Nepotism in Travancore
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7468331 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shawn M Mateer (corresponding author), S Mateer |
| Year | 1883 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Pages | 288-288 |
| Publication date | 1883-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-5295 • E-ISSN: 2397-2564 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2841943 |
| OpenAlex | W2795939581 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
The family property is owned and enjoyed in common by all the members of the family; and to preserve this intact for the general welfare and protection, a kind of law of entail is observed.In order that the family property may descend undivided, the eldest son alone is permitted to, marry, the younger sons being only provided with subsistence, and obliged to form temporary connections with Sudra and other females of inferior caste, who abide in their own ancestral dwellings, with whom, however, these Brahmans cannot, on account of caste, eat food, and whose children, being by Hindu law, of necessity, illegitimate, can only be supported by, and inherit property from, their mothers' brothers.The law by which property descends to heirs of the body is called Makkatdyam, or "children's inheritance"; that law by which the nephews of Sayars are their heirs is called Marumakkatdyyam, the term rnarmmakkal being used for nephews, or sometimes for sons-in-law, from mnaru, to dwell or fondle-those who reside with one, and are affectionately treated as his own children.The following summary of the laws of the 1Ialayam Brahmans relating to marriage and inheritance, is taken, in substance, from a native work by G. Kerala Vurma Tirumutlpad, one of a class who profess to be Kshatriyas, and who usually consort with the royal family of Travancore:-"Parasu Ra'man ordained that only the eldest son in a Malayalam Brahman family should marry.How then are the younger sons to attain heaven without ehildren to perform the necessary ceremonies on their behalf ?Manu says: 'If there be several brothers, the sons of one brother can perform ceremonies for all,' so the sons of the eldest brother may do among the Nambuiris." If the eldest son be without issue, he may marry one or two additional wives; but the younger brothers must not marry.The wives, so long as they do not disagree, live together in the same house; if the eldest brother still have no children, or die without issue, the next in succession may marry, and so on."Though the wife be alive, and have children, yet if the Brahman is unable to meet the expense of givino his sisters or daughters in marriage, he mav, in exchange, take one or two additional females, as wives, from the family to whom he gives wives.Thus accounts will be balanced.Yet however many wives he may have, only one among their children can marry; and that according to seniority of birth, not of the mother's marriage." If in a poor family there be four or five virgins, the eldest son in another family cannot, according to Dharmma Sastra, inarry
Nepotism · Political science · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Law · Psychology · Social and Economic Development in India · South Asian Studies and Conflicts
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,29 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2024 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |