A tribal council’s decision not to grant a Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate to any Khasi person who takes her or his father’s surname has sparked a verbal brawl in matrilineal Meghalaya.
Meghalaya Matrilineal Society
- Matrilineal descent is practised by several tribes in Meghalaya, northeast India.
- The main tribes addressed in the essay are the Khasi and Garo.
- The Khasi are referred to as “Ki Hynniew Trep” (The Seven Huts), while the Garo are referred to as Achik.
- These tribes are proud of their matrilineal tradition, although there are fears about their decline.
Background
- The Khasi people are an ancient tribe with the world’s largest surviving matrilineal society.
- Khasis, along with other subgroups like as the Garo, live in Meghalaya as well as territories bordering Assam and Bangladesh.
- The Khasi people have a matrilineal tradition that is unique in India.
- The Khasi tribe’s mythology, folklore, and origin stories emphasise matrilineal principles.
- The reference to “Nari Rajya” in the epic Mahabharata is most likely related to the matrilineal culture of Meghalaya’s Khasi and Jaintia Hills.
Rights, Functions, and Responsibilities
- Women are dominant in Meghalaya’s matrilineal society.
- Ka Khadduh, the youngest daughter, receives ancestral property.
- After marriage, husbands reside with their mother-in-law.
- Children are given the surname of their mother.
- If a couple does not have any daughters, they can adopt one and give her property rights.
- The birth of a girl is honoured, and there is no societal shame attached to women remarrying or having children outside of marriage.
- Women have the right to marry outside of their tribe.
- Independent, well-dressed unmarried women prefer not to marry because they value security.
- Women run a large number of small enterprises.
Practises of the Garo and Khasi are compared
- In 1994, Bina Agarwal contrasted Garo and Khasi practises. (Aspirants with Sociology optional will undoubtedly recall the sociologist’s name.)
- Garo also practises matrilocal post-marital living and matrilineal inheritance.
- Both tribes tolerate premarital sex by women, although female adultery is penalised.
- The Khasi use duolocal post-marital housing, in which the husband stays apart from the wife’s parents.
- Cross-cousin marriage is frowned upon by the Khasi.
Men’s Roles and Political Representation
- Children are cared for by their moms or mothers-in-law.
- Khasi men see themselves as having a lower position and have created groups to preserve men’s rights.
- Women have little representation in politics, the legislative assembly, village councils, and panchayats.
- Women believe they handle money better and have more economic flexibility.
Matrilineal rather than matriarchal
- Society is matrilineal, but not matriarchal. In previous monarchy of the realm, the throne was inherited by the son of the king’s youngest sister.
- Even now, women have little representation in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, village councils, or panchayats.
Problems with the system
- Some Khasi men consider themselves to be second-class citizens.
- They have founded organisations to safeguard men’s equal rights.
- They declare that Khasi males lack stability, do not own land, do not control the family business, and are almost worthless.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/row-over-adopting-fathers-surname-in-matrilineal-meghalaya/article66856681.ece