NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY ODISHA

PERSONAL LAWS II PROJECT ON

IDENTIFYING MATRILINEALITY IN INDIA

SUBMITTED TO:

Ms. Nikita Pattajoshi

SUBMITTED BY:

IMLIKABA JAMIR
(2018/ B.A.LL.B/
042)

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 Introduction

 Matrilineality around the world usually determines who will inherit property on a person's
death. Though families that follow the European model take the father's name and are
therefore patrilineal, matrilineal societies have existed around the world, including among
various American Indian tribes. The main goal of this article is to identify the matrilineality in
India and in order to do so; this study covers a very specific state in India which is Meghalaya. If
we desire to get a good understanding in identifying the presence of matrilineality in India, for
the pursuit of knowledge and farther clarity on the topic it would be wise to choose a particular
location or state in which matrilineal practices prevail in order to identify the matrilineality in
India. Matrilineality has its roots firmly implanted in the soil of various societies and its culture.
Matrilineal practices can be interpreted as a part of the culture in many societies. Culture is, in
simple words is a system that was created out of a certain need that originated several
generations before; A system that has since been passed down from generation after generation
after a long process of trial and error.

The Matrilineal culture or practice is one such practice that uses the mother’s bloodline in order
to trace one’s lineage. In the state of Meghalaya, it plays an essential role in contributing to the
cultural identity and to the functioning of the social mechanism among the three prevalent tribes
present in Meghalaya. The names of these three tribes are the Jaintias, the Garos and the Khasis.
In this study of identifying matrilineality in India, we will be looking at the matrilineal system of
the Khasis of Meghalaya. In order to do this we must first get at least a basic understanding of
the concept behind matrilineal system.

The field of psychology and Sociology have for many years, studied the system of Patrilineality
in order to understand the inner workings and functioning of both the human mind and its need
for social or cultural identity. For reasons that are unsure to most experts and learned individuals
in the field of sociology and psychology, various cultures had been organized under a system
known as the “mother-right”1 or the “matriarchy”. These societies were seen to be all over the
globe, but a keen observation made about these tribes was that they were usually tribes involved
and dependent on agriculture2. The actual time period or even a period in history when societies

1
IBID (p.108)
2
Fuchs Stephen, The origin of Man and His Culture (Asia Publishing House, p.107, 1963)

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started adopting this form of cultural organization cannot be found; in fact most records show
that the time periods given for the origination of these societies were all based on assumption. A
fond assumption based on ancient practices in these agricultural societies was that since it was
women who first discovered the method of agricultural cultivation, women were considered to be
on a higher pedestal then men, hence giving birth to the culture of “mother-right”. Although this
was widely argued, it could not be denied that since ancient times, agricultural practices and
work was considered “women’s work” in many cultures and especially when the men or male
figures of a household had to spend time away from their homes and families to either go on
voyages, hunting expeditions or to wars; it was the mother or the woman of the house who
assumed the role of the provider hence assuming the position of authority and leadership in the
absence of male competence in these areas. However it is important to know the difference
between the terms “Matrilineal” and “Matriarchy”. In a matrilineal society, the descent is traced
through the lineage of the mother’s side while Matriarchy also traces the decent from the
mother’s lineage it also includes rule under females. In matrilineal societies the inheritance of
property goes through the mother’s side of the family and the mother’s name is used to represent
the family and its members.

An overview of Matrilineality in Meghalaya

Apart from the Khasis and the Garos in Meghalaya, the Jaintias follow a system that resembles
the matriarchal system rather than the matrilineal system. The mother or female head of the
family is usually held as the “creator” of the family and acts as the provider for her children who
comprise of the members of the family. When it comes to property, the woman remains the
owner of the house after marriage and is to be visited by her husband only during nocturnal
hours; this shows that they follow a system known as “visit marriage”. Whether it is intentional
or not, this system makes it so that the children are hardly ever in the presence of their father,
hence the only other male parental figure they have to turn to are paternal uncles. This leads to
the children growing up with a far greater attachment to them than to their own father. The extent
of the mother’s power reaches as far as to have complete control over her sons. The control is so
powerful that it is a cultural norm that the sons belong to the mother even after their marriage.
Therefore the Jaintias hold that a man from their tribe has much stronger connections to his clan

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than a man from the Khasi tribe. The Jaintias follow a system of passing down property through
inheritance through a process called “Ka Khadduh” meaning that the youngest daughter of the
family is entitled to the “lion’s share” which basically translates to the biggest portion of the
property, including the ancestral properties. This system of inheritance is also followed by the
Khasis.

The introduction of Christianity brought along by the earliy Christian missionaries in these
societies has definitely changed a vast majority of the practices followed among both the khasis
and the Jaintias. The tribal people who had converted to Christianity have been observed to no
longer practice the form of marriage known as “visit marriage” while it must be noted that most
orthodox followers of the cultural ways who did not accept Christianity still follow their old
ways strictly. In the tribe of the Garos, the social constructs that have been put into place by
matrilineal practices in such an ingraining fashion that it has become an integral part of their
culture; so much so that to outside observers it has become one of the aspects of their social
structure and culture that has endured through the test of time.

In the topic of inheritance, the Garos differ from the Jaintias and the Khasis where the female
line receives the privilege of inheriting the family property. However, there is one difference in
the system of inheritance under matrilineality among the Garos, that is; when the parents decide
which child shall be the heir to the inheritance, they chose what is known as the “nokma” which
translates into the heiress or the prize daughter in the eyes of both the parents. The age of the
child does not play a factor in this selection process as the “best child” is totally subjective to the
preference of the parents. After the marriage of the heir (the daughter selected to be the heir) the
husband is expected to stay at the wife’s house with her parents. The property is managed by the
son in law or the husband and when he becomes too old or unable to take proper care of the
property, according to tradition the property is to be passed on to his nephew i.e. sister’s son.

The aspects discussed in the lines above are the practices that are clearly different than the
system followed by the Khasis where the mother or woman is the sole leader and manages the
property till the event of her death. When the mother dies the members of the clan are required to
make a decision on whom to appoint as the next head who will manage the property. From this
distinction it is clear to see that a strict interpretation of the term “Matriarchy” and the system it
entails is not followed by the Garos. The whole system of matrilineality around the world, within

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the country and in Meghalaya for this chapter, has seen many significant changes as the years
have gone by. Religion, education, politics, technology and other external factors have
influenced the minds of people into changing their perspectives and the way they go about doing
certain things which in turn has brought significant changes in the cultural practices as well.
Newly established relationships that have resulted from interacting with groups of people from
different societies and cultural backgrounds have also brought about different changes in the way
the matrilineal system works in Meghalaya.

Only mothers or mother-in-laws look after the children. Men are not even entitled to take part in
family gatherings. The husband is up against a whole clan of people: his wife, his mother-in-law
and his children. So all he can do is play the guitar, sing, take to drink and die young

Factors that have affected the matrilineal Education and the Environment

In today’s ever changing world, it is much easier to notice the role of different innovations and
different perspectives in the reshaping and re- molding of society, more so than any period of
time in the past. These changes in the society have led to the changing of the behaviors and
overall attitudes of the people residing within these societies towards the struggles and hardships
of each and every day. Education can be said to be one of the chief factors that have caused a
high stir up in almost every aspect of social activities. Education in all levels have helped shape
the traditional background of the people in Meghalaya since the earliest times where children
would be gathered in village halls to be educated about their customs and other cultural
practices; a practice that has since been successful in passing down these cultural practices from
generation to generation.

The first introductions to formal education were brought by Christian missionaries. The
education brought on by these missionaries had resulted in many changes in the matrilineal
system in Meghalaya. Since the Christians had preached that according to their faith, a man and
women were to stay under the same household and act as a singular unit, each serving each other
and working on their own goals towards the family’s wellbeing; this brought about a change in
the practice of post marriage conduct where the newly married couples were separated and were
only allowed to be united once it was night, mainly for the reasons of procreation. This practice

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of “visit marriage” under matrilineality had created many riffs in the way the families maintained
a relationship with one another. Further education had also changed the perspective of some of
the tribals who, for many generations had been following the system of inheritance under
matrilineality where the best child would be picked among the daughters or the female children
of the family in order to select an heir for the family property.

The rise in the number of highly educated members of the society in Meghalaya have also played
a significant role in doing away with most of the practices that do not fully benefit the model of
the modern functional family that comes with the matrilineal system. While there is nothing
wrong with the whole concept of matrilineality, it has led to the value of men in the society to
drop to a sad rate because of the fact that we humans have a tendency to overstate our value at
the cost of another’s. The attitude of the men had changed from over the years as they were no
longer viewed as integral parts of the family with respect to its administration and the role of the
provider. Many educated individuals do not see the point in a society dictated by the matrilineal
system or more specifically the “matriarchy” system of society.

Times are changing with external factors finally penetrating the thick dome of cultural and
traditional practices related to how a husband and wife act in a matrilineal marriage perform their
duties. It has been noticed that the image of the dominant female authoritative figure is no longer
as prevalent as in recorded texts and accounts. Rather, there is a shift that is being noticed
towards a more progressive approach where both the husband and wife work in collaboration and
harmony in performing their duties for the family.

Unrest in the Khasi Matrilineal Society

The younger generations of the societies within the country have notices different changes in the
way of life which has led them to start questioning the customs and cultural practices that have
prevailed for so long and have played a major role in shaping their beliefs and attitudes towards
certain things in life. The lack of absolute authority for men after marriage in the Khasi
matrilineal society has led to a steady buildup of stress and unrest. The feeling of incompetence
when it comes to decision making and authority over their wives and children in general has led
to a feeling of dread as the men now see that other traditional norms practice the exact opposite.

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It has been observed that in marriages involving a “non-heiress” or a favorite child in the
matrilineal society of the khasis, the marriage seems to last longer and remains much more stable
then when a favorite daughter is married off. This is mainly because of the reason that the
husband is expected and forced by cultural norms to move into the house of the wife to live with
her parents, to carry on her family’s bloodline and not his own.

With the rise in Education rates in the Northeast in general and in Meghalaya in particular, there
has been a rise in divorces where the wife is the “heiress”. The husbands usually initiate such
divorces due to their inability to take the “strain of obligations” placed upon them by the wife’s
parents or family. Whereas divorce cases in marriages involving the non-heiress are significantly
lower when compared.

Another characteristic of the matrimonial system under matrilineality among the Khasis is that
the men, according to traditional practices; do not receive any share of the ancestral or family
property as they are only looked upon as caretakers of the properties. This has led to obvious
feelings of un-interest and a lack of attachment towards the bride’s family further leading to the
downfall of the economic status of the family due to this lack of interest. The drive to put any
significant towards the betterment of the economic status of the family decreases greatly due to
the fact that the husband is looked upon as an outsider even after years of marriage and that his
offspring will not bear his name but will instead bear the name of his wife’s family. As these
unsatisfactory feeling increases, it has been noticed that the husbands often look to other means
of comfort, leading to rise in substance abuse leading to broken households; further worsening
the bond they have with their children. It was stated in the earlier topic that the children would
usually grow closer to the uncles as a male authority figure, but with the changes brought along
by the influence of various socio-economic factors, the role of the uncles as figures of authority
in the family has further diminished as they continue to lose their foothold with the increase of
social and traditional demands with the passage of time. All these factors have led to the males in
the family, particularly the elders to live with a feeling of insignificance.

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 Status of Women in Meghalaya: Matrilineal system

Since the matrilineal system became an integral part of the culture in the tribes of Meghalaya,
women have found that it has offered them certain benefits that have in many ways provided
them with a sense of security from which they have derived their identity. It has offered them a
much greater sense of freedom in their marriage than in the conventional system of marriage and
it has also been a cause for the great respect that they command both within their families and in
the society.

It has been observed that women in Meghalaya have a sense of pride in contrast to their counter
parts in other Northeastern states as they carry their family’s lineage and heritage along with
them. The fact that their matrimonial home, possession of their ancestral property and position in
the society did not come through their spouse or his family has led to a feeling of independence
in the women. While it is not directly related to Meghalaya there is an amusing (true) story
where there was once a woman from Mizoram who was extremely famous for her achievement
of killing a tiger with a machete while being pregnant with her second child, as her husband was
away. In the period of this event unfolding there was a system that resembled matriarchy in a few
ways being practiced in the interior villages of Mizoram as well. It is seen in other cultures that
once women cross a certain threshold with respect to their age, they are looked after and their
male counterparts become more assertive in the direction of the family, however the women in
these tribes enjoy greater respect and power in the family as they mature with age till the time of
their death or unless they decide to transfer their authority to a younger female or daughter.

While this whole chapter has stated the power and autonomy of women in the family that follows
the matrilineal system in Meghalaya, a woman can be stripped of her autonomy as well as her

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right to inheritance by other members of the family if she fails to follow the code of conduct set
by the cultural heads or if she fails to perform her duties as culturally expected of her. It has to be
noted that along with the benefits that come under this system, there are also duties and
responsibilities that are shouldered by these women which dictate their conduct and demand a
significant amount of their time and effort to be considered competent members of the society.

Despite varying contradictions and criticisms towards matrilineality, the women under this
system show a higher sense and feeling of independence and security than women who are under
the patrilineal societies. It is obviously because of the freedom that this system provides women
to grow and thrive in a place of freedom and autonomy, which in many societies have proved to
be beneficial not only to the extent of the family level but to the society in general as economies
start growing with the rise in trade of local products which are a result of the agricultural and
handy-work that are done by the women in these societies. We have been cautioned to never
question the old ways by our predecessors as each act has been done with the intent to serve a
larger purpose. While this may not be true for most of the practices and norms that have been
passed down, it is definitely important to derive the core values and ideas from some of these
practices in order for it to be put to use in today’s world. As more and more women start working
in professional fields, they have started to pay less attention to the traditional ways that were
established under matrilineal system of marriage which demand that they take possession and
charge of the family or ancestral property. Another aspect that has reshaped the status of women
matrilineal societies is the rise in the number of cross culture marriage where the husband comes
from a completely different cultural and social background. With these type of marriages there
has been many cases of a more progressive approach to the matrilineal marriage system where
the daughter/ wife inherits her share of the ancestral property while assuming her husband’s
name and family heritage. These types of marriages have seen a very high rate of success in
terms of divorce rates when compared to inter cultural marriage. Many working women have
also stated that they prefer to settle outside of their homes state in order to avail better job
opportunities and education, which has also led to a steady drop in the number of families
actually involved in matrilineal system.

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 Conclusion

The main objective of this article was to identify matrilineality in India, and I believe with the in
depth study that has been done on the matrilineal system in Meghalaya, we have succeeded in
that objective.

We have investigated the presence of matrilineality in a part of India that is quite often
overlooked, mainly because of the small population count, but also because of the quite lifestyle
that the people in the North East prefer to indulge in.

The attitude of the people of Meghalaya towards matrilineal system should give us a good
indication and a very good idea of the scene in India because of the wide range of the renditions
of this system that is practiced across the three major tribes in Meghalaya. The Garos, while
being different in their practice of the matrilineal system in quite a few ways, keep their
traditions to this day with a few exceptions and changes that have been brought on by the
changing of times. The Jiantias and the Khasis share several similarities but they too share their
differences with respect to matrilineal system.

Likewise I believe that it is the same for the rest of the country with respect to the concept that:
Matrilineality in itself exists and prevails in many of the Societies in India but they exist in
different renditions with varying differences with one another. I believe that while it may have its
benefits, it also has its dark parts like all things in life. I am hopeful that changes towards the
right direction in years to come.

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