The patrilienal type of families are common in rural India and are governed either by ‘Dayabhaga’ law of inheritance or ‘Mitakshara’ law. But there are indigenous types of patrilineal joint families on the Malabar coast, known as the ‘Illom’. The Illom differs from the general types of joint families which are governed by the Brahminical laws of inheritance. Similarly there is another exception of the prevalence of matrilineal joint families in Malabar and Assam. In Malabar (Kerala), they are known as ‘Tarwad’ joint families. The ‘Tarward’ joint family exists among the Nayars. The Nayars are governed by the ‘Marakattayam’ law of inheritance.
The Nayars of Malabar are the original inhabitants of Kerala. They are governed by their indigenous laws. The Nambudri Brahmins have settled there with their own Aryan culture. They have a peculiar custom of marriage connections with the Nayars. According the custom of the Nambudr is the eldest son of the family marries within the Nambudri caste.
The other sons marry Nayar girls. The family pattern of these two castes are different from each other. While the Nambudri Brahmins are governed by partilineal law of inheritance, the Nayars are governed by ‘Marumkattayam’ or law of matrilineal inheritance. Thus in Kerala one finds two distinct patterns of joint families.
The joint family prevalent among the Nambudr is called Illom. The Illom differs from the general type of joint family, widely prevalent among the Hindus, in respect of the impartibility of family property, rights of all members in family property, including females, no definite share of the father that can be made available for his individual debt or which devolves on his death to son to the exclusion of other joint members of the family. The son in the ‘Illom’ is not bound to repay his fathers’ debts.
The continuation of the Illom property among the Nambudris are facilitated by the peculiar marriage custom. According to their custom, the eldest son marries girls from his own caste. Other sons generally do not marry within their own caste. They marry the Nayar women. Only when the eldest son fails to beget any offspring, the next senior member marries and continues the family.
As regards the control over family property, the eldest son enjoys absolute power of control as the head of the family. But he has no power to alienate any portion of the family property permanently by sale, gift or any other means. This requires the consent of all expressed or implied. All the members of Illom, both male and female, have the right to watch that the common family property is not alienated by the eldest brother who acts as the manager.
The Nambudri wife is competent enough to sue, to set aside the alienation of the family property made by her husband. She also has the right to sue to remove her husband from the management of the ‘Illom’. Thus any alienation of ‘Illom’ property is impossible without the assent of the female members. The Nambudri widow also enjoys the right to adopt a son without the authority of her husband or without obtaining the consent of the relatives of her husband.
The ‘Illom’ type of joint family, thus differs from the Hindu joint family in two respects. First, it maintains its patriarchal character to the principle of impartiality of ‘Illom’ property. Secondly the female member of a Nambudri family possesses greater rights than her counterpart in the Hindu family, because in the Hindu family she only has the right to maintenance. Of course the Hindu succession Act of 1956 has made provision for the woman in the Hindu joint family to claim a share in the joint property when all the male members agree for the partition.
In India, the patrilineal families are widely prevalent. But the Nayars of Kerala, the Khasis and Garos of Assam have matrilineal families. The matrilineal family of Kerala is different from that of the Khasis and Garos of Assam. Among the Nayars, the joint family is called ‘Tarwad’. A ‘Tarwad’ comprises of a woman, her sons and daughters, the children of those daughters and so on. The woman is the head of the ‘Tarwad’. The children of her sons do not belong to that ‘Tarwad’. Those children are affiliated to the ‘Tarwad’ of their mothers.
The property of the ‘Tarwad’ is the property of all the members, both male and female, who belong to it. The property of ‘Tarwad’ matrilineal joint family is impartible. Any individual member is not entitled to enforce partition. The eldest male member of the ‘Tarwad’ acts as the manager of the joint family property.
He is known as the ‘Karnavan’. If the eldest male member of a ‘Tarwad’ is incapable of holding the office of ‘Karnavan’ due to illness or senility, the next senior member is entrusted with the management of the joint family property. On his death, he is succeeded by the next senior male member. Theoretical partition may be effected by common consent, but as any member can resist partition, the ‘Tarwad’ joint family continues to be joint. No member can claim division as a matter of right.
The member of the ‘Tarwad’ have only the right of maintenance. They are the co-owners of the joint family property. The members have the right to conserve the ‘Tarwad’ property and see that the property is not wasted or alienated by the manager. Therefore, the members can object to the alienating of ‘Tarward’ property by the manager, ‘Karnavan’.
When the member of the ‘Tarward’ find it difficult to stay together due to the misconduct or ill-treatment of the ‘Karnavan’, they may live separately with the consent of the ‘Karnavan’. In such cases the members are entitled for maintenance. If the members live separately at different places by agreement, they have to meet together annually on the day of ‘Onam’ and take part in the annual feast.
The ‘Karnavan’ may be removed from his managerial office on the grounds of mismanagement of family property. He may also be removed from the ‘Karnavanship’ if he is subject to physical incapacity such as lunacy, blindness or any incurable disease like leprosy.
When a Tarwad’ becomes large, it often splits into smaller units of family, known as ‘Tavazhis’. The main ‘Tarwad’ family is divided into ‘Tavazhis’ only on the basis of mutual agreement of all the members of ‘Tarwad’. A ‘Tavazhi’ comprises of a matrilineal group of members, such as a female, her children and all her descendents in the female line.
When the main ‘Tarwad’ is divided into ‘Tavazhis’, the property of Tarwad is equally distributed among the ‘Tavazhis’. The Tavazhies thus constitute family units with joint ownership of the property allotted to them out of the main ‘Tarwad’ property, After the division, the memoers of ‘Tavazhis’ cease to have any right over the property of the parent ‘Tarwad’. However their kinship ties with the Tarwad continue.
A member of a ‘Tarwad’ is allowed to acquire separate property and dispose them according to his pleasure, during his life time. But if anything remains undisposed out of his self- acquisitions, it is added to the ‘Tarwad’, on his death.