Society and marriage Lhoba

The Lhoba live in the southern area of the Tibet and north of Nepal, they usually live organized in clans, each one with a well definite territory. Formerly they were using the cows as a currency, as they were making also linguistics peoples and culturally become related to them.

His society was clearly stratified in 3 classes: slaves, middle class and slaves' owners. Slaves and women were considered to be low members of the clan. In fact, the women also could go so far as to sell in some occasions.

His family was monogamous, it was directed by the husband. The heredity was transmitted by masculine line, by what his genealogy knew well. The marriage had always to be realized by someone of another clan. The violation of this norm could be punished by the death. The marriage was realized also inside the social class to which one belonged.

The marriage needed so important exchange of gifts that had turned almost into a buy. One was paying for the fiancée in oxen, up to 20 heads in some cases. Sometimes slaves were selling to themselves pair to obtain more oxen. The value of a slave was equivalent to two oxen.

Before the wedding it was necessary to prepare many oxen, since apart from those who were surrendering to the family of the fiancée, it was necessary to sacrifice others all that for the ceremony. In the weddings of the richest, which could last eight days they were going so far as to sacrifice 20-30 cows.

Before to the marriage the young people enjoyed sexual freedom, and he was provided with boys' houses and girls' houses, where they were visiting and supporting sexual relations.

Some patriarchal families were assembling members of several generations without separation, other times, on having married, the young people was constructing themselves a house next to those of his ancestors.

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