtriya with
three categories and Vaishya with two categories. It is said that scriptures Manu had ten wives
and Yagyavalkya had two wives. The view of Altekar is that polygyny custom was common
among rich, rulers and noble class people. Two forms of polygyny are also found-Restricted
and Unrestricted. In restricted polygyny second marriage is permitted after the death of the first
wife. In unrestricted polygyny a male can marry again in situation of the infertility of wife or to
increase his status in the society.
In Indian religious books, second marriage is permitted in the situation of no child but to keep
more than one wife is not considered suitable normally. Manu, Kautilya and Apastambha etc.

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