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Sociology of Kinship

Notes limited right on the property as he can sell the joint property only for a religious ceremony
or to pay a specific debt, but the other partners cannot sell the property at their will without
the consent of other partners.
(ii) The rules of Daibhag joint family is based on the book Daibhag written by “Jimutvahan.”
These types of family are found in Bengal and Assam. The main characteristics are:
(a) sons get the right of property only after father’s death. (b) Sons cannot demand the divi-
sion of property when father is alive. (c) Father is an absolute owner of the property and
he can use and spend the wealth and property at his will, sons have no right in property
except the general day-to-day maintenance. (d) After death of father, his property will be
transfered to his wife if he had no sons. (e) In this type of family, property is inherited by
both male and female members.
So we can say that, from point of view of property, both the families mentioned above, differ
from each other in the following way:
1. Sons get a right in property by birth in Mitaakshara while they get it only after death of
father in Daibhag.
2. In Mitaakshara, female members have no right in property while they have it in Daibhag.
3. In Mitaakshara, father has a limited right while in Daibhag, he has unlimited rights. The
Hindu joint families have been divided in these two systems for over a long period of time,
but these differences came to an end with the implementation of Hindu succession law-
1956 which allows same rights to both male and female members regarding properties and
is applicable all over India.

How many types of joint families are there? Give a short description.

23.4 Functions (Merits) of Joint Family
Joint family is a very important and ancient institution in India. It has been in existence for a
long time in India. If an institution remains prevalent for a long time, it indicates that this institu-
tion is useful for the society. This institution has been particularly useful in the rural society or
a society dominated by agriculture. Karvy thinks it as a small world where members co-operate
each other. Joint families are playing an important role in the Indian society. The important
merit functions of a joint family are as under:

1. Administrative: Social organisation of Indian villages is not complex. Here importance is
given to a family and not a person and family is represented by head of the family. In other
words, head of the family is administrator of the family, who is also an absolute ruler of the
family. All the functions of the family are performed under his direction.
2. Religious Functions: Every family has a family god or godess and also a family priest.
All the members have abysmal faith in him. They pray and worship them properly which
promotes the spiritualism. All members of the family gather to perform a religious ritual,
to celebrate festivals and religious celebrations. A family is one unit in front of god. Every
house has a particular place to worship the God and the God protects the whole family.
Ouplar has written about Senapur village in U.P. where families perform around forty (40)
annual ceremony in one year, out of which 25 are related to objectives and requirements of
family. So we get the concept of religion only through family.
3. Guidance: Every type of male and female lives together in a joint family. Family has a
special place for elderly persons because they have gone through a lots of ups and down

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