Who gains in Matriliny? A Critical Observation on the Matriliny among the Nairs in Kerala

Abstract

There have been a lot of debates still going on around the subject of matriliny and the status women had enjoyed in the system. While many of them, including Nair reformers, argue that women hadn’t gained anything in particular in matriliny; Dr.K.Saradamoni and G.Arunima view matrilineal period as the golden age of Nair women and its abolition through a series of legislation as a well-planned patriarchal move. The sociologists and anthropologists, however, observe it as a byproduct of various socio-political and economic circumstances in the history. Through this paper I analyse the matrilineal past of Nair women based on Anita Nair’s novel Idris: the Keeper of the Light.