Matrilineal Family Essay

side, and is known as ‘matrilineal descent’. This affiliates an individual with kin of both sexes, related to him or her through women only (Das, 2001). Adopting the clan name of the mother or father depends on who is a Khasi because the children become eligible for constitutional benefits and it gives them a sense of security and power in Meghalaya if they bear a Khasi surname. And anyone who bears a Khasi surname and can speak the language is generally accepted as such both by Khasis and non-Khasis (Tanka B Subba, 2008).

In a patrilineal system of family, we find those where the descent is reckoned through the father, however in the case of ‘matrilineal’ system the descent is generally from the mother side. Apart from these two types of families, there is also a third kind of family known as bilateral or bilineal system of family, in which the descent is, recognized both from the father and mother side. The bilateral system of family is generally found among the people of ‘Shella’ in Meghalaya,

The practice of lineage is an advantage to the non khasi marrying a khasi woman since the maternal role is diminishing the non khasi marrying a khasi woman brings his patri male dominance into the family system (nuclear) and controls the wealth and land. However the tang jait is a disadvantage for khasi men marrying a non khasi, as he could not give his surname to his children, and the non khasi women’s children will be given a new surname after the ceremony how irony now and if they take the sur name of the father they are not considered to belong to the