Sexuality, Unchastity and Fertility: Economy of Production and Reproduction in Colonial Haryana

Abstract

A fear of female sexuality and therefore, the need to control it have been felt in many societies and civilizations. This control has assumed different forms in different societies. In colonial Haryana, the custom of widow remarriage emerged as one of the most effective and socially valid forms of this control. The custom did not merely control the limited inheritance rights of the widow, an aspect which we have investigated extensively elsewhere, [1] it also controlled her sexuality, fertility and labour. In this chapter, the question of inheritance is
explored in relation to these other aspects. This refocusing affords a wider dimension to the analysis by shifting the spotlight from the landowning class/caste to hitherto unexplored but significantly crucial aspects of the peasant economy which were being manipulated and controlled through the use of customs and 'traditions'.