Matrilineal Community

Nayars of South India

By: Vanshika Chaudhary
Harshita Yadav
Khushi Dagar
Sakshi Ranjan
 INTRODUCTION TO
MATRILINEAL COMMUNITIES

KIN GROUPS AND DESCENT

Contents KINSHIP TERMINOLOGY

DOMESTIC UNIT

MARRIAGE AND INHERTANCE

 Matrilineal Communities
• Matrilineal communities follow matrilineal
descent system where descent is traced
through the females.
• The line of inheritance of property is also
matrilineal, i.e. the ancestral property passes in
the next generation to one of the daughters.
• Examples of matrilineal communities include
the Khasis of Meghalaya, Nayars of Kerala and
Muslim matrilineal communities of the
Lakshadweep islands.
3
Nayars of
Kerala
 Introduction
• The Nayars of Kerala are found in North Kerala, Central
Kerala, and in the southern region around Travancore.
• They follow the matrilineal principle of descent and the
clan membership is traced through the mother’s clan.
• Land and property are also passed in the female line.

5
 Kin Groups and Descent
• The traditional Nayar tharavad consisted of all the matrilineally
related kin, male and female, descended from a common female
ancestor, living in one large house and compound.
• A traditional tharavad was composed of a woman, her children,
her daughters’ and her granddaughters' children, her brothers,
and descendants through her sisters.
• Within each tharavad a significant subgroup consisted of the set
of individuals headed by a living female ancestor called a tavari. 

6
 Socialisation
• Traditional socialisation patterns involved a strong emphasis on the use of shaming
as a technique of control.
• Traditionally, in all but the poorest tharavads, children (female as well as male)
were expected to learn to read and write Sanskrit written in the Malayalam
alphabet, and as soon as English education came to the region, boys started
learning English.
• Girls only started learning English later.
• Socialisation training strongly emphasized what people knew (i.e., keeping up
appearances) rather than superego (i.e., internalized conscience and values).

7
 Kinship Terminology
• Kinship terminology follows the Dravidian pattern, with the
exception that kin terms traditionally were not used for paternal
kin.
• Today, usage is completely of the Dravidian pattern with a clear
distinction between matrilateral and patrilateral kin.
• Mothers' sisters are called elder or younger mothers, and cross
cousins are distinguished from parallel cousins, who are equated
with one's own brothers and sisters.

8
 Domestic Unit
• The size and composition of the domestic unit have varied over time. Before
partition was permitted, it could consist of as many as 50 to 100 people.
• However, once partition was allowed, the size of units decreased rapidly, so
that by the late 1950s and 1960s the normal unit consisted of one or more
married women with their children, their mother and possibly some adult
male members of the matrilineage.
• The "visiting husband" had very little importance in his wife's family and had
no responsibility for his children. His main responsibilities were for his
sister's children.

9
There Comes Papa is an 1893 painting by the
Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma. The painting
focuses on Varma's daughter and grandson
looking towards the left at an approaching
father.
Evoking both Indian and European style, the
painting has been noted by critics for its
symbolism regarding the Nayar matrilineal
practices.
Ravi Varma's paintings of Nayar women were
reflective of this newfound redefinition of
societal roles, combining European influence
and native tradition.
10
 Marriage

• There were two kinds of marriage: talikettu kalyanam (tali [necklet]-

tying ceremony); and sambandham (the customary nuptials of a man
and woman).
• The tali-tying ceremony had to be held before puberty and often the
ceremony was held for several girls at the same time to save on
expenses. 
• Sambandam involved a man having a "visiting husband" relationship
with a woman. Traditionally, Nayar women were allowed to have more
than one “visiting husband”, either simultaneously or serially. 11
• Depending on the group the tali could be tied by a member of a linked
lineage (often two Nayar Lineages that frequently intermarried were
linked to one another), by a member of a higher subcaste of Nayars.
• By the mid-1950s, it became common for some girls to have the tali
tied by their mothers.
• It is still controversial as to whether this ceremony was ever a formal
marriage or if originally it was simply an age-grade ceremony, since it
often included a large number of girls ranging in age from 6 months to
12 or 14 years.
• Women did observe formal mourning practices for the men who tied
their talis.

12
 Inheritance

• Traditional inheritance was in the matriline only. Any property a

man possessed went to his sisters and their children.
• Even today it is customary for a man to put his self-acquired
property in his wife's name so that it can then be inherited
matrilineally.
• Furthermore, a man feels greater responsibility for his sister's
children than for his brother's children.
13
 Change in legal position of traditional
practices

• Nayar Act of 1925 allowed the individual property ownership

rights and recognized sambandham as real marriage. It led to
the weakening of the role of karanavan.
• Cochin Nayar Act of 1937-38 dissolved the evils of the joint
family system of the Nayars, leading to complete disruption of
the marumakkathayam as an institution, and freed joint family
from the control of the karanavan.
14
 Changes due to legislations

• Kerala Hindu Joint Family (Abolition) Act, 1975 has ensured the
disintegration of the traditional matrilineal system of inheritance and
has ushered the patrilineal system.
• The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 provides for a uniform system of
succession for all Hindus with respect to intestate succession.
• The Act provides equal rights to men and women with regard to
inheritance of property, and it applies to all persons governed by
marumakkathayam law as well. The Act also makes monogamy
compulsory for all classes of Hindus. 15
 Conclusion
• The Nayars of Kerala present a unique type of
matrilineal society, where the members were
historically known for their martial values.
• Because the property passes to Nayar women under
the matrilineal system, they were economically more
empowered.

16
 Vanshika Chaudhary

Thank Harshita Yadav

Khushi Dagar

you Sakshi Ranjan

17