Persecuted or permitted? Fraternal Polyandry in a Calvinist colony, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

Several studies assume that Calvinist Christianity severely undermined or even persecuted the practice of polyandry in the Sri Lankan areas under Dutch control. We analyze Dutch colonial policy and Church activities toward polyandry by combining ecclesiastical and legal sources. Moreover, we use the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Continuity and change 2021-12, Vol.36 (3), p.331-355
Main Authors:	Kok, Jan, Bulten, Luc, de Leede, Bente M.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	17th century Calvinism Christianity Coasts Colonial government Colonialism Dutch language Families & family life Marriage Polyandry Population Public administration Rural areas Rural communities Sinhala language
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Several studies assume that Calvinist Christianity severely undermined or even persecuted the practice of polyandry in the Sri Lankan areas under Dutch control. We analyze Dutch colonial policy and Church activities toward polyandry by combining ecclesiastical and legal sources. Moreover, we use the Dutch colonial administration of the Sinhalese population to estimate the prevalence of polyandry. We conclude that polyandry was far from extinct by the end of the Dutch period and we argue that the colonial government was simply not knowledgeable, interested and effective enough to persecute the practice in the rural areas under its control.
ISSN:	0268-4160 1469-218X