Matrilineal succession

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Matrilineal succession is a form of hereditary succession or other inheritance through the subject's female relatives in fully female line, to the total exclusion of males.

1 Systems
2 Ancient Egypt
3 Other examples
4 Consequences
5 Matrilineal succession in Africa
6 Matrilineal succession in India
7 References

[edit] Systems

matrilineal primogeniture where the eldest female child of the subject is entitled to the hereditary succession before her younger sisters, and her brothers are not entitled at all.
matrilineal ultimogeniture where the youngest daughter is the heir. This system is found among the Khasis of India.
rotation among female relatives.
matrilineal seniority, where the eldest sister is succeeded by her next eldest sister, etc, until the surviving sisters have had their turns, at which point the females of the next generation, daughters of these "original" sisters will have their turns, in order of seniority.

Marriage of female relatives, particularly daughters, to desired successors has been utilized by politicians and monarchs throughout civilization to organize succession in a way where a ruler may practically appoint his successor.

[edit] Ancient Egypt

There have been some theoretical ideas of ancient Egypt (cf Cleopatra VII of Egypt) having applied matrilineal succession, but it was at least not constant nor consistent. Usually in Egypt, a male Pharaoh succeeded another male Pharaoh, his father, but the factor which produced results resembling matrilineality was that among the sons of the dead Pharaoh, those sons who were born of the Great Royal Wife, enjoyed preference.

The Great Royal Wife very typically was Pharaoh's female relative, for example a sister or a niece, or even his own daughter. Thus, a vast number of successions lead to a result where a son of Pharaoh's sister, i.e a son of a female who was a daughter of an earlier King, inherited the throne.

Very often there developed a veritable clarity of a female royal line, where a Queen was a daughter of another Queen who was a daughter of another Queen, etc. To some analysts, the result could have represented a pattern where the males involved were only by-products. However, throughout the history of Pharaonic Egypt, there are a large number of cases where a Pharaoh was the son of an earlier Pharaoh, but not a son of any royal princess or queen. Their legitimacy in succession was not questioned, basically. Usually in those cases, there was not available a prince who would have been a son of a royal woman.

A Pharaoh strengthened immensely his position by marrying a princess of the royal family. And having his Crown Prince and some other children born of that woman. Several Pharaohs tried to maximize it: they married a number of royal princesses, and tried to have children with as many of them as possible. When the dynasty changed (there was a coup, or an election, or a conquest), one of the natural acts of the new Pharaoh, the conqueror, usurper or the otherwise new man, was to marry a princess or several of the previous dynasty, and make her as his Queen. Legitimizing effects, etc. Particularly because of this factor, female descent thus appeared as a link between different dynasties. Some people may draw the conclusion that the throne went through a female line, when it in reality changed hands sometimes by coups or conquests.

The weightiest argument against Egypt having been a consistent matrilineal succession, is that the identity of even the new queen was not predetermined nor predictable. She might just have been a royal princess who was available. Without any remedy in law to solve between two females who of them is the one more entitled to succeed, or to have her husband to the throne.

[edit] Other examples

One of early dynasties of China had similar practices. History postulates that there, father-in-law was typically succeeded by son-in-law. However, this again is obviously not a female succeeding a female, but a form of succession by appointment: the monarch chose his successor, and formalized that appointment by marrying the chosen man with a royal daughter, which also worked as a way to legitimize the succession.

The Undangs of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, exhibit matrilineal succession in their elective chieftaincies.

[edit] Consequences

In societies using matrilineal descent, the social relationship between children and their biological father tends to be different due to the fact that he is not a member of their matrilineal family. For example, the man who would have the formal responsibilities that European cultures assign to a father would be a boy's mother's brother, since he is the closest elder male kinsman.

Similarly, inheritance patterns for men in matrilineal societies often reflect the importance of the mother's brother. For example, in the Ashanti Kingdom of Central Ghana, a king traditionally passes his title and status on to his sister's son. A king's own biological son does not inherit the kingship because he is not a member of the ruling matrilineal family group. Women usually inherit status and property directly from their mothers in matrilineal societies.^[1]

[edit] Matrilineal succession in Africa

The order of succession to the position of the Rain Queen is an example in an African culture of matrilineal primogeniture: not only is dynastic descent reckoned through the female line, but only females are eligible to inherit.

[edit] Matrilineal succession in India

The matrilineal succession is prevalent among many sects in India. These include the Minangkabau culture of West Sumatra, Marumakkathayam among Nairs, and Kurichiyas of Kerala, India, Aliya Kattu among Bunts and Billavas of Karnataka. Similar traditions exist among the Khasi and Garo of Meghalaya, India, the Naxi of China, the Gitksan of British Columbia, the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee), the Hopi, the Berbers, and Marumakkal Vazhi among Pillai caste in Nagercoil District of Tamil Nadu. In this case the females inherit the properties of the family.