Note 11 — Chapter XXII · MARRIAGE

In addition to the regular marriage, there is another recognised mode of union between men and women, which is called mokhthoditi. The man who becomes the consort of a woman in this way is called her mokhthodvaiol—viz., “man who keeps mokh,”11 and the woman is called sedvaitazmokh—viz., “woman who joins.” The mokhthoditi union differs from the regular marriage in one important respect. It may be, and usually is, formed between Tarthar men and Teivali women, or between Teivali men and Tarthar women. The great majority of instances of which I heard were of this kind. One woman might have more than one mokhthodvaiol, the largest number of which I heard being three. Similarly, a man might have more than one sedvaitazmokh, but as the custom entailed considerable expenses on the man, this was not common, and I did not hear of any instance in which a man had more than two.