Editing Matrilineality (section)

==== India ====
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{{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>