Into the 1795, Dutch Ceylon dropped to the United kingdom hand, and so they caused it to be a top colony when you look at the 1802. Of the 1815, they had plus beat the previous independent Empire off Kandy. The british specified that in the former Dutch regions the existing legislation could well be kept, whereas into the Kandy typical laws were to become followed, that have been subsequently codified. We have seen regarding the basic section that several writers assumed this new Portuguese together with Dutch got efficiently stamped out polyandry into the the brand new maritime provinces. Several benefits point out that, used, conventional laws got stored precedence, until regulations try ‘silent otherwise inapplicable’. Footnote 68 Indeed, we have seen when you look at the area 3 just how a great Eu attorneys in fact invoked this type of traditional guidelines so you can plead the newest validity off polyandry. Footnote 69 But not, british presumed right away the coastal provinces got already been ruled considering Roman-Dutch law. Already inside 1822, they bought the brand new lso are-introduction of the college thombos, besides to possess Christians but for the complete inhabitants of your own maritime provinces. New pre-eminence regarding Roman Dutch Legislation are codified inside a rent from 1831, and an ordinance away from 1847 specified the prohibited amounts of relationship, restricted age of functions, and you may grounds for divorce case. In the long run, in the 1861 Roman-Dutch rules is announced due to the fact joining for the entire area. Footnote 70 This paradoxical legal state could have been summarised and by Jayawardene: ‘[The Dutch] lead the newest Roman-Dutch Rules so you can Ceylon; but it’s the latest English… which created it between your Singhalese, whom managed to make it legislation of your land’. Footnote 71
The brand new woman will get dinner out-of for every single partner, and additionally they most of the do have more
I surmise that way more strict application of Roman-Dutch legislation and expansion out-of ilies throughout the coastal section given good polyandrous connection. As such a married relationship was not legal, college students could not inherit off their 2nd father. Think about the within? The fresh codified Kandyan rules contained all kinds of stipulations about how exactly inheritances of combined husbands would be to getting split up. But in new 1850s a beneficial reent taken place. In 1855, Governor Ward obtained a good petition throughout the Chiefs regarding Kandy, ‘hoping to your abolition because of the guidelines away from polygamy and you will polyandry’. New plea try constant twice inside the 1858, fundamentally to get obtained of the as an alternative perplexed British, exactly who went on when you look at the 1859 to help you outlaw polygamy and divorce proceedings because of the mutual concur in order to make inserted monogamous relationships the sole legal means. As to the reasons did the fresh new elites turn against their own lifestyle and exactly hyvГ¤ sovellus tavata latinalaisia naisia why did they supply the british that it chance to ‘civilise’ the fresh Sinhalese? Some students exhort us to understand between the traces of your own petitions. It is said that top-notch off landowners wanted a ‘reform’ out-of marriage while they aimed to attenuate separated and widowed ladies vintage states toward lands of its moms and dads, that happen to be basically cheated by the its brothers. Residential property purchases and establishing highest ranches needed simplistic marriage and you will genetics guidelines, however, this is cloaked in the an attack towards the polygamy, a bait which the United kingdom took. Footnote 72 Thus, the british imposed good Western european notion of relationships to the Kandyan inhabitants, which quickly triggered a flurry out of lawsuits once the the unregistered ous – was indeed today considered unlawful. Berwick, new crucial courtroom off Colombo, aptly called the 1859 Ordinance a good ‘sour provide of bastardy’. Footnote 73
So it supposition possibly comes from new frustration regarding your family relations between Dutch official legislation and also the classic, uncodified, laws of Sinhalese
Though polyandry would-be penalized from the as much as three years regarding difficult work, the new practice continuous until better with the twentieth-century, albeit into the dwindling numbers. Hence, it absolutely was however possible for the newest ethnographers just who noticed community lifetime throughout the mountainous indoor throughout the 1950s to examine current polyandrous interactions otherwise gather reminiscences of past like relationships. As an instance, individuals regarding Udumulla inside eastern Sri Lanka evaluated polyandry seriously: ‘It is very ideal for all the. .. These folks don’t need to cover up the new arrangement, there is nothing becoming embarrassed of’. Footnote 74 Brand new ethnographic definitions commonly emphasise this new simple and you will a little unified nature of polyandrous arrangement, which in one area happened to be called ‘residing in you to peace’. Footnote 75 Why following did it fall off?