Polyandrous Marriage-Humla, North-West Nepal
The Nyinbas inherited their practices of fraternal polyandry from their Tibetan ancestors, who migrated to the Humla valley from the steppes of the Asian plateau centuries ago. They also inherited a love for trading and herding which together with cultivation the meager soil, make yup the traditional Nyinbas economy. Polyandry suits this economy, “With one or two husbands always away on herding or trading trips, one husband will always be at home to care fot the wife,” explains Maila Dai, a trader from he village of Bargaau. He has four sons: Ringin, Rapten, Maila and Tsering Gyap. “We think Polyandry is just like insurance for the wife. If one husband is no good or leaves his wife there’s always another brother.”
Anthropologists have explained Polyandry as a method of curbing population growth (which is the fallacy, given that the birth rate of monogamous Hindus in the neighboring village of Tey is the same as that on the Nyinbas), and being divided up into less profitable units when a family of sons inherits from the previous generations. It also concentrates the wealth of each household by maintaining a large population of working adult makes under one roof.
To the Nyinbas, its advantages are self-evident. Both men and women talk about the wealth polyandry provides and the way it distinguishes them from their poorer Hindu neighbors. Says Maila Dai, “If my sons partition the land, we will become as poop as Hindu Village of Tey.”
Read MoreAnthropologists have explained Polyandry as a method of curbing population growth (which is the fallacy, given that the birth rate of monogamous Hindus in the neighboring village of Tey is the same as that on the Nyinbas), and being divided up into less profitable units when a family of sons inherits from the previous generations. It also concentrates the wealth of each household by maintaining a large population of working adult makes under one roof.
To the Nyinbas, its advantages are self-evident. Both men and women talk about the wealth polyandry provides and the way it distinguishes them from their poorer Hindu neighbors. Says Maila Dai, “If my sons partition the land, we will become as poop as Hindu Village of Tey.”
