Lineage and descent.

P1 - 9 c. Lineage and descent

Also to read in brief - Mohapatra Notebook 6 -

1. Lineage Case Studies - Pages 202 to 210

Kinship is a relationship based upon blood and marriage. Within a family, both types are present, so the family is the smallest unit of kinship. The number of families related via these two criteria makes up kinship.

In a simple society, identity is based on kinship. In feudal society, it's based on land. Today, it's based on occupation. Hence, from an exhaustive role in a simple society, kinship today has a restrictive role.

Multiple lineage groups are present inside a single kinship group:

• Gives social inclusivity
• Gives property rights
• All-inclusive
• Gender-specific
• Can be squeezed with the advent of modernity
• Does not change even in the face of modernity

Descent talks of origin, lineage talks of inheritance. Lineage is a specific part of the descent group.

Fictive kinship, ritual relationship = "mooh bola bhai," "behen."

In some societies, the child is regarded as a descendant equally of both father and the mother, except that titles and surnames are usually passed down along the male line. Such a system is termed Bilateral or Cognatic. The individual belongs simultaneously to several descent groups - those of two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, and so on. This link is limited only by memory. Example: Yaho tribe of Nigeria (one side movable property other side immovable), Saha tribe of Brazil - Females inherit from mother and sons inherit from father.

In some societies, one finds that the child is affiliated with the group of either parent, depending on choice, or to one parent for some purposes (for instance, inheritance of property) and to the other parent for other purposes (for instance, the inheritance of ritual or ceremonial roles). This is called DOUBLE UNILINEAL DESCENT.

Principle of COMPLEMENTARY FILIATION - explains the significant ritual and social roles of the mother's brothers in the lives of their sister's children.

Clan as a descent group: believed to share the same ancestor. May be mythical as in the case of gotra.

Functions of the descent group:

• Exogamous: Strong sense of shared identity.
• Cultural function: Come together for ritual and ceremony functions.
• Property management: The descent group will have a built-in authority structure, with power normally exercised by senior males, and it may well own corporate property.
• Role sharing: An individual's economic rights and responsibilities are defined by his/her position.
• Jural Units: Many societies unilineal descent groups internally decide their own disputes.

Descent and Inheritance:

• Rules of inheritance coordinate with descent in most societies, but not always in a 1 to 1 manner.
• In most parts of India, in the past, immovable property such as land was inherited only by sons. In the absence of sons, except under rare circumstances, by the nearest male relatives on the father's side. On the other hand, movable property in the form of cash and jewelry was given to the daughter at the time of her marriage, with a certain amount of jewelry also passing from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law.
• In addition to property of various kinds, rights and obligations, esoteric knowledge, crafts and skills, etc., might be passed on in accordance with kinship roles, succession to office to chieftainship, kingship, dynasty politics, etc. In such cases, an individual's status is said to be 'ascribed,' not 'achieved.'
• Though it’s not much of a feature of modern societies, one should not underestimate the importance of kinship connections in modern societies too. Often one finds that in a family if the father is a doctor or lawyer, the son or daughter is also likely to choose the same occupation.