Tribal People of The Himalayas: A Study of the Khasas

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

The present volume records a careful and searching analysis of the Kumaon customary law which reveals a rich find of primitive Aryan social organisation and family law among the Khasas or Khasias, a Trans-Himalayan tribe which extends from Kashgar through Kashmir and Kumaon to the Khasi Hills in Assam.

Marriage among the Khasas has no religious purpose behind it and thus it is a secular transaction in which apart from contract between the parties of their guardians, the main feature are the transfer of dominion over the woman for consideration and her actual or constructive appropriation as wife. The primitive ideas of paternity are disclosed by the custom of keeping a Tekwa ,which is a rude sort of Niyog and the children of widow by the Tekwa are affiliated in law to her deceased husband. Another peculiar affiliation is the of the Jhantela or the infant son who follows his mother to her second husband's house. Dhant is also a kind of "Tekwa".

Laxity of morals among Khasas women is not synonymous with promiscuity or want of any marital tie. A careful reading of the Karna Parva in the Mahabharata, which is a rich record of Indian traditions, suggests a fluid state of sexual relations among Khasas and the existence of the mother right.

No hard and fast ceremonies are necessary for a valid Khasa maniage. Under the compulsion of circumstances a marriage can be performed even if husband is not present for marriage. In such a case bride is married to a pitcher of water as representing the bridegroom.

This is called as Kumbha Bivah. An image of a god may be substituted for the pitcher of water. This will then be called as Pratima Bivah. The bride is sometimes taken to a river or an ordinary spring and publicly married or declared to be the wife of the bridegroom. Absentee soldiers can be married in this way.

The dissolution of marriage among the Khasas in an equally simple affair. Under the customary Khasa Law a marriage bond could be terminated if the bride-price which reated that tie was paid back. Among the polyandrous Khasas of Jaunsar Bawar a woman is free to leave her husband if dissatisfied him, on condition of the second husband defraying the expenses of the previous wedding.

This remarkable book will definitely prove to be of more than mere local interest and will appeal to a wide spectra of lawyers, anthropologists, research scholars and to students of Hindu Historical Jurisprudence.

WHEN Mr. A. Sabonidiere. 1.c.S., Professor in Indian Law in the University of London, suggested to me that for the degree of Doctor of Laws I should undertake research in Kumaon land tenures and Kumaon customary law, I had not the least notion that I was embarking on an extremely interesting and profitable study. As a lawyer I was trained to regard Hindu law to a great extent as the common law of the people professing the Hindu re- ligion, and the practice of the Kumaon courts did nothing to change that view. I looked with others on the peculiar rules of Kumaon customary law nerely as isolated departures from Hindu law, found among all the Hindus in the Kumaon hills except few families who had migrated there in histori- cal times. After a study of some books on Historical jurisprudence, I began to feel that the Kumaon custo- mary law has been viewed from the wrong end of the historical telescope. Subsequent studies confirmed this belief. A careful and searching analysis of the Kumaon customary law revealed a rich find of primitive Aryan social organization and family law among the Khasas.

Our notions of family and property law do receive a rude shock when dealing with communities whose social organization is archaic and different from ours. The customary law of an ancient tribe or people is greatly endangered and invariably suffers when it comes in con- tact with a socially progressive and politically powerful people.