Editing Matrilineality (section)

===Asia ===
==== China ====       <!-- a target for links from other articles -->
Originally, [[Chinese surname]]s were derived matrilineally,<ref name=naming>linguistics.berkeley.edu (2004).  http://www.linguistics.berkeley.edu/~rosemary/55-2004-names.pdf, "Naming practices". A PDF file with a section on "Chinese naming practices (Mak et al., 2003)".</ref> although by the time of the [[Shang dynasty]] (1600 to 1046 [[BCE]]) they had become patrilineal.<ref name=Zhimin>{{cite journal |last1=Zhimin |first1=An |title=Archaeological Research on Neolithic China |journal=Current Anthropology |date=1988 |volume=29 |issue=5 |pages=753–759 |doi=10.1086/203698 |jstor=2743616 |s2cid=144920735 }}</ref>

Archaeological data supports the theory that during the [[Neolithic]] period (7000 to 2000 [[BCE]]) in China, Chinese matrilineal clans evolved into the usual patrilineal families by passing through a transitional patrilineal clan phase.<ref name=Zhimin /> Evidence includes some "richly furnished" tombs for young women in the early Neolithic [[Yangshao]] culture, whose multiple other collective burials imply a matrilineal clan culture.<ref name=Zhimin /> Toward the late Neolithic period, when burials were apparently of couples, "a reflection of patriarchy", an increasing elaboration of presumed chiefs' burials is reported.<ref name=Zhimin />

Relatively isolated ethnic minorities such as the [[Mosuo]] (Na) in southwestern China are highly matrilineal. 

==== India ====
<!-- a redirect target  for links from other articles -->
{{Main|Marumakkathayam|Aliyasantana|Meghalaya#Social_institutions}}
Of communities recognized in the [[Constitution of India|national Constitution]] as Scheduled Tribes, "some&nbsp;... [are] matriarchal and matrilineal"<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1080/13545701.2012.752312 | volume=19 | title=Women's Empowerment and Gender Bias in the Birth and Survival of Girls in Urban India | year=2013 | journal=Feminist Economics | pages=1–28 | last1 = Sinha Mukherjee | first1 = Sucharita| s2cid=155056803 }}, p.&nbsp;9, citing Srinivas, Mysore Narasimhachar, ''The Cohesive Role of Sanskritization and Other Essays'' (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1989), & Agarwal, Bina, ''A Field of One's Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia'' (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994).</ref> "and thus have been known to be more egalitarian."<ref>Mukherjee, Sucharita Sinha, ''Women's Empowerment and Gender Bias in the Birth and Survival of Girls in Urban India'', ''op. cit.'', p.&nbsp;9.</ref> Some Hindu communities in Southwest India practiced matriliny, especially the [[Nair]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Panikkar|first=Kavalam Madhava|author-link=Kavalam Madhava Panikkar|date=July–December 1918|title=Some Aspects of Nayar Life|url=https://archive.org/stream/SomeAspectsOfNayarLife/SomeAspectsOfNayarLifeCopy#page/n0/mode/2up|journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|volume=48|pages=254–293|doi=10.2307/2843423|jstor=2843423|access-date=2011-06-09|ref=Panikkar1918}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Murray Schneider|first1=David|last2=Gough|first2=Kathleen|title=Matrilineal Kinship|publisher=University of California Press|year=1961|isbn=9780520025295|location=Berkeley|pages=298–384 is the whole "Nayar: Central Kerala" chapter, for example}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=lfdvTbfilYAC Accessible here, via GoogleBooks.]</ref> (or ''Nayar''), [[Ezhava|Tiyyas]]<ref>[[Thomas Nossiter|Nossiter, Thomas Johnson]] (1982). ''Kerala's Identity: Unity and Diversity''. In ''Communism in Kerala: A Study in Political Adaptation''. University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-04667-2}}. Retrieved 2011-06-09. P.&nbsp;30.</ref> and some [[Namboothiri]] Brahmins<ref>{{Cite web |title=Matriarchy Among Namboothiris |url=https://www.namboothiri.com/articles/matriarchy.htm |access-date=2025-02-19 |website=www.namboothiri.com}}</ref> in the state of [[Kerala]], and the [[Bunt (community)|Bunts]] and [[Billava]] in the state of [[Karnataka]]. The system of inheritance was known as [[Marumakkathayam]] in the ''Nair'' community or [[Aliyasantana]] in the ''[[Bunt (community)|Bunt]]'' and the ''[[Billava]]'' community, and both communities were subdivided into [[clan]]s. This system was exceptional in the sense that it was one of the few traditional systems in India that gave women some liberty and the right to property.

In the matrilineal system of [[Kerala]], southern India, the family lived together in a [[tharavadu]] which was composed of a mother, her brothers and younger sisters, and her children in a system called as [[Marumakkathayam]]. The oldest male member was known as the [[Karnavar]] and was the head of the household, managing the family estate. Lineage was traced through the mother, and the children belonged to the mother's family. The [[surnames|surname]] would be from the maternal side and all family property was jointly owned. In the event of a partition, the shares of the children were clubbed with that of the mother. The Karnavar's property was inherited by his sisters' sons rather than his own sons. Almost all the kingdoms in Kerala practised this system, with the Karnavar of the family becoming the king. The [[Arakkal kingdom#Ali Rajas and Arakkal Beevis|Arakkal kingdom]] of Kerala followed a similar matrilineal system of descent: the eldest member of the family, whether male or female, became its head and ruler. (For further information see the articles on [[Nair]], [[Ambalavasi]], [[Bunt (community)|Bunts]] and [[Billava]]). [[Amitav Ghosh]] has stated that, although there were numerous other matrilineal succession systems in communities of the south Indian coast, the Nairs "achieved an unparalleled eminence in the anthropological literature on matriliny".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ghosh|first=Amitav|title=The Imam and the Indian: prose pieces.|year=2003|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=9788175300477|page=193|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQHp9wsWaZcC}} To access it via GoogleBooks, click on book title.</ref>

In the [[northeast India]]n state [[Meghalaya]], the [[Khasi people|Khasi]], [[Garo people|Garo]], [[Pnar people|Jaintia people]] have a long tradition of a largely matrilinear system in which the youngest daughter inherits the wealth of the parents and takes over their care.<ref name="Choudhury2016">{{cite book|author=Sanghamitra Choudhury|title=Women and Conflict in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pWyFCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT92|date=5 February 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-55361-8|pages=92}}</ref>

==== Indonesia ====
{{Main|Minangkabau people}}
In the [[Minangs|Minangkabau]] matrilineal [[clan]] culture in [[Indonesia]], a person's [[clan]] name is important in their marriage and their other cultural-related events.<ref name="Sanday">{{Cite journal |last=Sanday |first=Peggy Reeves |date=December 2002 |title=Commentary: Matriarchy and Islam Post-9/11: A Report from Indonesia |url=https://web.sas.upenn.edu/psanday/reports/matriarchy-and-islam-post-911-a-report-from-indonesia/ |journal=Anthropology News |volume=43 |issue=9 |pages=7 |doi=10.1111/an.2002.43.9.7}}</ref><ref name=SandayBk>Sanday, Peggy Reeves (2004). ''Women at the Center: Life in a Modern Matriarchy''. Cornell University Press. {{ISBN|0-8014-8906-7}}. Parts of this book are available online at books.google.com</ref><ref name=Caitlin>Fitzsimmons, Caitlin (21Oct09). http://www.roamingtales.com/2009/10/21/a-matrilineal-islamic-society-in-sumatra/, "A matrilineal, Islamic society in Sumatra". Archived https://archive.today/20130202004556/http://www.roamingtales.com/2009/10/21/a-matrilineal-islamic-society-in-sumatra/ on 2 February 2013.</ref> Two totally unrelated people who share the same clan name can never be married because they are considered to be from the same clan mother (unless they come from distant villages). Likewise, when [[Minangs]] meet total strangers who share the same clan name, anywhere in Indonesia, they could theoretically expect to feel that they are distant relatives.<ref>Sanday 2004, p.67</ref> Minang people do not have a family name or surname; neither is one's important clan name included in one's name; instead one's [[given name]] is the only name one has.<ref>Sanday 2004, p.241</ref>

The [[Minangs]] are one of the world's largest matrilineal societies/cultures/ethnic groups, with a population of 4 million in their home province [[West Sumatra]] in Indonesia and about 4 million elsewhere, mostly in Indonesia. The Minang people are well known within their country for their tradition of matriliny and for their "dedication to Islam" – despite Islam being "supposedly patrilineal".<ref name=Sanday /> This well-known accommodation, between their traditional complex of customs, called [[adat]], and their religion, was actually worked out to help end the Minangkabau 1821–37 [[Padri War]].<ref name=Sanday /> 

The [[Minangkabau people|Minangkabau]] are a prime example of a matrilineal culture with female inheritance.  With Islamic religious background of [[complementarian]]ism and places a greater number of men than women in positions of religious and political power. Inheritance and proprietorship pass from mother to daughter.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Peletz|first1=Michael G.|title=The King Is Dead; Long Live the Queen!|journal=American Ethnologist|date=2005|volume=32|issue=1|pages=39–41|jstor=3805147|doi=10.1525/ae.2005.32.1.39}}</ref>

Besides Minangkabau, several other ethnics in Indonesia are also matrilineal and have similar culture as the Minangkabau. They are Suku Melayu Bebilang, Suku Kubu and Kerinci people. Suku Melayu Bebilang live in Kota Teluk Kuantan, Kabupaten Kuantan Singingi (also known as Kuansing), Riau. They have similar culture as the Minang. Suku Kubu people live in Jambi and South Sumatera. They are around 200 000 people. Suku Kerinci people mostly live in Kabupaten Kerinci, Jambi. They are around 300 000 people.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

====Kurds====
{{Main|Mangur (Kurdish tribe)|Mokryan}} 
Matriliny was occasionally practiced by mainstream [[Sorani]], [[Zazas|Zaza]], [[Feyli (Kurdish tribe)|Feyli]], [[Gorani people|Gorani]], and [[Alevi]] [[Kurds]], though the practice was much rarer among non-[[Alevi]] [[Kurmanji]]-speaking [[Kurds]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Kevin McKiernan|title=The Kurds|url=https://archive.org/details/kurdspeopleinsea00mcki|url-access=registration|date=7 March 2006|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=9780312325466}}</ref>

The [[Mangur (Kurdish tribe)|Mangur]] clan of the, Culturally, [[Mokri (surname)|Mokri]] tribal confederation and, politically, [[Bolbas Federation]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Minorsky |first1=V. |title=Mongol Place-Names in Mukri Kurdistan |journal=Mongolica |date=1957 |volume=19 |issue=1 |page=75 |jstor=609632 }}</ref> is an enatic clan, meaning members of the clan can only inherit their mothers last name and are considered to be a part of the mothers family. The entire Mokri tribe may have also practiced this form of enaticy before the collapse of their emirate and its direct rule from the Iranian or Ottoman state, or perhaps the tradition started because of depopulation in the area due to raids.<ref>{{cite book|author=Abdurrahman Sharafkandi|title=Çêştî Micêvir}}</ref>

==== Malaysia ====
{{Main|Adat perpatih}}
A culture similar to lareh bodi caniago, practiced by the [[Minangkabau people|Minangkabau]], is the basis for ''[[adat perpatih]]'' practices in the state of [[Negeri Sembilan]] and parts of [[Malacca]] as a product of West Sumatran migration into the [[Malay Peninsula]] in the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://go2travelmalaysia.com/tour_malaysia/ns_historical.htm | title=Negeri Sembilan – History and Culture | access-date=4 March 2017 | archive-date=28 July 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728154442/http://go2travelmalaysia.com/tour_malaysia/ns_historical.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://museumvolunteersjmm.com/2016/04/04/the-minangkabau-of-negeri-sembilan/ | title=The Minangkabau of Negeri Sembilan| date=2016-04-04}}</ref>

==== Sri Lanka ====
{{Further|India}}
Matriliny among the [[Muslims]] and [[Tamils]] in the Eastern Province of [[Sri Lanka]] arrived from [[Kerala]], India via Muslim traders before 1200 CE.<ref>Ruwanpura, Kanchana N. (2006). ''Matrilineal Communities, Patriarchal Realities: A Feminist Nirvana Uncovered''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, paperback ({{ISBN|978-0-472-06977-4}})(fieldwork in 1998–'99 during the [[Sri Lankan civil war]], per p. 45); see p. 51.</ref><ref>This page 51 of the Ruwanpura book is accessible online via Google Books (books.google.com). The book's TOC and pages 1–11 and 50–62 are currently accessible.</ref><ref>[[Dennis B. McGilvray|McGilvray, Dennis B.]] (1989). "Households in Akkaraipattu: Dowry and Domestic Organization among Matrilineal Tamils and Moors of Sri Lanka," in J. N. Gray and D. J. Mearns (eds.) ''Society From the Inside Out: Anthropological Perspectives on the South Asian Household'', pp. 192–235. London: Sage Publications.</ref> Matriliny here includes [[kinship]] and social organization, inheritance and property rights.<ref>Humphries, Jane (1993). "Gender Inequality and Economic Development," in Dieter Bos (ed) ''Economics in a Changing World, Volume 3: Public Policy and Economic Organization.'' New York: St. Martin's Press; pp. 218–33.</ref><ref name=Agarwal1996 /><ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p. 1. Accessible online as above.</ref> For example, "the mother's [[dowry]] property and/or house is passed on to the eldest daughter."<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p. 53. Accessible online as above.</ref><ref>McGilvray, 1989, pp. 201–2.</ref> The [[Sinhalese people]] are the third ethnic group in eastern Sri Lanka,<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, pp. 3–4(accessible online as above) and p. 39.</ref> and have a kinship system which is "intermediate" between that of matriliny and that of [[patriliny]],<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p. 72.</ref><ref>Yalman, Nur (1971). ''Under the Bo Tree: Studies in Caste, Kinship, and Marriage in the Interior of Ceylon.'' Berkeley: University of California Press.</ref> along with "bilateral inheritance", intermediate between matrilineal and patrilineal inheritance.<ref name=Agarwal1996 /><ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p. 71.</ref> While the first two groups speak the [[Tamil language]], the third group speaks the [[Sinhala language]]. The Tamils largely identify with [[Hinduism]], the Sinhalese being primarily [[Buddhist]].<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, pp. 3–4. Accessible online as above.</ref> The three groups are about equal in population size.<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p. 39.</ref>
 	
[[Patriarchal]] social structures apply to all of Sri Lanka, but in the [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern Province]] are mixed with the matrilineal features summarized in the paragraph above and described more completely in the following subsection:

According to Kanchana N. Ruwanpura, [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern Sri Lanka]] "is highly regarded even among" [[Feminist economics|feminist economists]] "for the relatively favourable position of its women, reflected" in women's equal achievements in [[Human Development Index|Human Development Indices]] "(HDIs) as well as matrilineal and" [[bilateral descent|bilateral]] "inheritance patterns and property rights".<ref>Ruwanpura, (2006), p.1. Accessible online as above.</ref><ref>Humphries, 1993, p. 228.</ref>
She also conversely argues that "''feminist economists'' need to be cautious in applauding Sri Lanka's gender-based achievements and/or matrilineal communities",<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p. 3. Accessible online as above.</ref> because these matrilineal communities coexist with "''patriarchal'' structures and ideologies" and the two "can be strange but ultimately compatible bedfellows",<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p. 10 and see p. 6 ("prevalence of patriarchal structures and ideologies"). Accessible online as above.</ref> as follows:

She "positions Sri Lankan women within gradations of ''patriarchy'' by beginning with a brief overview of the main religious traditions," [[Buddhism]], [[Hinduism]], and [[Islam]], "and the ways in which patriarchal interests are promoted through religious practice" in Eastern Sri Lanka (but without being as repressive as classical patriarchy).<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, pp.&nbsp;4–5. Accessible online as above.</ref> Thus, "feminists have claimed that Sri Lankan women are relatively well positioned in the" [[South Asian]] region,<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p. 4. Accessible online as above.</ref><ref name=Agarwal1996>Agarwal, Bina (1996). ''A Field of One's Own: Gender and Land Rights in South Asia.'' New Delhi: Cambridge University Press. (First edition was 1994.)</ref> despite "patriarchal institutional laws that ... are likely to work against the interests of women," which is a "co-operative conflict" between women and these laws.<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p. 182.</ref> (Clearly "female-heads have no legal recourse" from these laws which state "patriarchal interests".)<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p. 182 (both quotations).</ref> For example, "the economic welfare of female-heads [heads of households] depends upon networks" ("of kin and [matrilineal] community"), "networks that mediate the patriarchal-ideological nexus."<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, pp.&nbsp;145–146.</ref> She wrote that "some female heads possessed" "feminist consciousness"<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p.&nbsp;142 (both quotations).</ref>{{Efn|Feminist [[consciousness raising]], a means of raising awareness of a feminist perspective or subject}} and, at the same time, that "in many cases female-heads are not vociferous feminists&nbsp;... but rather 'victims' of patriarchal relations and structures that place them in precarious positions.... [while] they have held their ground&nbsp;... [and] provided for their children".<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p.&nbsp;37.</ref>

On the other hand, she also wrote that feminists including [[Malathi de Alwis]] and [[Kumari Jayawardena]] have criticized a romanticized view of women's lives in Sri Lanka put forward by Yalman, and mentioned the Sri Lankan case "where young women raped (usually by a man) are married-off/required to cohabit with the rapists!"<ref>Ruwanpura, 2006, p.&nbsp;76 n.&nbsp;7.</ref>

==== Vietnam====
Most ethnic groups classified as "([[Montagnard (Vietnam)|Montagnards]], [[Austronesian peoples|Malayo-Polynesian]] and [[Austroasian]])" are matrilineal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,463af2212,469f2f9a2,49749c7e16,0.html|title=UNHCR – Document Not Found|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|last=Refugees|website=UNHCR}}</ref>

On [[North Vietnam]], according to Alessandra Chiricosta, the legend of [[Âu Cơ]] is said to be evidence of "the presence of an original 'matriarchy'&nbsp;... and [it] led to the double kinship system, which developed there&nbsp;.... [and which] combined matrilineal and patrilineal patterns of family structure and assigned equal importance to both lines."<ref>Chiricosta, Alessandra, ''Following the Trail of the Fairy-Bird: The Search For a Uniquely Vietnamese Women's Movement'', in Roces, Mina, & Louise P. Edwards, eds., ''Women's Movements in Asia: Feminisms and Transnational Activism'' (London or Oxon: Routledge, pbk. 2010 ({{ISBN|978-0-415-48703-0}})), p.&nbsp;125 and see p.&nbsp;126 (single quotation marks so in original) (author Chiricosta philosopher & historian of religions, esp. intercultural philosophy, religious & cultural dialogue, gender, & anthropology, & taught at La Sapienza (univ.), Urbaniana (univ.), & Roma Tre (univ.), all in Italy, School of Oriental & African Studies, & Univ. of Ha Noi).</ref>{{Efn|[[Patrilineality|Patrilineal]], belonging to the father's lineage, generally for inheritance}}