About the BookAbout the Author

This is the first study to examine Nayar matriliny as a historical phenomenon. Kerala is the only place in the world where a kinship system was outlawed! The book analyses the reasons for the abolition by the colonial state and lays bare the differences between early twentieth, late twentieth and mid-nineteenth century forms of matriliny. This is the first historical work in India on matriliny.

ARUNIMA, G., did her Ph.D. from Cambridge University, UK. She is currently senior lecturer at Lady Shriram College, New Delhi.