Fraternal Polyandry

Fraternal polyandry

Fraternal polyandry (from the Latinfrater—brother), also called adelphic polyandry (from the Greekἀδελφός—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, Nepal, and Northern India, as well as some central African cultures where polyandry was accepted as a social practice. The Toda people of southern India practiced fraternal polyandry, but monogamy has become prevalent recently. In contemporary Hindu society, polyandrous marriages in agrarian societies in the Malwa region of Punjab seem to occur to avoid division of farming land.