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.
Polygamy usually takes the form of polygyny – when a man marries multiple women. Polyandry, which refers to wives having more than one husband, is even rarer than polygamy and mostly documented among small and relatively isolated communities around the world.
Zion-a (76), believed to head the world's largest family, with 38 wives and 89 children. Mizoram and his village at Baktawng Tlangnuam has become a major tourist attraction in the state because of the family.
Maharaja Bhupinder Singh built a 'Leela-Bhavan' in Patiala, where only naked people were allowed. This palace is built in Patiala city on the road leading to Bhupendra Nagar, close to the Bahudari Bagh. According to historians the Maharaja had a total of 365 queens, including 10 authorized queens.
No state permits its citizens to enter into more than one concurrent, legally-licensed marriage. People who attempt to, or are able to, secure a second marriage license are generally prosecuted for bigamy. The terms "bigamy" and "polygamy" are sometimes confused or used interchangeably.
Polygamy in Australia is illegal. Polygamy is legal in many African, Asian and Middle Eastern countries, and usually involves more than one wife. Polygamy is also common in certain religious groups in other countries, such as Mormons in the United States.
Polygamy in Pakistan is legally permissible, according to the law of 1961, but restricted to Muslim men, who may have a maximum of four wives at one time.
Ajatashatru had 500 wives but the principal consort was Princess Vajira. The City of Kasi was given to Bimbisara as dowry by Maha-Kosala. After the murder of Bimbisara, Prasenajit took the city back.
Shahjahan married his daughter Jahanara after the death of his wife Mumtaz Why this is not taught in History about Mughals?
Abumbi II, the 11th fon, or king, of Bafut, Cameroon, has close to 100 wives. They weren't all his to start. According to local tradition, when a fon dies, his successor inherits all his wives and then marries his own queens.
Legal developments
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.
However, data shows that the practice is not all that prevalent among Indian Muslims. According to the NFHS-5 data, only about 1.9 per cent of Muslim women said their husbands had more than one wife, compared to 1.3 per cent of Hindu women who admitted to being in a polygynous marriage in 2019-21.
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 outlawed the practice. The Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954 allows individuals to perform inter-religious marriages, but it forbids polygamy.
Polygamy is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent, being most common in a region known as the "polygamy belt" in West Africa and Central Africa, with the countries estimated to have the highest polygamy prevalence in the world being Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Niger and Nigeria.
polyandry, marriage of a woman to two or more men at the same time; the term derives from the Greek polys, “many,” and anēr, andros, “man.” When the husbands in a polyandrous marriage are brothers or are said to be brothers, the institution is called adelphic, or fraternal, polyandry.
Polyandry is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at… It is not unheard of for men to have more than one wife with many cultural practices and religions of the world even supporting the habit. However, it comes across as unusual to hear of a woman with multiple husbands.
Oedipus, in Greek mythology, the king of Thebes who unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. Homer related that Oedipus's wife and mother hanged herself when the truth of their relationship became known, though Oedipus apparently continued to rule at Thebes until his death.
The Egyptian pharaohs would marry their own daughters and have children. King Tutankhamen had a relationship with his half-sister and they later married. The Egyptians did this so as to ensure that their bloodline remain pure.
When Oedipus grew to manhood, a prophet warned him that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Not knowing that he had been adopted, and that his real parents were Jocasta and Laius, Oedipus left the country to avoid committing such crimes.
The Maharaja was said to have had an astounding 365 wives. He later also married the daughter of his Irish horse master, Florence Bryan, who converted to Sikhism. He reigned as Maharaja of Patiala in the state of Punjab, India from 1876 until he died in a riding accident in 1900.
Mughal emperor Akbar had 5000 women in his harem! daughters of conquered kings!
Ramses II's long life—he lived between 90 and 96 years—gave him ample opportunity to marry wives and beget children. He had over 200 wives and concubines and over 100 children, many of whom he outlived.
Muslim societies allow for up to four wives, but not without specific rules and regulations. In traveling throughout Egypt I had an opportunity to talk with many young women about their views on polygamous unions and their applicability to the modern world.
It is most common in the Islamic world as the Qur'an allows men to have four wives (Holy Qur'an, 2002, 4:3).
The Republic of Afghanistan, which is an Islamic Republic under Sharia Law, allows for polygyny. Afghan men may take up to four wives, as Islam allows for such. A man must treat all of his wives equally; however, it has been reported that these regulations are rarely followed.