WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
love between brother and sister is a deeper and enduring emotion.
Reclus states that the Brahmins tried to suppress the marriage custom of the Nairs. Nowadays the Kouline Brahmins perform for the Nair women an amorous rite, their services being in great request among the maidens of low caste. In other parts of India the priest is solicited for this consecration, notably in Burma. By this means, according to Reclus, the Brahmins hold religious sway over the Nairs, who refuse, however, to accept their political rule.
"Proud and haughty warrior though he be, the Nair cheerfully obeys his mother, assisted by his uncle, and seconded by his eldest sister; the trio manage the common property, and he who participates in it renders them an account of his exploits and achievements."[1]
The Todas of the Neilgherries practise a mixed polyandry and polygamy. "Each wife had several husbands, all brothers, and each husband several wives, all sisters. Later, three men made shift with two girls, or five with three." Polyandry appears to be waning rapidly among the Todas, and Reclus says that every well-to-do man in the tribe desires a wife of his own.
Among the Rajputs women have a notably high
- ↑ "Primitive Folk."
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