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In social anthropology and sociobiology,
polyandry refers to a form of polygamous marriage, or other sexual union, in which one
individual is married to two or more husbands at the
same time. The form of polyandry in which two (or more) brothers marry the same
woman is known as fraternal polyandry.
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CNN - Faces of
Polygamy
Fraternal Polyandry
- India - Brothers Share Wife to Secure Family Land
CNN’s Sara Sidner from Himachal Pradesh, India:
Kundar Singh Pundir, left, and his brother Amar, right, share Indira Devi, centre, as their wife. CNN
Amar and Kundan Singh Pundir are brothers. Younger brother Amar breaks rocks in a mine for a living. Kundan farms their small piece of inherited land. They live in a beautiful but remote hillside village in the clouds of Himachal Pradesh, India.
Both aged in their forties, the two brothers have lived together nearly their whole lives. They are poor and share just about everything: Their home, their work and a wife.
“See we have a tradition from the beginning to have a family of five to 10 people. Two brothers and one wife.” Kundan says.
They practice what is known as fraternal polyandry — where the brothers of one family marry the same woman. Why? Tradition and economics.
Life is hard here. The village is precariously perched on the side of a very steep hill about 6,000ft up. Most of the villagers survive off tiny plots of cropland.
In this difficult terrain there isn’t enough land to go around. So, instead of finding separate wives and splitting up their inherited property, the brothers marry the same woman and keep their land together.
Wife Indira Devi says life with two husbands isn’t easy.
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