Himachal's interaction with colonialism led to the creation of a complex socio-political milieu. Administrative necessities triggered migrations to this region from other parts of Punjab, and brought local customs like reet in contact with the people from the plains. In the 1920s a con-certed campaign began for the abolition of reet. Reet was regarded lewd and an immoral form of marriage, remarriage and divorce. Motivated by the reformist zeal of emulated social reformers, conjugal relations of the locals became a site for contestation. Reformism sought to counter this custom through shastric invalidation, which led to the development of a situation where native hills states and the British government debated, and some of the former enacted rules to abolish this custom. This article tries to evolve a critical understanding of the origins and nature of the debate on the abolition of reet.
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