Matriarchial societies of India

It’s not always about the man of the house in a large country like India. There are a few communities in this vast and diverse country of ours, where the fairer sex rules the roost.

We decided to research this and here is what we found…

Khasi Tribe: This tribe is based largely in Meghalaya and Assam. The woman is not only the sole custodian of the wealth and property, but even the children adopt the matriarchal name..

Another interesting fact that we unearthed about the Khasi community is that, after marriage, it is the men who leave their houses to join the wife and her family.

While on one hand the country still sees infanticide and foeticide of the girl child, this community celebrates the birth of a baby girl.

Jaintia Tribe: It is a sub-tribe of the Khasi. The peculiar thing about this sub-tribe is that after marriage nobody leaves the house. The husband often visits the wife at her house after dusk. They believe that meeting after dusk with strengthen the couple’s bond.

Garo Tribe: This community is concentrated in Meghalaya and Assam. Most of its matrilineal system is akin to the Khasi Tribe. The only difference being that, in a Khasi family the youngest daughter is entitled to inherit the wealth and property. In a Garo family, any daughter can enjoy the inheritance… Now thats fair !

It’s interesting how in ancient times, there were many communities like Ambalavasis, Nair’s etc., in Kerala much like the Bunt’s of Karnataka who were known to be matriarchal and yet today, all of them have slowly succumbed to patriarchy ! Their matriarchal names are probably the only remnants of their lineage.

Sakshi Arora