Marumakkathayam was a system of

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...

inheritance prevalent in regions what now form part of the

southern Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

state

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

. Descent and the inheritance of property was traced through females. It was followed by all

Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom hist ...

castes, Ambalavasi and tribal groups. The elder male was considered the head known as karanavar and the entire assets of the family were controlled by him as if he was the sole owner. The properties were not handed to his sons but to the daughters of his sons or to their sisters. The word literally means inheritance by sisters' children, as opposed to sons and daughters. 'Marumakkal', in the

Malayalam language Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

, means nephews and nieces. The joint family under the matrilineal system is known as

Tharavad Tharavad () (തറവാട്), is the Malayalam word for the ancestral home of aristocratic families in Kerala, which usually served as the common house for the joint family system practiced in the state. The German linguist Hermann Gund ...

and formed the nucleus of the society in Malabar. The customary law of inheritance was codified by the Madras Marumakkathayam Act 1932, Madras Act No. 22 of 1933, published in the ''Fort St. George Gazette'' on 1 August 1933. Malabar was part of the Madras Presidency in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. In the Madras Marumakkathayam Act 1932, 'Marumakkathayam' is defined as the system of inheritance in which descent is traced by females, and 'Marumakkathayee' means a person governed by the Marumakkathayam law of inheritance. The system of inheritance is now abolished by The Joint Family System (Abolition) Act, 1975, by the Kerala State Legislature.

Modern changes and adaptations

By the beginning of the 20th century, marumakkathayam was increasingly seen as an undesirable remnant of a feudal past, and discontented groups including Nair men sought to bring reform. The reforms were pushed through in spite of opposition from conservative factions led by

Kesava Pillai of Kandamath M. R. Ry. Chempakaraman Padmanabhan Kesava Pillai Avergal of Kandamath, Pillai of Kandamath (1830–1924), was an Indian Zamindar, one of the jenmis of Travancore and a member of the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly. Life Early life He was bor ...

in the Travancore Court, Sree Mulam State Council and by leading members of society such as

C. V. Raman Pillai Cannankara Velayudhan Raman Pillai (19 May 1858 – 21 March 1922), also known as C. V., was one of the major Indian novelists and playwrights and a pioneering playwright and novelist of Malayalam literature. He was known for his historical nov ...

Jeffrey in the Decline of Nayar Dominance in Travancore, See notes under C V Raman Pillai in the states of

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

and Tiruvitankoor, and the British Indian province of Malabar, which later joined together to form Kerala in 1957.

Modern changes and adaptations

See also

References

Further reading