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Polyandry (; ) is a form of
polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with
polygyny Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any o ...
, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives" participants of each gender, then it can be called polygamy, group or conjoint marriage. In its broadest use, polyandry refers to sexual relations with multiple males within or without marriage. Of the 1,231 societies listed in the 1980 Ethnographic Atlas, 186 were found to be monogamous, 453 had occasional polygyny, 588 had more frequent polygyny, and 4 had polyandry.''Ethnographic Atlas Codebook''
derived from George P. Murdock's ''Ethnographic Atlas'' recording the marital composition of 1,231 societies from 1960 to 1980.
Polyandry is less rare than this figure suggests, as it considered only those examples found in the Himalayan mountains (28 societies). More recent studies have found more than 50 other societies practicing polyandry. Fraternal polyandry is practiced among
Tibetans The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans liv ...
in
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
and parts of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, in which two or more brothers are married to the same wife, with the wife having equal "sexual access" to them.Gielen, U. P. (1993). Gender Roles in traditional Tibetan cultures. In L. L. Adler (Ed.), ''International handbook on gender roles'' (pp. 413–437). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. It is associated with '' partible paternity'', the cultural belief that a child can have more than one father. Several ethnic groups practicing polyandry in India identify their customs with their descent from
Draupadi Draupadi ( sa, द्रौपदी, draupadī, Daughter of Drupada), also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali, and Yagyaseni, is the main female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata,'' and the common consort of the five Pandava brothers ...
, a central character of the Mahabharta who was married to five brothers, although local practices may not be fraternal themselves. Polyandry is believed to be more likely in societies with scarce environmental resources. It is believed to limit human population growth and enhance child survival.(Linda Stone, ''Kinship and Gender'', 2006, Westview, 3rd ed., ch. 6
The Center for Research on Tibet
Papers on Tibetan Marriage and Polyandry (accessed October 1, 2006).
It is a rare form of marriage that exists not only among peasant families but also among the elite families. For example, polyandry in the Himalayan mountains is related to the scarcity of land. The marriage of all brothers in a family to the same wife allows family land to remain intact and undivided. If every brother married separately and had children, family land would be split into unsustainable small plots. In contrast, very poor persons not owning land were less likely to practice polyandry in Buddhist
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...
and
Zanskar Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is a tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum (former Capital of Zanskar). Zanskar, together with the neighboring region of Ladakh, was brie ...
. In Europe, the splitting up of land was prevented through the social practice of impartible inheritance. With most siblings disinherited, many of them became celibate monks and priests. Polyandrous mating systems are also a common phenomenon in the animal kingdom.


Types


Successional polyandry

Unlike fraternal polyandry where a woman will receive a number of husbands simultaneously, in successional polyandry a woman will acquire one husband after another in sequence. This form is flexible. These men may or may not be related. And it may or may not incorporate a hierarchical system, where one husband is considered ''primary'' and may be allotted certain rights or privileges not awarded to secondary husbands, such as biologically fathering a child. In cases where one husband has a primary role, the ''secondary'' husbands have the power to succeed the primary if he were to become severely ill or be away from the home for a long period of time or is otherwise rendered incapable of fulfilling his husbandly duties. Successional polyandry can likewise be egalitarian, where all husbands are equal in status and receive the same rights and privileges. In this system, each husband will have a wedding ceremony and share the paternity of whatever children she may bear.


Associated polyandry

Another form of polyandry is a combination of polyandry and polygyny; whereas women are married to several men simultaneously and the same men may marry other women. It is found in some tribes of native Africa as well as villages in northern Nigeria and the northern Cameroons. Usually, one of the woman's husbands will be chosen to be the husband of a woman from another tribe who would also have many husbands; this double-polyandrous union serves to form a marital alliance between tribes. ''Other Classifications: Equal polygamy, Polygynandry'' The system results in less land fragmentation, and a diversification of domestic activities.


Fraternal polyandry

Fraternal polyandry (from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''frater''—brother), also called adelphic polyandry (from the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
'—brother), is a form of polyandry in which a woman is married to two or more men who are brothers. Fraternal polyandry was (and sometimes still is) found in certain areas of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
,
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
, and Northern India, as well as some central African cultures where polyandry was accepted as a social practice.Levine, Nancy, ''The Dynamics of Polyandry: Kinship, domesticity and population on the Tibetan border'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988. The
Toda people Toda people are a Dravidian ethnic group who live in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu. Before the 18th century and British colonisation, the Toda coexisted locally with other ethnic communities, including the Kota, Badaga and Kurumba, in a ...
of southern
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
practice fraternal polyandry, but monogamy has become prevalent recently. In contemporary Hindu society, polyandrous marriages in
agrarian societies An agrarian society, or agricultural society, is any community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and farmland. Another way to define an agrarian society is by seeing how much of a nation's total production is in agriculture ...
in the
Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...
region of
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
seem to occur to avoid division of farming land. Fraternal polyandry achieves a similar goal to that of
primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
in 19th-century England. Primogeniture dictated that the eldest son inherited the family estate, while younger sons had to leave home and seek their own employment. Primogeniture maintained family estates intact over generations by permitting only one heir per generation. Fraternal polyandry also accomplishes this, but does so by keeping all the brothers together with just one wife so that there is only one set of heirs per generation. This strategy appears less successful the larger the fraternal sibling group is. Some forms of polyandry appear to be associated with a perceived need to retain
aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word's ...
titles or
agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...
s within kin groups, and/or because of the frequent absence, for long periods, of a man from the household. In Tibet the practice was particularly popular among the priestly
Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depic ...
class. The female equivalent of fraternal polyandry is
sororate marriage Sororate marriage is a type of marriage in which a husband engages in marriage or sexual relations with the sister of his wife, usually after the death of his wife or if his wife has proven infertile. The opposite is levirate marriage. From an a ...
.


Partible paternity

Anthropologist Stephen Beckerman points out that at least 20 tribal societies accept that a child could, and ideally should, have more than one father, referring to it as " partible paternity".Beckerman, S., Valentine, P., ''(eds)'' (2002) ''The Theory and Practice of Partible Paternity in South America,'' University Press of Florida This often results in the shared nurture of a child by multiple fathers in a form of polyandric relation to the mother, although this is not always the case. One of the most well known examples is that of
Trobriand The Trobriand Islands are a archipelago of coral atolls off the east coast of New Guinea. They are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea and are in Milne Bay Province. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main isla ...
"virgin birth". The matrilineal Trobriand Islanders recognize the importance of sex in reproduction but do not believe the male makes a contribution to the constitution of the child, who therefore remains attached to their mother's lineage alone. The mother's non-resident husbands are not recognized as fathers, although the mother's co-resident brothers are, since they are part of the mother's lineage.


Culture

According to inscriptions describing the reforms of the
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian king
Urukagina Uru-ka-gina, Uru-inim-gina, or Iri-ka-gina ( sux, ; 24th century BC, middle chronology) was King of the city-states of Lagash and Girsu in Mesopotamia, and the last ruler of the 1st Dynasty of Lagash. He assumed the title of king, claiming to ...
of
Lagash Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: ''Lagaš''), was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba) w ...
(ca. 2300 BC), the earlier custom of polyandry in his country was abolished, on pain of the woman taking multiple husbands being stoned with stones upon which her crime was written. An extreme gender imbalance has been suggested as a justification for polyandry. For example, the selective abortion of female children in India has led to a significant margin in
sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species devia ...
and, it has been suggested, results in related men "sharing" a wife.


Known cases

Polyandry in Tibet Polyandry is a marital arrangement in which a woman has several husbands. In Tibet, those husbands are often brothers; "fraternal polyandry". Concern over which children are fathered by which brother falls on the wife alone. She may or may not s ...
was a common practice and continues to a lesser extent today. A survey of 753 Tibetan families by
Tibet University Tibet University (UTibet; ) is a public university in Lhasa, Tibet, China. The university is one of China's key universities and the largest university in the Tibet Autonomous Region. With an internationally renowned department of Tibetan st ...
in 1988 found that 13% practiced polyandry. Polyandry in India still exists among minorities, and also in
Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
, and the northern parts of
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. Polyandry has been practised in several parts of India, such as
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
,
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...
and
Zanskar Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is a tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum (former Capital of Zanskar). Zanskar, together with the neighboring region of Ladakh, was brie ...
, in the
Jaunsar-Bawar Jaunsar-Bawar is a hilly region in Garhwal division of Uttarakhand, northern India. It is located in the north-west of Dehradun district, along the border with the state of Himachal Pradesh. Ethnically, Jaunsar-Bawar comprises two regions, inh ...
region in
Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
, among the Toda of
South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...
. It also occurs or has occurred in
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, the Nymba, Irigwe and some pre-contact Polynesian societies, though probably only among higher caste women. It is also encountered in some regions of Yunnan and Sichuan regions of China, among the Mosuo people in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(who also practice polygyny as well), and in some sub-Saharan African such as the
Maasai people The Maasai (; sw, Wamasai) are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best-known local populations internationally due to their residence near the many game parks of t ...
in
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
and northern
Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
and American indigenous communities. The
Guanches The Guanches were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean some west of Africa. It is believed that they may have arrived on the archipelago some time in the first millennium BCE. The Guanches were the only nativ ...
, the first known inhabitants of the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
, practiced polyandry until their disappearance. The Zo'e tribe in the state of
Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...
on the
Cuminapanema River The Cuminapanema River is a river of Pará state in north-central Brazil, a tributary of the Curuá River. The river basin lies partly within the Grão-Pará Ecological Station, the largest fully protected tropical forest conservation unit on t ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, also practice polyandry.


Africa

*In the Lake Region of Central Africa, "Polygyny ... was uncommon. Polyandry, on the other hand, was quite common." * Among the Irigwe of Northern Nigeria, women have traditionally acquired numerous spouses called "co-husbands". * In August 2013, two
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
n men entered into an agreement to marry a woman with whom they had both been having an affair. Kenyan law does not explicitly forbid polyandry, although it is not a common custom.


Asia

*In the reign of
Urukagina Uru-ka-gina, Uru-inim-gina, or Iri-ka-gina ( sux, ; 24th century BC, middle chronology) was King of the city-states of Lagash and Girsu in Mesopotamia, and the last ruler of the 1st Dynasty of Lagash. He assumed the title of king, claiming to ...
of Lagash, "Dyandry, the marriage of one woman to two men, is abolished." *M. Notovitck mentioned polyandry in
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...
or Little 'Tibet' in his record of his journey to Tibet. (" The Unknown life of Jesus Christ" by
Virchand Gandhi Virachand Raghavji Gandhi (25 August 1864 – 7 August 1901) was a Jain scholar who represented Jainism at the first World Parliament of Religions in 1893. A barrister by profession, he worked to defend the rights of Jains, and wrote and lectur ...
). *Polyandry was widely (and to some extent still is) practised in Lahaul-Spiti situated in isolation in the high Himalayas in India. *Prior to Islam, in Arabia (southern) "All the kindred have their property in common ...; all have one wife" whom they share. *The Hoa-tun ( Hephthalites, White Huns) "living to the north of the Great Wall ... practiced polyandry." Among the Hephthalites, "the practice of several husbands to one wife, or polyandry, was always the rule, which is agreed on by all commentators. That this was plain was evidenced by the custom among the women of wearing a hat containing a number of horns, one for each of the subsequent husbands, all of whom were also brothers to the husband. Indeed, if a husband had no natural brothers, he would adopt another man to be his brother so that he would be allowed to marry." *"Polyandry is very widespread among the Sherpas." *In Bhutan in 1914, polyandry was "the prevailing domestic custom". Nowadays polyandry is rare, but still found for instance among the Brokpas of the Merak-Sakten region. *In several villages in
Nyarixung Nyarixung (), also Nierixiong (), is a township of Samzhubzê District (Shigatse City), in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. At the time of the 2010 census, the township had a population of 5,119 and an area of . , it had 16 villages under its ...
Township, Xigaze, Tibet, up to 90% of families practiced polyandry in 2008. *Among the Gilyaks of Sakhalin Island "polyandry is also practiced." *Fraternal polyandry was permitted in Sri Lanka under Kandyan Marriage law, often described using the euphemism eka-ge-kama (literally "eating in one house"). Associated Polyandry, or polyandry that begins as monogamy, with the second husband entering the relationship later, is also practiced and is sometimes initiated by the wife. * Polyandry was common in Sri Lanka, until it was banned by the British in 1859.


Europe

*Reporting on the mating patterns in ancient
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, specifically
Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
,
Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
writes: "Thus if an older man with a young wife should take a liking to one of the well-bred young men and approve of him, he might well introduce him to her so as to fill her with noble sperm and then adopt the child as his own. Conversely a respectable man who admired someone else’s wife noted for her lovely children and her good sense, might gain the husband’s permission to sleep with her thereby planting in fruitful soil, so to speak, and producing fine children who would be linked to fine ancestors by blood and family." *"According to Julius Caesar, it was customary among the ancient Britons for brothers, and sometimes for fathers and sons, to have their wives in common." *"Polyandry prevailed among the Lacedaemonians according to Polybius." (Polybius vii.7.732, following Timæus) *"The matrons of Rome flocked in great crowds to the Senate, begging with tears and entreaties that one woman should be married to two men." *The gravestone of
Allia Potestas Allia Potestas was a freedwoman from the Roman town of Perugia who lived sometime during the 1st–4th centuries AD.Horsfall, N: ''CIL VI 37965 = CLE 1988 (Epitaph of Allia Potestas): A Commentary'', ZPE 61: 1985 She is known only through her epit ...
, a woman from
Perusia The ancient Perusia, now Perugia, first appears in history as one of the 12 confederate cities of Etruria. It is first mentioned in the account of the war of 310 or 309 BC between the Etruscans and the Romans. It took, however, an important par ...
, describes how she lived peacefully with two lovers, one of whom immortalized her in this famous epigraphic eulogy, dating (probably) from the second century.Horsfall, N:''CIL VI 37965 = CLE 1988 (Epitaph of Allia Potestas): A Commentary'', ZPE 61: 1985


North America

*
Aleut people The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between th ...
in the 19th century. * During the most abusive times of the slave economy in
Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
during the
Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...
, mortality was so high that women practised polyandry. *
Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...


Oceania

* Among the
Kanak The Kanak (French spelling until 1984: Canaque) are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. According to the 2019 census, the Kanak make up 41.2% of New Caledonia' ...
of
New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
, "every woman is the property of several husbands. It is this collection of husbands, having one wife in common, that...live together in a hut, with their common wife." *
Marquesan The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...
s had "a society in which households were polyandrous". *
Friedrich Ratzel Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844 – August 9, 1904) was a German geographer and ethnographer, notable for first using the term ''Lebensraum'' ("living space") in the sense that the National Socialists later would. Life Ratzel's father was th ...
in ''The History of Mankind'' reported in 1896 that in the
New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...
there was a kind of convention in cases of widowhood, that two widowers shall live with one widow.


South America

*"The
Bororo The Bororo are indigenous people of Brazil, living in the state of Mato Grosso. They also extended into Bolivia and the Brazilian state of Goiás. The Western Bororo live around the Jauru and Cabaçal rivers. The Eastern Bororo ( Orarimogodoge ...
s ... among them...there are also cases of polyandry." *"The Tupi-Kawahib also practice fraternal polyandry." *"...up to 70 percent of Amazonian cultures may have believed in the principle of multiple paternity" * Mapuche polyandry is rare but not unheard of. The men are often brothers.


Religious attitudes


Hinduism

There is at least one reference to polyandry in the ancient
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
epic ''
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
''.
Draupadi Draupadi ( sa, द्रौपदी, draupadī, Daughter of Drupada), also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali, and Yagyaseni, is the main female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata,'' and the common consort of the five Pandava brothers ...
married the five
Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledg ...
brothers, as this is what she chose in a previous life. This ancient text remains largely neutral to the concept of polyandry, accepting this as her way of life. However, in the same epic, when questioned by
Kunti Kunti ( sa, कुन्ती, ), named at birth as Pritha ( sa, पृथा, ), is one of the prominent characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is best known as the mother of the Pandavas and Karna, the main protagonists of the epi ...
to give an example of polyandry,
Yudhishthira ''Yudhishthira'' (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his first w ...
cites Gautam-clan Jatila (married to seven
Saptarishi The Saptarishi () are the seven rishis of ancient India who are extolled in the Vedas, and other Hindu literature. The Vedic Samhitas never enumerate these rishis by name, although later Vedic texts such as the Brahmanas and Upanisads do so. ...
s) and
Hiranyaksha __NOTOC__ Hiranyaksha ( sa, हिरण्याक्ष, "golden-eyed"), also known as Hiranyanetra ( sa, हिरण्यनेत्र) was an oppressive Asura who attacked the heavens and thereafter kidnapped and attempted to destroy th ...
's sister Pracheti (married to ten brothers), thereby implying a more open attitude toward polyandry in
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
society.


Judaism

The Hebrew Bible contains no examples of women married to more than one man, but its description of
adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
clearly implies that polyandry is unacceptable and the practice is unknown in Jewish tradition. In addition, the children from other than the first husband are considered illegitimate (i.e.,
mamzer In the Hebrew Bible and Jewish religious law, a ''mamzer'' ( he, ממזר, , "estranged person"; plural ''mamzerim'') is a person who is born as the result of certain forbidden relationships or incest (as it is defined by the Bible), or the de ...
s), unless he has already divorced her or died, being a product of an adulterous relationship.


Christianity

Most
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
denominations in the
Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
strongly advocate monogamous marriage, and a passage from the Pauline epistles can be interpreted as forbidding polyandry.


Latter-Day Saints

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
and
Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
, and other early Latter-day Saints, practiced polygamous marriages with several women who were already married to other men. The practice was officially ended with the
1890 Manifesto The 1890 Manifesto (also known as the Woodruff Manifesto, the Anti-polygamy Manifesto, or simply "the Manifesto") is a statement which officially advised against any future plural marriage in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...
. Polyandrous marriages did exist, albeit in significantly less numbers, in early LDS history.


Islam

Although
Islamic marital law In Islamic law (''sharia''), marriage (''nikāḥ'' نکاح) is a legal and social contract between two individuals. Marriage is an act of Islam and is strongly recommended.http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-about-islam/ethics-and-values/muslim- ...
allows men to have up to four wives, polyandry is not allowed in Islam. Polyandrous marriages were practiced in pre-Islamic Arabian cultures, but were outlawed during the
rise of Islam The spread of Islam spans about 1,400 years. Muslim conquests following Muhammad's death led to the creation of the caliphates, occupying a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted by Arab Muslim forces conquering vast territorie ...
.
Nikah Ijtimah Combined marriage is a form of polyandry that existed in the pre-Islamic period in the Arabian peninsula. Definition This form of marriage, according to a Hadith narration attributed to Aisha: This form of marriage was outlawed by Islam, which ...
was a pagan tradition of polyandry in older Arab regions which was condemned and abolished during the rise of Islam.


In biology

Polyandrous behavior exists in the animal kingdom, occurring for example in certain insects, fish, birds, and mammals.


See also

*
Legal status of polygamy The legal status of polygamy varies widely around the world. Polygyny is legal in 58 out of nearly 200 sovereign states, the vast majority of them being Muslim-majority countries. Polyandry is illegal in virtually every country and strictly prohi ...
*
Matrilineality Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...
* Polyandry in India *
Polyandry in Tibet Polyandry is a marital arrangement in which a woman has several husbands. In Tibet, those husbands are often brothers; "fraternal polyandry". Concern over which children are fathered by which brother falls on the wife alone. She may or may not s ...
*
Sacred prostitution Sacred prostitution, temple prostitution, cult prostitution, and religious prostitution are rites consisting of paid intercourse performed in the context of religious worship, possibly as a form of fertility rite or divine marriage (). Scholars ...
*
Sexual conflict Sexual conflict or sexual antagonism occurs when the two sexes have conflicting optimal fitness strategies concerning reproduction, particularly over the mode and frequency of mating, potentially leading to an evolutionary arms race between ma ...
*
Sexy son hypothesis The sexy son hypothesis in evolutionary biology and sexual selection, proposed by Patrick J. Weatherhead and Raleigh J. Robertson of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario in 1979, states that a female's ideal mate choice among potential mate ...
*
Sperm competition Sperm competition is the competitive process between spermatozoa of two or more different males to fertilize the same egg during sexual reproduction. Competition can occur when females have multiple potential mating partners. Greater choice and ...
Types of mating, marriage and lifestyle: *
Bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...
* Cuckold *
Eusociality Eusociality (from Greek εὖ ''eu'' "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping genera ...
*
Group marriage Group marriage or conjoint marriage is a marital arrangement where three or more adults enter into sexual, affective, romantic, or otherwise intimate short- or long-term partnerships, and share in any combination of finances, residences, care ...
*
Monogamy Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyga ...
*
Non-monogamy Non-monogamy (or nonmonogamy) is an umbrella term for every practice or philosophy of non- dyadic intimate relationship that does not strictly hew to the standards of monogamy, particularly that of having only one person with whom to exchange s ...
*
Open marriage Open marriage is a form of non-monogamy in which the partners of a dyadic marriage agree that each may engage in extramarital sexual relationships, without this being regarded by them as infidelity, and consider or establish an open relatio ...
*
Polyamory Polyamory () is the practice of, or desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved. People who identify as polyamorous may believe in open relationships wit ...
*
Polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
* Polygynandry *
Polygyny Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any o ...


References


Further reading

* Levine, Nancy, ''The Dynamics of Polyandry: Kinship, domesticity and population on the Tibetan border'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988. , * Peter, Prince of Greece, ''A Study of Polyandry,'' The Hague, Mouton, 1963. * * Gielen, U. P. (1993). Gender Roles in traditional Tibetan cultures. In L. L. Adler (Ed.), ''International handbook on gender roles'' (pp. 413–437). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. * * Crook, J., & Crook, S. 1994. "Explaining Tibetan polyandry: Socio-cultural, demographic, and biological perspectives". In J. Crook, & H. Osmaston (Eds.), ''Himayalan Buddhist Villages'' (pp. 735–786). Bristol, UK: University of Bristol. * * * Lodé, Thierry (2006) ''La Guerre des sexes chez les animaux''. Paris: Eds O. Jacob. * *


External links

*
Another example for polyandry in India
{{Types of marriages, state=autocollapse Mating systems Heterosexuality