[INDOLOGY] polyandry in the Mahaabhaarata and among the Todas of the Nilgiris

[Asko Parpola]

Today I received from Jan Houben a message, which begins:

Dear Asko, from your formulation I infer that you had intended this message to go to the list... but it came only to me. Do you perhaps have a scan of this article that appeared in the Amrtadhaaraa volume? I have many of your offprints in Leiden but don't have them with me here in Paris… 

It was indeed my intention to send the message also to Indology, so I do it now. Unfortunately I do not have a pdf of the paper, but would be grateful for it if somebody else has.  

With best wishes, Asko


On Mon, 29 Oct 2018 at 12:01, Asko Parpola <aparpola at gmail.com <mailto:aparpola at gmail.com>> wrote:

In the two refernces cited by Jan below, I suggest that polyandry was brought to India by Iranian speakers appearing as “PaaNDavas” in the Mahaabhaarata. I cited Herodotus on the Iranian tribe of Massagetae. But the polyandry of the Toda tribe of the Nilagiris is further evidence for the Iranian origin of polyandry in India. Archaeological evidence suggests that a batch of  Iranian speaking horsemen - Sakas - came to the Nilagiris in the early centuries CE, while the phonology of the Toda language, which is radically different from related Dravidian languages can only be explained by assuming that it reflects a Dravidian language (Pre-Tamil) adopted by Iranian speakers. See
Parpola, Asko, 1984. The Todas of the Nilgiris:  Hypothesis of a twofold origin -- Pre-Tamil and Saka*. Pp. 319-336 in: Joshi, S.D., (ed.),  Amṛtadhārā: Professor R. N. Dandekar felicitation volume. Delhi: Ajanta Publications International. 

Best regards, Asko


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