Fraternal Polyandry and Land Ownership in Kinnaur, Western Himalaya
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Fraternal Polyandry and Land Ownership in Kinnaur, Western Himalaya Aghaghia Rahimzadeh 1,2,3 Accepted: 7 September 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract I explore fraternal polyandry, a significant but rare social institution, and its relationship with changing land ownership patterns in Kinnaur, Western Himalaya. Kinnauri fraternal polyandry, a common traditional marital practice where one woman marries two or more brothers, is a complex cooperative strategy that has alleviated environmental uncertainty for those living in harsh environments. In a region with land, resource, and labor scarcity, strong social networks reduce risk and support livelihoods. Drawing on qualitative ethnographic research, I analyze the link between polyandry and land ownership in Kinnaur and suggest that declining polyandry is contributing to land partitioning and consequently changing patterns of land tenure. This process is further exacerbated by climate change. Smaller landholdings and the associated increase in the number of independent households may have significant long-term economic consequences. Shifting marital customs reflect wider social transitions, largely driven by increased exposure to the broader market and modernization. Keywords Fraternal polyandry . Land partition . Human-environment interaction . Climate change . Kinnaur District . Western Himalaya . India
Introduction Fraternal polyandry where two or more brothers marry one woman has traditionally been practiced to mitigate both economic and social risk and to enable households to benefit from their diverse natural environment (Raha and Coomar 1987; C. Singh 2006; Goldstein 1976, 1978b, 1987b). In the tribal Kinnaur District of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh in Western Himalaya, fraternal polyandry has been an adaptive strategy to help households survive in the extreme environmental conditions characteristic of mountain environments with high elevations, low soil fertility, and limited arable land (Cassidy and Lee 1989; Mishra et al. 2003).
Dr. Rahimzadeh was affiliated with Fulbright Nehru Academic & Professional Excellence Award and Institute of Economic Growth during the time of research. * Aghaghia Rahimzadeh [email protected] 1
Present address: Ronin Institute, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
2
Fulbright Nehru Academic & Professional Excellence Award, Delhi, India
3
Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, India
Inhabitants of mountainous regions such as tribal Kinnaur have traditionally mitigated risk through a mountain production system combining subsistence agriculture on scarce arable land, the use of forest products, and livestock rearing, including transhumant pastoralism (Ives and Messerli 1989; K. Singh et al. 2008). Collective action, social cooperation, and reciprocity among household members and within the community have been essential for these interconnected production strategies (Mishra et al. 2003; Jodha 2007) and the practice of fraternal polyandry served to keep household wealth and limited
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