In Meghalaya, the mother's line still holds, but not as firmly

Of all the tribes and communities across India with distinct matrilineal features, Meghalaya has long stood out for retaining its traditions amid the march of modernity. However, even this northeastern state is undergoing incremental but definitive changes.

A major reason for matrilineage surviving in Meghalaya is the presence of these traditions across all three major tribes of the state—Khasi, Garo and Jaintia. 

Secondly, though the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution applies to four northeastern states—Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram—it is only in Meghalaya that almost the entire state comes under the Sixth Schedule due to its extensive tribal population. This has provided tribal autonomy and the power to retain age-old traditions. 

As per the 2011 Census, Meghalaya has a population of 29.66 lakh. Of this, the tribals comprise 86.1% (Khasis and Jaintias account for 47.57%, while the Garos make up another 28%. There are other smaller tribes as well, such as Hajong, Kuki, Raba, and Koch). 

Christians make up to 74.59% of the state’s population, and a majority of the people from Khasi, Jaintia and Garo communities are Christians.

Each of these three tribes has its own Autonomous District Council (ADC), with legislative, executive and judicial powers. The customary laws of each tribe are protected by courts functioning within the ambit of the ADCs.

This has meant that typical matrilineal features—such as claiming descent from the mother, a boy shifting over to his wife’s house after marriage, and the youngest daughter of a family being the custodian of the ancestral property—remain to this day.

However, the influence of other cultures and changing socio-economic conditions have significantly altered the landscape.

P W Suting, a weaving inspector in the Textile Department, explains that married boys shifting to their wives’ houses is no longer mandatory. 

He notes that the system is scrupulously followed only when a man marries the youngest daughter of a family. 

Rutherford Pohti, 29, a tourism buddy working for Meghalaya Tourism and a native of the West Jaintia Hills district, cites the instance of a friend moving to his wife’s house after marriage. “My friend Ronaldo (28) is currently living with his wife, who is the youngest daughter of her family. He has three children. He’s very happy and is leading a contented life.”

Ribis Mallai and Faithfully, from the Khasi-dominated Ri Bhoi district, also acknowledge that the likelihood of a man shifting his residence after marriage is much higher if the woman is the youngest daughter.

However, B T Langstieh, an anthropology professor at North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Meghalaya, notes that even this custom is changing.

“The economic factor plays a major role in deciding these dynamics. If the youngest daughter hails from a rich and powerful family, it’s likely that the boy shifts post marriage. However, it may not be the same case when the girls’ families aren’t that affluent.”

Explaining that socio-economic factors are central to the gradual disintegration of matrilineage, she says: “When people get jobs, they inevitably move out of the state, and these traditional practices won’t be followed. Economic shifts like globalisation have emphasised individual needs, and the traditional concepts of matrilineage and collective living are weakening.”

Langstieh notes that even in terms of descent, there are people favouring both matrilineage and patrilineage, while a third category is also seeking a middle ground between the two.

Matrilineage, not matriarchy 

It is also important to note the crucial difference between matrilineage and matriarchy. While matrilineage refers to the predominance of women in descent and responsibility over ancestral property, it does not include political power. 

Thus, most matrilineal societies, including Meghalaya, do not have significant female representation in positions of power – right from the grassroots up to state assemblies and parliament. This is ascertained by the fact that of the 30 members in the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC), only three are women. In the Khasi council, only four of the 30 members are women.

Matriarchy, on the other hand, refers to a system where even the political power is vested with women. The 19th-century thinkers such as Johann Jakob Bachofen and Lewis H Morgan studied the nuances of matriarchal systems.

Bachofen contended that matriarchy was a primordial, deeply religious state dominated by mother deities, where women held power due to their central role in family and society.

Morgan was of the view that matriarchal societies had depended on matrilineage since the early, looser forms of sexual relations made it impossible to determine paternity.

Communist thinker Friedrich Engels later built on these ideas in his celebrated work The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, where he argued that the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy was a fundamental shift across civilisations. However, some modern anthropologists have rejected the idea of a universal, prehistoric matriarchy.

While Langstieh felt the matriarchal system may have existed ages ago at a family level in Meghalaya, she maintained that the socio-political decision-making had mostly remained with men even earlier. 

(Sujay, DH’s political reporter, was in Meghalaya on a press tour conducted by the Press Information Bureau in early February)