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{{Use Indian English|date=August 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
'''Polygamy in India''' is outlawed. While [[polygamy]] was not prohibited in [[Greater India|Ancient India]] and it was common among aristocrats and emperors, it is believed that it was not a major cultural practice. The lack of prohibition was in part due to the separation between land laws and religion (independence of the judiciary), and partially since all of the [[Indian religions|major religions of India]] portrayed polygamy in a neutral light.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/drishtikone/2008/08/polyandrous-family-customs-india/|title=Polyandrous family customs in India|website=Drishtikone|access-date=2016-05-16}}</ref>

[[File:Cecil Beaton Photographs- Political and Military Personalities IB698.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Gayatri Devi]], the third wife of [[Sawai Man Singh II]] of Jaipur, pictured by [[Cecil Beaton]] in 1940]]
In contrast to Europe, polygamy prevailed in ancient India for rulers and kings.<ref>[http://paa2010.princeton.edu/abstracts/100754 Polygamous Marriages in India, Vaidehi Yelamanchili, Sulabha Parasuraman, Population Association of America, 2010 Annual Meeting]</ref> It was common for rulers (for example [[Bhupinder Singh of Patiala]] and [[Fateh Singh of Udaipur and Mewar]]). Some wealthy individuals (for example [[Ramkrishna Dalmia]], [[Gajanan Birla]]<ref>[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/the-birlas-representing-a-fascinating-saga-in-indian-enterprise/1/371750.html The Birlas: Empire in transition, T.N. Ninan, Chander Uday Singh, Sumanta Sen, India Today, 20 July 2013]</ref> and [[P. Rajagopal (businessman)|P. Rajagopal]]) had multiple wives.

The British colonial [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|Empire of India]] [[Sharia|permitted]] Islamic provinces to allow husbands to have multiple wives. When [[Maharaja Ranjit Singh]] was cremated in Lahore, four of his wives and seven concubines took to [[Sati (practice)|Sati]],<ref>[http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/01/16/features/samadhi-of-ranjit-singh-a-sight-of-religious-harmony/ Samadhi of Ranjit Singh – a sight of religious harmony, Pakistan Today, JANUARY 16, 2016, NADEEM DAR]</ref> and their urn-like memorials exist at his [[Samadhi]].<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sunday-special/kaleidoscope/-sati-choice-before-maharaja-ranjit-s-ranis/99411.html ‘Sati’ choice before Maharaja Ranjit’s Ranis, Kanwarjit Singh Kang, 28 June 2015]</ref>

==Legal developments==

Section 494 and 495 of the [[Indian Penal Code]] of 1860, prohibited polygamy for the Christians. In 1955, the [[Hindu Marriage Act]] was drafted, which prohibited marriage of a Hindu whose spouse was still living. Thus polygamy became illegal in [[India]] in 1956, uniformly for all of its citizens except for Muslims, who are permitted to have four wives and for Hindus in Goa and along the western coast where bigamy is legal.

A polygamous Hindu marriage is null and void.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=XFtcAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA189&lpg=PA189&dq=india+poluygamy+law&source=bl&ots=Dh7GixM7u3&sig=NFWXcseO7sY8SF1BnLwVXCMZQHk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjd_KvA_77MAhWqlIMKHUb_Bu84ChDoAQhCMAU#v=onepage&q=india%20polygamy%20law&f=false Modern Indian Family Law, Werner Menski, Routledge, 2013 p.194]</ref> While the punishment specified in Sections 494 and 495 is applicable, it is rare if the first spouse does not have an objection.

==Muslim polygamy==

Muslims in the rest of the country are subject to the terms of The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937, interpreted by the [[All India Muslim Personal Law Board]].

However, in a judgment in February 2015, the [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme court of India]] stated that "Polygamy was not an integral or fundamental part of the Muslim religion, and monogamy was a reform within the power of the State under Article 25".<ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Polygamy-not-integral-part-of-Islam-SC/articleshow/46180105.cms</ref>

==Hindu polygamy in modern India==

The Bollywood star and [[Lok Sabha]] member [[Dharmendra]] was already married to Prakash Kaur when he married actress [[Hema Malini]] in 1980. While it was reported that he had converted to Islam for the sake of the marriage,<ref>[http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/16-30Jun04-Print-Edition/163006200433.htm Dharmendra or "Dilawar Khan?" Mili Gazette, 16-30 June 2004]</ref> he denied getting converted.<ref>[http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/twos-a-crowd/223773 Two's A Crowd His marriages give the actor's campaign a rude jolt, K.S. SHAINI, KAPIL BHATT, Outlook 2004]</ref>

Legally the second wife of a Hindu would be a mistress, although religiously and socially she may be considered a wife.

Polygamy among Hindus is sometimes accepted in some rural areas,<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/16/asia/india-water-wives/ Some Indian men are marrying multiple wives to help beat drought, Mallika Kapur, CNN, 16 July 2015]</ref> often with approval by earlier wives. The 2005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) found that 2 percent of women reported that their husband had other wives besides herself. Husbands of women with no children are more likely to have multiple wives.<ref>[http://paa2010.princeton.edu/papers/100754 Polygamous Marriages in India]</ref>

==In popular culture==
''[[Chand (film)|Chand]]'' is a social drama film dealing with the story of a childless couple with [[Balraj Sahni]] and [[Meena Kumari]] in lead roles. Mr. Kapoor (Balraj Sahni) who is a married to Kamla ([[Pandari Bai]]) cannot have a child of their own. Kamla wants a child but under duress agrees to have Mr. Kapoor take a second wife and have a child. Sahni marries Vimla (Meena Kumari) with a heavy up front payment to her father. The marriage just collapses shortly after when Meena Kumari finds herself with another wife competing for the same husband. She gives birth to a child but leaves her husbands house to live with her father as it was evident that she was losing her senses in the situation she was thrown in. As she recovers her senses at her father's place she wants her child back but both Kamla and Mr. Kapoor declines to give the child back. The issue goes to court but the court decides against Vimla and she goes mad. Watch the rest of it to see how matters end happily and both Vimla and Kamla decides to live peacefully with the same husband. Even though the movie was released in the year 1959, the film was based in the year 1955, before the abolishing of polygamy.

==Mizoram==

In Mizoram state, a Christian sect known as "[[Lalpa Kohhran Thar]]" (literal translation "The Lord's New Church"), sometimes known as "Khuangtuaha Pawl" or "Pu Chana Páwl" or "Ziona Pawl" (referring the leaders; ''pawl'' means sect or organisation) practices polygamy.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Vanlalchhuanga|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.467455/page/n1/mode/2up?q=khuangtuaha|title=An Zirtirnate|publisher=Gosen Press|year=1984|location=Aizawl (India)|pages=51–54|language=Mizo|trans-title=Their Teachings}}</ref><ref name=":25">{{Cite web|last=Baruah|first=Sriparna B.|date=2011|title=Baktwang – The Carpentry Hamlet of Mizoram|url=http://www.sriparna.in/baktwang-the-carpentry-hamlet-of-mizoram/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-11|language=en-US}}</ref> Khuangtuaha (1891–1955) formed the sect in 1942, and was supported by his younger brother Chana (1910–1997). Chana introduced polygamous marriage and had seven wives.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mathews|first=Jane|date=2011-10-21|title=One big happy family (all 181 of them)|url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/278718/One-big-happy-family-all-181-of-them|access-date=2021-07-28|website=Express.co.uk|language=en}}</ref> Khuangtuaha followed suit and married three wives.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Dokhuma|first=James|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.467548|title=Zoram Tualto Kohhran Chanchin|date=|year=1997|edition=2|location=Aizawl (India)|pages=65|language=Mizo|trans-title=Indigenous Denominations in Mizoram}}</ref> Chana's son, [[Ziona]] (1945–2021), was the most prolific polygamous man of the sect. At the time of his death in 2021, he had 38 wives, 89 children and 33 grandchildren.<ref name=":022">{{Cite web|last=Nath|first=Hemanta Kumar|date=13 June 2021|title=Mizoram's Ziona Chana, head of world's largest family, passes away at 76|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/mizoram-ziona-chana-head-of-world-largest-family-dies-at-76-1814359-2021-06-13|access-date=14 June 2021|language=en|newspaper=India Today}}</ref><ref name=":16">{{Cite news|date=2021-06-14|title=Ziona Chana: Head of 'world's largest family' dies in India's Mizoram state|language=en-GB|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-57465379|access-date=2021-06-14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Gupta|first1=Swati|last2=Rahim|first2=Zamira|date=2021-06-14|title=The head of the 'world's biggest family' has died at age 76|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/14/asia/india-record-family-man-dies-scli-intl/index.html|access-date=2021-06-16|publisher=CNN}}</ref> But polygamy is not practiced freely; men are allowed to marry wives only if they can supprot them by livelihood,<ref name=":182">{{Cite web|date=2011-11-09|title=Man with 160-member family in Mizoram|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/203573/man-160-member-family-mizoram.html|access-date=2021-06-17|website=Deccan Herald|language=en}}</ref> and this is decided by the priests.<ref name=":0" /> Only the leaders and their elite lineages are usually able to afford the conditions; thus, it is not widely practiced.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Udas|first=Sumnima|date=2011-10-31|title=Is 160 enough? One Indian man's family|url=https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/31/world/asia/india-record-family/index.html|access-date=2021-06-14|website=CNN}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Polyandry in India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Polygamous marriage}}
{{Indian wedding}}
{{Social issues in India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polygamy In India}}
[[Category:Marriage in India]]
[[Category:Polygamy by country|India]]

Polygamy in India - Revision history

imported>Chhandama: Additional info