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Mrs. Naik KomUheva, the Tibetan, Who
Found the Petticoat Government of Her
(Native Land Intolerable, and Who Is Now
Leading a Movement for Freeing the
Enslaved Men.
AN amazing account of conditions In Tibet, the
mysterious land, which for centuries has kept
Its doora closed to tbo rest of the world, Is
given on this page by Mrs. Naik Komisheva,
the first native Tibetan woman to visit America. Women
have enjoyed political and social supremacy In Tibet
for nearly 700 years. Polyandry Is only one of the
surprising results which have followed thelr control
of affairs, and it was because Mrs. Komlshova found
herself unable to conform to this custom by having
more than one husband that she fled from her native
,land and became an active anti-suffragette. She pre
Bents hero her reasons' for believing that Tibet would
be better off if her own sex were ' not the masters of
themen,.
By NAIK KOMISHEVA,
,The. First Native Tibetan Woman to Visit
America.
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Mrs. Naik Komisheva, from
Tibet, Asia, Explains How
Women Have Ruled the Men
for 600 Years, Do All the
Proposing, and Send Their
Husbands to Monasteries
Whenever They Tire of Them
Everything &f
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"It m Man tlrea of altarlng his married life vrlth aeTcral
kafeaada hla one rvfuar la the priesthood, where A
Ma arena Ilka IbJa to CT1t away avll spirits."
"Men who linger on the streets or in the '
parks after sunset are considered im- f
moral, and are , severely dealt with by y
the women police officers."
"rsrT'HIIE la Tibet woman suffrage
f is an antiquated story, I find
v it hero an exciting novelty
of tho day. Our women have not only
enjoyed political equality, but su
premacy for seven hundred years,
and for about the same length of
time we have had a feministic tyran
ny in its last word.
Nu Kuo State, in Eastern Tibet,
has always been the backbone of all
our femlnlstlo fads. There a man
can never be a ruler, a Judge, or a
general of tho army. In some of our
western States men have only re
cently been made tho nominal admin
istrators, but in reality women are
the power behind the curtains. I find
that your American women arc de
manding only equality in political af
fairs. Thus did the women of Tibet
in 1286, nearly 700 years ago. As our
women did, thus yours' will soon, de
mand the supremacy. And they will
get it, too. In our country a woman
is the master of everything. She Is
not only the head of the family, but
the bead of every more or less con
spicuous social institution. She C0P
tnand9and the man obeys.
If you ask me whether our men
like their Interior position, I must
reply: They have grown Indifferent
in their social ambitions, and do not
care whether a cow or a woman is
on the throne.
The women of Tibet did not gain
,in one generation their soclal-polltl-
How Rude I
The occupartta of the railway car
rlage were listening- with Joyful In
terest to the tales of the young man
In the corner, lie had been all over
the world aeveral times; apparently,
and hla adventures had been marvel
ous. "Coolness and courage are the
thing." he was saying. "Take this
case. We were In Central Africa,
travelling; among cannibal tribes. One
evening, above a rock In front of me.
I saw the beads of three natives who
were waUhlng me. What was 1 to
do? My gun was a( the camp. To
turn back meant having spears
through me. In a moment I decided
Closif b were se.me utones. Pretend
ing 1 didn't see the niggers. I bent
down as If to examlno the stones,
then, quick as lightning-. J picked up
three of them and flung; them with
all my force at their heads. Every
one found its mark, and the three
natives dropped like sheep. I always
take a good aim. and It served m
well then."
Then the red-faced man opposite,
who had been listening carefully,
chimen la:
"An wot did yer win. ruv-nor, a
cigar or a packet of clgarettest"
Little Facts.
There's more danger In gelln
stung by a busbody than by a busy
bee.
Of course matches are made In
heaves; they're not needed In the '
other place.
The same man who wouldn't hunt
more than three minutes for a screw
driver with which to put on a screen
door will tear around two hours
hunting fop a corkscrew.
cal supremacy. It took them a cen
tury to become tho masters of the
situation. They got their victory by
a religious trick in directing all the
attention of their men on Lamalsm,
In Tibet a man has limited prop
erty .and political rights. As long as
he is unmarried ho is under tho
guardianship of his mother, but after
the marriage tho wife rs the master.
When a wife dies the man inherits
her property only when she has no
children. Yet, In spite of that, the
men are obliged to take care of
earning the means of living for the
family. In the upper class tbo men
figure as the ornaments of society
and attend all the religious rites, In
stead of their women. On other oc
casions they are housekeepers, nurses,
servants, cooks or practitioners of a
certain profession. They are nothing
but commercial automatons. Our men
serve In the army as common sol
diers while women are always the
generals.
In the various arts women main
tain the same supremacy that they
have in social and political affairs.
Our artists In sculpture, printing of
books, painting, decorating and carv
ing are predominantly women.
Our women have a larger freedom
In their conduct than our men. They
cnu go out at night, sit In the cafes
and visit the theatre at any time.
Hut a man has to pray after sunset
and stay at home. Men who linger
after sunset In our public parks or
on the streets are considered immoral
and are severely dealt with by the
women police officers.
This peculiar woman rule in Tibet
has resulted In polyandry. A woman
can have as many husbands as she
is able to manage without any
trouble. But usually our women barb
have only two or three husbands.
When I was a girl of eighteen my
mother said to me that It was timo
to look for a husband. But I already
was In love with a young musician at
Latang, the highest town in the
world, being fifteen thousand feet
over the sea level. I told the secret
to my mother and she said I should1
go and make the proposal, as that Is
the tradition, of Tibet.
I made the long Journey to Latang,
where the ideal of my romantic
dreams was employed as a teacher
and musician. Like all -the young
men, he was very bashful and shy
when I called on him in. bis apart
ment. "Illtalg, I love you and want you
to become my husband," I said.
Dropping his eyes he whispered:
"Miss Komisheva, you make me
'happy. I feel contused at your sweet
message, but shall try to be your
obedient servant as long as you love
me." N
I threw my arms around his neck
and kissed blm for the first time. He
felt greatly embarrassed, for In all
romantic affairs women take the In
itiative and men for that reason are
coquettish and effeminate. He wai
a very handsome and fascinating
youth of my age, and I asked him
why be hall not been married by
some woman before.
"Three women proposed to me be
fore, but they were all married and
already bad two husbands, so I re
fused. As a musician In tho temple
service I can refuse proposals of mar
rled women. But your proposal makes
me truly happy," he replied.
It was already evening, so I asked
him:
"Could you come with me to a
show add have supper with your
bride In a restaurant?"
Kissing my hand tenderly, ho whis
pered: "I have never dared to go to any
public places after the sunset But,
I shall ho happy to accept your Invi
tation." In Tibet a man can never invite a
woman to any public amusement
place If she Is not a close relatlvo or
wife. But a woman can always in
vite a man. We had an enjoyable
evening, and I bought him some
pretty presents from the Jeweller. It
was late at night when I accompa
nied my fiance to his home and bade
htm good night. After six months I
married him and he came as my hus'
band to me.
I occupied tbo position of a tax
collector of our town before I was
married. But after my marriage,
which was considered in our town a
succgtful match, I was also elected
alderman. Tboso official functions
kept me away from home much, and
my hutband volunteered to help me.
But kissing him tenderly, I replied:
"Please take care of the household
and do not mix yourself in tfrb af
fars of women of which you aro ig
norant" According to our traditions a woman
can make love to men behind her
husband's back, and it is not taken
as seriously oa when a man make!
love to another woman. But our men,
as a rule, are very obedient and ws
have hardly any
famijy scandals or
divorces. As women
are the Judges, they
never pay any at
etntlon to family
troubles, but send
couples to priests.
When a woman of the middle class
has been married a year or two she
sends her first husband to a monas
tery, where he has to pray, study the
masculine virtues and stay until she
invites blm back. In the meantime
she marries another man; Uvea with
him until she sends him In turn to a
monastery and invites the first hus
band home.
After she feels that the husbands
are religious enough to make her
happy, she gives them different com
mercial Instructions and keeps them
always so busy that only one bus
band at a time is a home. Frequently
the two or three husbands of a wife
live half of tbeir
life and never meet
each other. But
there are women of
tho upper class who
keep for their vari
ous hushands luxur
ious a v a r tments,
and do not give
them any religious
or commercial func
tions. A woman who
"When a Tibetan woman has been married a year or two she sends her husband to a monastery
to pray and study the masculine virtue. In the meantwae, she marries another man. Whea
she tires of him she hands him over to the monks and takes the first husband back again."
tins only one husband is considered
abnormal and ridiculed behind her
back. For that reason my mother
said to me after I -had been married
a year:
"My dear daugn
ter, it is time that
you got a "second
husband; Have you
anybody Vjn view?"
"Mother," I ro
Ued, "I shall not ,
jarry another bus- 0
band as long es I am happy with the
one I have."
"But you must, or I will accuse
you of monogamy, and the law will
rorcioiy give you
a husband, re
gardlcafof your
affections or con
sent Meanwhile
your first bus
band will be put
in Jail and kept
there until you
regret your sin
and live accord
to tradition."
I realised that it was a serious
proposition to live an illegal married
life of monogamy, so I made a plan
to escape. I had heard that thoro
were countries outside of Tibet where
a woman could be married legally to
one husband. This appealed to rae,
and I revealed the secret to my hus
band. As ho loved me, he consented
to bare my fate, and thus one night
we left the Btato Nu Kuo and finally,
after a hard Journey of weeks,
reached Persia. Here we learned that
this was a country of polygamy,
where a man was in the same posi
tion In which a woman was In Tibet
. II. I II T-,''.I .A'TIV.1 ' ' k.L.UI .1 'IIH.V. K , l"IU FUII' MHUIimHUII. JOT I V
Shocked by such a vulgarity, as tbest
new conditions seemed to us, we left
Persia for Russia. Tho Russian cus
tom of monogamy appealed to us, sad
we both began to study music la It.
Petersburg.
I have become an anti-suffragette
for the reason that I know from the
even-hund red-year experience of our
nation that the rolo of women In pol
itics and art means the social ruin
of a country. It leads a people to
polyandry and tho same weaknestei
that I have Been at borne. As long
JLs Tibet was masculine it was a
great and vital country, of which the
ruins of old cities and palaces give
an evidence. But wheu tbo woman
becomes mascullno and the man ef
femlnato the sexea-laio their natural
fascinating romanticism and become
prosaic. If you would give mo all
tho power and riches of Tibet I would
cot marry their effemlnato men.
Tbo women of Tibet were very
sprctty when they had a masculine
system of life and tho men manly.
Our old sculptures and paintings
speak of an era when there was a
romance and poetry in tbo relation
of a man to a woman, But I assure
you there Is nothing of that kind in
present fomlnlstlo Tibet. The Tyoman
marry men as they would perform
any trivial social function without
the least show of romanticism. When
n man kisses a woman they do not
feel a microscopical part of the aes
thetics sensation that Is tbo case with
lovers when the man Is mascullno
and tbe woman feminine.
As soon as I am through with, my
musical engagements hero In ' the
West I shall make a trip to my natlvei
land, where I shall meet my husband,
who went there to begin a rigorous
masculine movement. Ho Is now pub
lishing a weekly paper in which hw
is advocating that the men should
be at least equal to tbe women polit
ically. He is organizing a vigorous!
campaign against polyandry by pub
lishing caricatures of our ridiculous
families. And when I return I cer-l
talnly will Join him and say: "Down
with petticoat political"
in m- 11 . .. - ...
a me young men m libet, my future husband was very shy when I first called en klm. Hitsif,' I said, I leva you, and
""in you in marry m-