By Neha Yadav
Image Source: Feminism India
In a country that is unabatedly patriarchal, Kerala is one of the states that chose to be radically different back in the 1800s. The communities inhabiting the state chose to give the power to women rather than men to steer the responsibilities of the lineage further.
This widely accepted system back in the 18th century came out of the Matrilineal society that harbored convictions from Hindu, Muslim, and Christian communities.
The Matrilineal society in Kerala is barely a sight to be observed in today’s 21st century. While some people consider it obsolete in today’s scenario, it remains sturdy in some homes of Kerala in the face of a fast-expanding patriarchal society.
Matriliny is a system in which a property is passed on to the daughter from the mother rather than being passed from the father to the son. This system of maternal lineage grew its roots in the 17th century when women were given the superior responsibility to run the household and have a social standing in the house.
While the men (‘warlords of Kerala’) were off to protect the land, men decided not to settle in one place after getting married. Instead, men had to go through a social contract traditionally accepted as Sambhandham in which women could stay in their ancestral homes (Tharavadu) even after the marriage.
Matriliny (Marrumakkathataym) allowed the women to stay put in their homes, run the household and carry forward their lineage to their daughters. However, the prime authority to make decisions in matriliny does not lie in the hands of the women.
It is the Mother’s brother (Karanavar) who takes most of the decisions by managing the estate, checking finances, and deciding who ties the knot with whom. The supreme power lying in the hands of the woman’s brother is what makes matriliny different from a matriarchal society.
In a matriarchal society, a woman is an ultimate decision-maker in the house. However, matrilineal society is far-flung from the idea of a woman being at the helm of making decisions.
In a state where more than 50% of Kerala’s population was matrilineal, many women set up their households, looked after the children, and were given the freedom of choosing until the 19th century. In 19th century, when Malabar got colonized by the British, the European influence established a stronghold on the nation. British frowned upon the idea of matriliny and thought of eradicating it from society.
The very thought of women still not being the prime decision-maker in a matrilineal society did not register with the British regime. It was in 1925 when Sethu Lakshmi Bai, the queen of Travancore signed a historic Nair Regulation Act to abolish matriliny and introduce patriliny in the Nair community of Kerala.
Later, in 1976, the Kerala legislature abolished matriliny and Kerala became the first and only state in which Kinship practice was abolished by the law.
All these years, matrilineal houses have been a standing testimony to a time when stereotypical gender norms were tested.
Even today, few homes in Kerala are observing the matrilineal system of inheritance that trace back to the era when more than half a population in Kerala was comfortable living the matrilineal set of rules.
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