Property Distribution and Ownership Pattern in the Matriarchal Garo Community: A Sociological Study of Change and Continuity in Kolmakanda Upazila, Bangladesh

• Saiful Islam

  Author

• Md. Reazul Islam

  Author

• Alias Raksam

  Author

The Garo is one of the most famous matriarchal societies in Bangladesh. This study aims to find out the property ownership and distribution pattern in the matriarchal social system by focusing on the continuity and changes in the traditional practices of the Garo communities. A mixed method approach is employed with 130 surveys, both face-to-face and online, as a quantitative method, and 02 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), 08 In-depth Interviews (IDIs) under case study as the qualitative method with purposive sampling, respectively at Kolmakanda Upazila in Netrokona district. About 69.20% of respondents reported that The youngest daughter (Nokna) is traditionally considered the primary heir in Garo communities where 76.20% state that when younger daughter unable or unwilling to accept the inheritance, the ownership of property become distributed among other siblings and 80% Garo people delineate that in absence of female child, mother handover the ownership of property to her sons. To transfer the ownership of property, Garo communities arranged the Nokrom-gata ceremony, where the husband of the nokna (nokrom) came to the nokna’s house and the mother transferred her property to the youngest daughter in the presence of family members, relatives, the headman of the village (nokma), and a few witnesses of the village. In this study, more than one fourth of Garo people believe that inheritance practices have been changed among Garo communities because of intermarriage with non-Garo communities, whereas 27.7% believe that modern issues like education, urbanization, and industrialization, cultural acculturation, cultural assimilation, etc., influence property distribution practices in the Garo community. In recent times, male members of the Garo society have been demanding equal ownership rights in family property. Most of the parents are now distributing their property among their sons and daughters. Even many female children of Garo families don’t demand full ownership of their parents’ property. They want to share the ownership of parents’ property with their brothers, but still now female children of Garo communities are getting the lion share of their parents’ property. Most of the male children of Garo families take it positively because they think women are safe hands to protect and manage their families’ property.  These provide valuable insight into the understanding of matrilineal systems, indigenous property rights, and gender dynamics among Garo communities in Bangladesh, serving usefully for policy thinkers, academics, and development practitioners working on the issues of gender and  empowerment of indigenous women.

1. Saiful Islam

   Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Trishal, Mymensingh.

2. Md. Reazul Islam

   PhD fellow, Department of Rural Sociology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh & Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Trishal, Mymensingh

3. Alias Raksam

   Graduate Student, Department of Sociology, Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Trishal, Mymensingh

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