Inside the 1795, Dutch Ceylon decrease towards Uk hands, and they managed to get a crown nest within the 1802. Because of the 1815, they’d and additionally beaten the former independent Kingdom off Kandy. British stipulated you to in the previous Dutch places the present laws and regulations could be kept, whereas in the Kandy typical guidelines was to be used, which have been next codified. We come across regarding basic part you to definitely multiple people thought this new Portuguese together with Dutch got efficiently stamped out polyandry for the the fresh new coastal provinces. Several experts say that, in practice, vintage rules had stored precedence, except if regulations are ‘silent otherwise inapplicable’. Footnote 68 Indeed, there are in the section step 3 just how a good Eu attorneys indeed invoked this type of traditional laws so you’re able to beg new validity out of polyandry. Footnote 69 Yet not, the british assumed from the beginning the maritime provinces had come influenced considering Roman-Dutch legislation. Currently into the 1822, they ordered the re also-advent of the institution thombos, not only to have Christians but also for the entire population of the coastal provinces. The newest pre-eminence out-of Roman Dutch Laws was codified into the a rental regarding 1831, and you will an ordinance out-of 1847 given the prohibited degrees of marriage, restricted ages of functions, and you will reasons for divorce. Finally, when you look at the 1861 Roman-Dutch law are declared given that joining for the entire isle. Footnote 70 That it paradoxical legal state might have been summarised too by the Jayawardene: ‘[The new Dutch] lead this new Roman-Dutch Rules so you can Ceylon; but it is the fresh English… whom centered it amongst the Singhalese, whom made it regulations of your land’. Footnote 71
This new lady becomes restaurants out-of each spouse, plus they all do have more
I surmise the alot more strict applying of Roman-Dutch rules and the extension out-of ilies regarding the coastal areas offered a beneficial polyandrous union. Therefore a wedding was not judge, pupils could not inherit off their 2nd dad. How about the inside? The codified Kandyan regulations consisted of all kinds of fine print on how inheritances out of combined husbands was to feel split. In the 1850s an excellent reent took place. In the 1855, Governor Ward obtained a great petition about Chiefs off Kandy, ‘praying towards abolition because of the laws from polygamy and polyandry’. The fresh new plea is regular twice when you look at the 1858, eventually getting obtained of the rather mislead United kingdom, exactly who continued when you look at the 1859 so you’re able to outlaw polygamy and separation because of the common agree and also to build joined monogamous wedding the only real courtroom form. As to why did the newest elites turn up against her culture and exactly why did they give british it opportunity to ‘civilise’ the latest Sinhalese? Specific scholars exhort me to read between your outlines of your own petitions. They say that the elite group regarding landowners need an effective ‘reform’ from matrimony as they lined up to attenuate separated and you may widowed women’s regular states toward countries of their moms and dads, that happen to be essentially taken advantage of of the its brothers. Home purchases mikГ¤ on miesjГ¤rjestyksen morsian and you may creating higher plantations required simplistic relationships and you can inheritance guidelines, but this was cloaked from inside the a hit with the polygamy, a bait that Uk took. Footnote 72 Therefore, british imposed good Western european notion of relationships towards the Kandyan inhabitants, which immediately triggered good flurry of lawsuits due to the fact all unregistered ous – was basically today considered unlawful. Berwick, new crucial judge of Colombo, aptly called the 1859 Ordinance a ‘bitter current away from bastardy’. Footnote 73
So it supposition maybe is due to the fresh new confusion about your relatives anywhere between Dutch official law in addition to standard, uncodified, laws and regulations of Sinhalese
Regardless of if polyandry could be punished by the around 3 years off difficult labor, new routine continued up until really to your twentieth century, albeit inside diminishing number. Hence, it actually was however easy for the brand new ethnographers just who observed town existence throughout the mountainous interior on the 1950s to review present polyandrous relations or collect reminiscences from prior such as relations. For-instance, the folks of Udumulla inside the eastern Sri Lanka evaluated polyandry seriously: ‘It is very ideal for all. .. These folks don’t need to cover up the newest arrangement, there’s nothing getting embarrassed of’. Footnote 74 This new ethnographic descriptions usually emphasise this new practical and you may slightly good characteristics of one’s polyandrous plan, which in one area happened to be named ‘living in one to peace’. Footnote 75 As to the reasons next did it fall off?
