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Socio 501

This document is a sociology assignment on the patrilineal system among North East Indian tribes. It discusses how inheritance, property, and family lineage is traced through the male line among tribes like the Naga and Mizo. While women have a protected status, they do not have equal rights to property or inheritance. The document provides context on tribal cultures and societies in North East India and examines arguments around whether these societies are truly patriarchal or practice balanced gender partnerships. It ultimately argues the patrilineal system ensures clear family identities and histories without causing gender oppression.

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Medemkaba I Kichu
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779 views6 pages

Socio 501

This document is a sociology assignment on the patrilineal system among North East Indian tribes. It discusses how inheritance, property, and family lineage is traced through the male line among tribes like the Naga and Mizo. While women have a protected status, they do not have equal rights to property or inheritance. The document provides context on tribal cultures and societies in North East India and examines arguments around whether these societies are truly patriarchal or practice balanced gender partnerships. It ultimately argues the patrilineal system ensures clear family identities and histories without causing gender oppression.

Uploaded by

Medemkaba I Kichu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Assignment

On
SOCIOLOGY (G) – 501(B)
Topic:
Patrilineal system in North East India

Prepared by:
Medemkaba I. Kichu
B.A 5th Semester, Roll No: 440
Submitted to:
Supongsangla Walling Asst. Professor
Dept. of Sociology

Date of Submission: 30th July 2019


Northeast India comprises of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. It is one
of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse regions in India. The
region has a high concentration of tribal population in the hilly states of
Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and also in
the hill districts of the state of Manipur, Assam and Tripura. Each tribe
has its own distinct historical identity, linguistic, cultural practices and
life styles that are carried forward from generation to generation. The
northeast Indian tribal society is egalitarian in nature. According to
Indian aboriginal traditions, the tribal societies inhabit and remain
within a definitive and common topography. Tribal society tends to be
considerate of humankind, its leadership being based on ties of kinship
and temper rather than on hereditary status.

Patrilineal System of Northeast Indian Tribes

Patrilineal Descent is a kinship system based on patriarchy where


inheritance, status, authority or property is traced through males only.
It is also known as agnatic descent. For example: sons and daughters
belong to their father’s descent group, sons’ children both sons and
daughters will be a part of grandfather’s descent group, but the
daughter’s children would belong to her husband’s descent group.
Many of the societies of the world belong to this realm like the classical
Romans, the Chinese and also the Hindu society of India. In the Hindu
society, the rule of descent follows the transfer of authority and
immovable property to the oldest son or the first born commonly
known as primogeniture.

Naga, Mizo and many other tribes are the example of this type society.
One gets a different view of life about them, as these regulate their life
style and culture in their own way. The land belongs to males. Women
are not equal to men in status concerning certain aspects of life.
Women are entitled not to get any share in the ancestral property. The
society is so strict that it does not permit even a woman to have a share
in the property even in the absence of a son. In such cases the property
goes to the father's clan. Though women are well protected they are
not given equal treatment not even from their own parents. Naga
society has always been painted as patriarchal where women did not
count and their rights were suppressed. This is more actively
propagated by Naga women themselves without a thought to the
veracity of what they were saying and if such impression may be to the
detriment of the Naga image as a whole. People from the rest of India,
and beyond, whose societies have experienced gender discriminations
have only been too willing to accept whatever has been dished out. And
hardly any Naga has bothered to oppose or contradict such views
although now there are enough educated Nagas with doctoral degrees
in sociology, anthropology, political science etc.

Why has this been so? There could be different reasons. Because Naga
society is mostly male-dominated, which is why Naga society is
vulnerable to the above view-point. Or there could be other reasons.
With all the prolonged fighting and violence that Naga society has
undergone, there is often a willingness, even desire, to stay out of any
kind of “trouble” or not to become embroiled in any fight or argument
with anyone so long as the argument or fight does not touch you
personally. Indifference has become a general Naga attitude, together
with the practice of “make hay while the sun shines” in all its
permutations – is it corruption, so be it! Although the women in India’s
northeastern region appear to be enjoying a higher status compared to
their counterparts in the rest of the country, in reality traditional and
customary practices discriminate the women in so many ways. This
brings us to the issue of property distribution because some of today’s
Naga women leaders seem quite bitter on this issue. The distribution of
property, or legacy, from father to son is only regarding ancestral landed
property which would safeguard the Family Tree or the line of descent.
But, these ancestral lands could not be sold or disposed of. The
beneficiaries were meant to make use of them during their life time,
improve upon them and, in turn, bequeath to their sons. Even when
ancestral property was given to the male children, the eldest and
youngest sons were usually given the best fields and ancestral home. If
the family happened to be a poor one with many children, the sons in the
middle sometimes did not get their share or had to do with less prime
lands. Those who received the ancestral lands were expected to take care
of the others, including sisters and their aged parents.

On the other hand, whatever the couple acquired during their life time,
they were free to do with them whatever they liked. They could give it to
anyone. In recent times, most parents make sure that their daughters also
are gifted with properties, including landed properties, which they have
purchased or built during the life of their marriage. So, if there was/is a
woman in the Angami community who did not receive anything, outside
of ancestral properties, it was probably more an individual family issue
than a tribe issue or a gender issue.

CONCLUSION

Is Naga society really patriarchal? Are Naga tribe or village communities


ruled by patriarchs who decide everything and the rest just silently
obey? Personally, I think not. I don’t know about those tribes with chief
ships. I am of the opinion that most Naga tribes are not patriarchal but,
I cannot speak for other tribes. In our village community, traditionally
everything was decided by consensus, not even by majority. Respect
was given to elders but every member had the right to voice his
opinion. Once the clan, khel or community had made a decision on an
issue that decision was final and binding on every one of its members.
Even then, there was still an exception which was available to the
individual. He could always decide to go against the decision where he
himself was concerned; the majority could not impose its will on him.
So, if we are not a patriarchal society, what are we? Angami society,
within the village republic, is patrilineal. The dictionary defines it as,
“Relating to, based on, or tracing descent through the male line”.
Gender-wise, the opposite is true of “matrilineal”, as in the case of the
Khasis and Garos. Yes, our Family Tree is based on the male line of
descent. In any case, every people have to have a line of descent,
patrilineal or matrilineal, or else questions of race, identity, history etc
will no longer matter but as we know they do matter and this is what
differentiates human beings from animals. Those who are so bitter
about Naga society being a patrilineal society and think it has
suppressed Naga women may do well to study Khasi and Garo societies
as well and compare if a matrilineal society would have served the
Nagas better. In any case, as mentioned above, a human society has to
be either matrilineal or patrilineal; there is no other way. And just
imagine if ancestral landed property were to be distributed equally to
male and female descendants, the colossal chaos that would result!
Some symptoms of this we have seen in Khasi society. The women get
married outside their communities, which cannot be stopped, and their
husbands begin to inherit/claim these ancestral landed properties but
their original communities could not allow this! A main philosophy of
feminism is to prove that women are equal, if not more equal and
better, than men. Antagonism is usually the engine that drives the
feminists in their fight against men who are seen as the enemy. In Naga
traditions and society, men and women have always mattered. It was
not about men versus women. It was a partnership and both
complemented each other. One could not do the other’s job and the
one without the other was not complete.
REFERENCE:

● Books:

Ao, Temsula. 2010. ‘Benevolent Subordination: Social Status of Naga


Women’, in Preeti Gill (ed.): The Peripheral Centre: Voices from India’s
northeast (100-107). New Delhi: Zubaan.

Socio-Cultural Dimensions of North East India – 2014

By Jaswant Singh and Promanita Bora

● Online References:
https://www.indianetzone.com/51/tribal_society_northeast_india.ht
m

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