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{{Short description|Methods of determining inheritance}}
{{
'''Historical inheritance systems''' are different systems of [[inheritance]] among various people.
==Cross cultural research about systems of inheritance==
==
Land inheritance customs greatly vary across cultures. The ''[[Ethnographic Atlas]]'' gives the following data regarding land distribution: [[primogeniture]] predominates in 247 societies, while [[ultimogeniture]] prevails in 16. In 19 societies land is exclusively or predominantly given to the one adjudged best qualified, while equality predominates in 301 societies.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/9285782/Ethnographic-Atlas-Codebook |title=Ethnographic Atlas Codebook |journal=World Cultures |year=1998 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=86–136}}</ref> Regarding land inheritance rules, in 340 societies sons inherit, in 90 other patrilineal heirs (such as brothers), in 31 sister's sons, in 60 other matrilineal heirs (such as daughters or brothers), and in 98 all children. In 43 societies land is given to all children, but daughters receive less. In 472 societies, the distribution of inherited land follows no clear rules or information is missing, while in 436 societies inheritance rules for real property do not exist or data is missing; this is partly because there are many societies where there is little or no land to inherit, such as in [[hunter-gatherer]] or [[Pastoral society|pastoral societies]].
Patrilineal primogeniture, where the eldest son inherits, was customary among many cultures around the world. Patrilineal ultimogeniture, where the youngest son inherits, was customary among a number of cultures including: [[Fur people|Fur]], Fali, Sami (also called Lapp), Bashkir, Chuvash, [[Gagauz people|Gagauz]], Vep, Tatar, Achang, Ayi, [[Atayal people|Atayal]], Kachi, Biate, Chinantec, Hmar, Mro, [[Kom people (India)|Kom]], Purum and Lushei or Lushai (sometimes mistakenly taken for the whole Mizo people, especially in the past).
Among English peasants there was no clearly prevalent inheritance pattern, while Spanish Basques gave their land to the one considered best qualified, though they had a preference for sons. Giving more or less equal shares of land to sons, but excluded daughters was also common in many populations, as was giving relatively equal shares to both sons and daughters or slightly less to daughters. The same system prevails in contemporary Egypt and most Arab groups (see [[Sharia]]). Most non-Arab Muslims, with some exceptions (Caucasians, Iranians), historically followed their own inheritance customs, not those of the Sharia. In Ancient Egypt the eldest son inherited twice as much as other sons, and in earlier times he was the sole heir.<ref>{{cite book |title=Studies in Biblical Law: From the Hebrew Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |author=Brin, Gershon |year=1994 |pages=246 |isbn=9781850754848}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://escholarship.org/uc/item/30h78901#page-2 |title=Inheritance |volume=1 |issue=1 |journal=UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology |author=Lippert, Sandra |year=2013 |pages=2}}</ref>
Among the [[Lao people|Lao]], the Aceh, the Guanches, and the Minangkabau, all daughters inherited equal shares of land. The Cham, the [[Pnar people|Jaintia]], the Garo, and the Khasi practiced female ultimogeniture. Primogeniture, regardless of the sex of the child, was customary among the [[Paiwan people|Paiwan]], the [[Ifugao people|Ifugao]], the [[Chugach people|Chugach]], and the [[French_Basque_Country|French Basques]]. While ultimogeniture, regardless of the sex of the child, was customary among the Chuvash and the Mari.
Bilateral primogeniture is a rarer custom of inheritance where the eldest son inherits from the father and the eldest daughter inherits from the mother. This practice was common among the Classic Mayas, who transmitted the family's household furnishings from mother to eldest daughter, and the family's land, houses and agricultural tools from father to eldest son.<ref>{{cite web|title=Some Postclassic Questions About The Classic Maya|first=Munro S.|last=Edmonson|url=http://www.mesoweb.com/pari/publications/rt04/edmonson.pdf|access-date=12 July 2013|archive-date=2 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002082241/http://www.mesoweb.com/pari/publications/rt04/edmonson.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was also seen in the Greek island of Karpathos, where the family's house was transmitted from mother to eldest daughter, and the family's land was transmitted from father to eldest son.<ref>Vernier, 1984 {{full citation needed|date=June 2014}}</ref> Among the Igorot, the father's land is inherited by his eldest son and the mother's land is inherited by her eldest daughter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/sol_adobe_documents/usp%20only/customary%20law/mendoza.pdf |title=Population Growth and Customary Law on Land: the case of Cordillera villages in the Philippines |publisher=National University of Ireland, Maynooth |author1=Crisologo-Mendoza, Lorelei |author2=Van de Gaer, Dirk |date=November 1997|access-date=5 June 2014}}</ref>
A review of numerous studies found that the pattern of land inheritance traditionally prevalent among English, Dutch and New Englander peasants was [[partible inheritance]]. The pattern of land inheritance traditionally prevalent among Russian peasants was found to be close to patrilineal primogeniture, "as oldest sons may well inherit more". The conclusions of this review contradicts previous reports that Russians practiced equal inheritance of land by all sons and that the English, Dutch and New Englanders had no definite inheritance pattern.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vkc.library.uu.nl/vkc/seh/Lists/Events/Attachments/33/carmichaelrijpma_testing.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017081054/http://vkc.library.uu.nl/vkc/seh/Lists/Events/Attachments/33/carmichaelrijpma_testing.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2013 |title=Testing Todd: global data on family characteristics |date=May 2013 |access-date=5 June 2014 |author1=Rijpma, Auke |author2=Carmichael, Sarah}}</ref>
In easternmost Europe, patrilineal ultimogeniture prevailed among most Turkic peoples. Equal inheritance of property by all sons prevailed among most Finno-Ugric peoples, and patrilineal primogeniture prevailed among Estonians and Balts.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ethnographic Atlas XXXI: Peoples of Easternmost Europe |author-link1=Dmitri Bondarenko|last1=Bondarenko|first1=Dmitri|last2=Kazankov|first2=Alexander|last3=Khaltourina|first3=Daria|author-link4=Andrey Korotayev|last4=Korotayev|first4=Andrey|journal=Ethnology |date=Summer 2005 |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=261–289 |doi=10.2307/3774059 |jstor=3774059|s2cid=17579579}}</ref>
Inheritance customs are sometimes considered a culturally distinctive aspect of a society. Although it is often thought that the [[Mizo people|Mizos]] employ ultimogeniture, this is because the customs of [[Lushai]]s or [[Lusheis]] are confused with those of all Mizos; Mizo and Lushai have been occasionally used interchangeably. Among most non-Lushai Mizos, primogeniture predominates,<ref>{{cite book |title=Social, Cultural, Economic & Religious Life of a Transformed Community: A Study of the Paite Tribe |publisher=Mittal Publications |author=Liankhohau, T. |year=1994 |pages=22 |isbn=9788170995203}}</ref> just as among Kukis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kukiforum.com/2010/06/customary-laws-of-the-kukis-2/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002132524/http://kukiforum.com/2010/06/customary-laws-of-the-kukis-2/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=2 October 2013 |title=Customary Laws of the Kukis |publisher=Kuki International Forum |date=20 June 2010 |access-date=5 June 2014}}</ref> In general there is great confusion about the ethnic identity of the many northeastern Indian tribes.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Chin-Kuki-Ethnic Dilemma: Search for an Appropriate Identity|date=25 April 2007|first=Chawnglienthang|last=Changsan|url=http://kukiforum.com/2007/04/the-chin-kuki-ethnic-dilemma-search-for-an-appropriate-identity-2/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110530123701/http://kukiforum.com/2007/04/the-chin-kuki-ethnic-dilemma-search-for-an-appropriate-identity-2/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=30 May 2011}}</ref> Some regard the generic term [[Zomi]] as most appropriate.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}
===Inheritance of movable property===
The same disparity is seen regarding inheritance of movable property. Most nomadic peoples from Asia, for example the [[Khalka Mongols]], give a more or less equal share of the herd to each son as he marries. Typically the youngest remain behind caring for the parents and inheriting his father's tent after their death in addition to his own share of the herd.<ref>{{cite book |title=Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History |publisher=Temple University Press |author=Adas, Michael |year=2001 |pages=76 |isbn=9781566398329}}</ref> However, others, such as the [[Yukaghir]] and the Yakuts, leave most of the herd to one son (in the above examples the youngest and the eldest, respectively). Some pastoral peoples from other geographical areas also practice unequal wealth transfers, although customs of equal male inheritance are more common among them than among agriculturalists.
Patrilineal primogeniture with regards to both livestock and land was practiced by the [[Tswana people]], whose main source of wealth was livestock, although they also practiced agriculture.<ref name="etudesafricaines.revues.org">{{cite journal|title=Batswana Women and Law Society, Education and Migration (c. 1840 – c. 1980)|journal=Cahiers d'Études Africaines|volume=47|issue=187–188|pages=523–566|first=Lily|last=Mafela|doi=10.4000/etudesafricaines.7962|year=2007|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite web |url=http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/4515/Nkomozana-SHEXXXIV_2_-December2008.pdf?sequence=1 |title=The experiences of women within Tswana cultural history and its implications for the history of the church in Botswana |publisher=University of Botswana |access-date=5 June 2014 |author=Nkomazana, Fidelis |pages=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A Handbook of Tswana Law and Custom |publisher=James Currey Publishers |author=Schapera, I. |year=1994 |pages=230 |isbn=9780852552940}}</ref> This practice was also seen in other southern Bantu peoples,<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |title=Customary Law in South Africa |publisher=Juta |author=Bennett, T. W. |year=1994 |isbn=9780702163616}}</ref> such as the [[Tsonga people|Tsonga]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dice.missouri.edu/docs/niger-congo/Tsonga.pdf |title=Tsonga people |access-date=5 June 2014 |archive-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925195208/http://dice.missouri.edu/docs/niger-congo/Tsonga.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> or the [[Venda]].<ref name="dice.missouri">{{cite web |url=http://dice.missouri.edu/docs/niger-congo/Venda.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927083412/http://dice.missouri.edu/docs/niger-congo/Venda.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 September 2013 |title=Venda |access-date=5 June 2014 }}</ref> Although, among the Venda, while the livestock was inherited by the eldest son, land was not inherited within families but given to each son by village authorities as he married. Among the Tsonga, most of the land was used only for stockbreeding. Patrilineal primogeniture also prevailed among the neighboring Khoi peoples, of whom only the [[Nama people|Nama]] (among whom patrilineal primogeniture also prevailed)remain.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Khoisan Peoples of South Africa |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |author=Schapera, Isaac |year=1934}}</ref>
Many other African peoples also practiced patrilineal primogeniture with regards to livestock. These included: The [[Ngoni people|Ngoni]], the Gogo, the Mangbetu, the Rendille, the [[Sapo people|Sapo]], the Boran, the Gabra, the Plains [[Pokot people|Pokot]], the Hema, the Beti-Pahuin, the Buduma, the [[Dogon people|Dogon]], the Duala, the Djafun and the [[Kassena people|Kassena]]. According to the Ethnographic Atlas, the Fulbe or Fulani, the largest pastoral people in Africa, divided their livestock equally between all sons. However, according to some other sources they practiced male primogeniture.<ref>{{cite book |title=Who Owns the Stock?: Collective and Multiple Property Rights in Animals |publisher=Berghahn Books |author1=Khazanov, Anatoly Michailovich |author2=Schlee, Günther |year=2012 |pages=242 |isbn=9780857453358}}</ref>
[[Chukchi people|Chukchi]], Koryak and [[Ket people|Ket]] peoples practiced male ultimogeniture. It has been stated that the rest of Siberian peoples, such as Voguls, [[Samoyedic peoples|Samoyeds]] or Khantys, practiced patrilineal primogeniture, though there isn't much reliable information about the traditional customs of Siberian peoples. It is said that [[Gilyaks]] divided their cattle equally between all sons. Patrilineal primogeniture was also traditionally prevalent among pastoral peoples from Australia, such as the [[Aranda people|Aranda]], as well as among Himalayan pastoralists like the Changpa.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/JHE/JHE-33-0-000-11-Web/JHE-33-3-000-11-Abst-PDF/JHE-33-3-147-11-2176-Bhasin-V/JHE-33-3-147-11-2176-Bhasin-V-Tt.pdf |title=Pastoralists of Himalayas |author=Bhasin, Veena |journal=J Hum Ecol |year=2011 |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=147–177|doi=10.1080/09709274.2011.11906357 |s2cid=55957091 }}</ref>
Patrilineal primogeniture was traditionally prevalent among some pastoral peoples from Greenland and northern Canada. The neighboring indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast were organized in societies where elder sons and their lines of descent had higher status than younger sons and their lines of descent (a "conical clan"), although a rule of patrilineal primogeniture couldn't develop among most of them since they were mostly hunter-gatherers. However, rule of patrilineal primogeniture did develop among some Canadian indigenous peoples who practiced agriculture, such as the [[Innu people|Montagnais]], the Kutchin, the Pikangikum, the [[Ojibwa people|Ojibwa]], the Klallam and the Atsugewi. Canadian indigenous peoples were influenced by the ancient [[Thule people|Thule]] culture, of which little is known with certainty.
===
Intergenerational wealth transmission among agriculturalists tends to be rather unequal.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Intergenerational Wealth Transmission among Agriculturalists|url=http://web.missouri.edu/~shenkm/docs/Shenk2010_CurrentAnthropology.pdf|author=Shenk, M K|journal=Current Anthropology|date=Feb 2010|volume=51|issue=1|pages=65–83|doi=10.1086/648658|s2cid=204397795|access-date=12 July 2013|archive-date=9 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130709053117/http://web.missouri.edu/~shenkm/docs/Shenk2010_CurrentAnthropology.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Only slightly more than half of the societies studied practice equal division of real property; customs to preserve land relatively intact (most commonly primogeniture) are very common. Wealth transfers are more egalitarian among pastoralists, but unequal inheritance customs also prevail in some of these societies, and they are strongly patrilineal.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://web.missouri.edu/~shenkm/docs/Shenk2010_CurrentAnthropology.pdf |title=Pastoralism and Wealth Inequality |author=Mulder, M B |journal=Current Anthropology |date=Feb 2010 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=35–48 |doi=10.1086/648561 |s2cid=41276129 |access-date=12 July 2013 |archive-date=9 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130709053117/http://web.missouri.edu/~shenkm/docs/Shenk2010_CurrentAnthropology.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Among
[[Jack Goody]] was an influential anthropologist during the twentieth century. However, his theories have been mostly rejected during the last decades.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} He made a distinction between a complete and a preferential form of primogeniture and ultimogeniture. In the complete form of both customs, the rest of the children are excluded from the inheritance. However, in the preferential form of primogeniture, the eldest son acts as custodian of the father's rights on behalf of his brothers. In the preferential form of ultimogeniture, the youngest son inherits the residue of his father's property after elder sons have received their shares during the father's lifetime. Goody called ultimogeniture "Borough English" and primogeniture "Borough French" because in England ultimogeniture was a native custom, while primogeniture was a custom brought by the Norman invaders. According to Goody, in Late Medieval England, patrilineal primogeniture predominated in feudal tenures and among the peasantry of large parts of the Midlands. Patrilineal ultimogeniture ("Borough English") prevailed elsewhere in the champion country. Partible inheritance (''gavelkind'') prevailed in Kent, East Anglia and the Celtic areas.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Death and the Ancestors: A Study of the Mortuary Customs of the LoDagaa of West Africa|author= Goody, Jack|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=9781136528842}}</ref>
Both preferential primogeniture and preferential ultimogeniture were practiced in pre-revolutionary Russia, where the eldest son succeeded as family head and inherited more than the other sons.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Peasant Inheritance Strategies in Russia |author= Bohac, Rodney D. |journal=The Journal of Interdisciplinary History |volume= 16|issue= 1|year = 1985|pages= 23–42|doi=10.2307/204320 |jstor=204320}}</ref> "The youngest son, if he remained with the father, inherited the house and also at times other property" (''minorat'').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Minorat|title=Minorat|publisher=Great Soviet Encyclopedia}}</ref> However, the share of land and moveables of the other sons was only slightly smaller than that of the eldest and the youngest son. Only in the southern part of the country was the house inherited by the youngest son; in the north it was inherited by the eldest son.<ref name="efm.bris.ac.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.efm.bris.ac.uk/het/laveleye/prim02.htm |title=Village Communities in Russia |access-date=5 June 2014 |author=de Lavelye, Emil |archive-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220015949/http://www.efm.bris.ac.uk/het/laveleye/prim02.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The Russian family of around 1900 considered property such as the house, agricultural implements, livestock and produce as belonging collectively to all family members. When the father died, his role as head of the family (known as Khozain, or Bolshak ) was passed to the oldest person in the house. In some areas this was the oldest son. In others it was the oldest brother of the deceased so long as he lived in the same house. There were some areas were a new head would be elected by the family members. If all surviving members of the family were under age, a relation would become a co-proprietor. If property was divided after a death, each adult male in the house got an equal share. Sons who had left home did not have a right of succession. Females remained within the family and received a share of the inheritance when they married. In the north of Russia, the oldest son inherited the house. In the south the eldest son would have set up a separate house while the father was still alive, therefore the youngest inherited the fathers house upon his death.<ref name="efm.bris.ac.uk"/>
==Systems of inheritance among various people==
Throughout history, creative inheritance systems have been created, fitting the best needs of the various people according to their unique environment and challenges.
==Inheritance customs as a cultural dimension==
Inheritance customs do not follow clear ethnic, linguistic or geographical patterns. Equality between all sons and a subordinate position of women, with the exclusion of daughters from inheriting, are prominent aspects of Hungarian,<ref>{{cite web|title= Four Household Systems and the Lives of the Old in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Hungary |author= Andorka, Rudolf |url= http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft096n99tf&chunk.id=d0e8378&toc.id=d0e8378&brand=ucpress}}</ref> Albanian,<ref>{{cite book|title=Albania: Family, Society and Culture in the 20th Century |author1=Hemming, Andreas |author2=Kera, Gentiana |author3=Pandelejmoni, Enriketa |publisher= LIT Verlag Münster |pages=71|year=2012|isbn= 9783643501448}}</ref> Romanian,<ref>{{cite web |title=Marriage Strategies and Sequels: Prosperity or Conflict between Relatives (Romania, 18th century) |author=Vintilă-Ghiţulescu, Constanţa |publisher="Nicolae Iorga" Institute of History, Bucharest Faculty of Literature, Department of European Studies, University of Bucharest |url=http://www.ub.edu/tig/GWBNet/MinhoPapers/Constanta%20Ghitulescu.pdf |access-date=12 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025232/http://www.ub.edu/tig/GWBNet/MinhoPapers/Constanta%20Ghitulescu.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Armenian, and most Slavic<ref>{{cite book|title=Household and Family in the Balkans: Two Decades of Historical Family Research|author=Kaser, Karl|pages=181|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|year=2012|isbn=9783643504067}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Peasant Inheritance Strategies in Russia |jstor=204320 |doi=10.2307/204320 |first=Rodney D. |last=Bohac |journal=The Journal of Interdisciplinary History |volume=16 |number=1 |year=1985 |pages=23–42}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Power and inheritance Male domination, property, and family in eastern Europe, 1500–1900|author=Kaser, Karl|journal=The History of the Family|year=2002|volume=7|issue=3|pages=275–395|doi= 10.1016/S1081-602X(02)00109-4 |pmid=21033516|s2cid=30327272}}</ref> or Latin American cultures.<ref>{{cite book |title=Familia y parentesco en México y Mesoamérica: unas miradas antropológicas |publisher=Universidad Iberoamericana |author=Robichaux, David |year=2005 |pages=196 |isbn=9789688595732}}</ref> While many studies show the privileged position that the eldest son traditionally enjoyed in Slovene,<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Social Context of Changes in Slovene Agriculture Since Feudalism |author=Turk, Jernej |journal=Journal for General Social Issues |year=2007 |issue=1–2 |pages=199–212}}</ref> Finnish<ref name="middleborns">{{cite journal |title=Middleborns Disadvantaged? Testing Birth-Order Effects on Fitness in Pre-Industrial Finns |author1=Faurie, Charlotte |author2=Russell, Andrew F. |author3=Lummaa, Virpi |journal=PLOS ONE |date=May 2009 |volume=4 |issue=5 |pages=e5680 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0005680 |pmid=19492096 |pmc=2683935|bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.5680F |doi-access=free }}</ref> or Tibetan culture.<ref>{{cite book |title=Buddhist Western Himalaya: A politico-religious history |publisher=Indus Publishing |author=Hāṇḍā, Omacanda |year=2001 |pages=113 |isbn=9788173871245}}</ref> The [[Jaintia people|Jaintia]], the Garo and the Khasi, on the other hand, traditionally privileged the youngest daughter. Some peoples, like the Dinka,<ref>{{cite book |title=Divinity and Experience: The Religion of the Dinka: The Religion of the Dinka |author=Lienhardt, Godfrey |year=1961 |pages=82 |isbn= 9780191591853|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> the [[Rakhine people|Arakanese]],<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.arakanmusic.com/books/hill_tribes_of_nothern_aracan.pdf |title=A Short Account of the Hill Tribes of North Aracan |author1=St. Andrew |author2=R. F. |journal=The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |year=1873 |volume=2 |pages=233–247 |doi=10.2307/2841171|jstor=2841171 }}</ref> the [[Chin peoples|Chins]] of Myanmar,<ref>{{cite book |title=System, Structure, and Contradiction: The Evolution of "Asiatic" Social Formations |publisher=Rowman Altamira |author=Friedman, Jonathan |year=1998 |pages=247 |isbn=9780761989349}}</ref> or the [[Karen people|Karen]], frequently show a compromise between primogeniture and ultimogeniture in their inheritance patterns. Although among many Chins of Myanmar, the advantage that the eldest and the youngest son have over other sons is really small, so it is not correct to speak of a true pattern of mixed primogeniture and ultimogeniture. The advantage of the eldest and the youngest son is somewhat more ample among the Dinka and the Arakanese. The compromise between primogeniture and ultimogeniture was also found among the [[Kachin people|Kachin]] and the Dilling, as well as among the [[Sherpa people|Sherpa]] to some degree. This pattern of inheritance is also reported for many Fulbe villages in the Republic of Guinea,<ref>{{cite book |title=Serfs, Peasants, and Socialists: A Former Serf Village in the Republic of Guinea |url=https://archive.org/details/serfspeasantssoc0000derm |url-access=registration |publisher=University of California Press |author1=Derman, William |author2=Derman, Louise |year=1973 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/serfspeasantssoc0000derm/page/80 80] |isbn=9780520017283}}</ref> though it seems that in past times the eldest son inherited all in Guinea.<ref>{{cite book |title=A new voyage to Guinea: describing the customs, manners, soil, manual arts, agriculture, trade, employments, languages, ranks of distinction climate, habits, buildings, education, habitations, diversions, marriages, and whatever else is memorable among the inhabitants |publisher=Princeton University |author=Smith, William |year=1745 |pages=202}}</ref>
Sometimes inheritance customs do not entirely reflect social traditions. Romans valued sons more than daughters, and Thais and [[Shan people|Shan]] showed the reverse pattern, though all practiced equal land inheritance between all children. The [[Shan people]], who live mostly in northern Thailand and northeastern Myanmar, are markedly matrilocal.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Stem Family in Eurasian Perspective: Revisiting House Societies, 17th–20th Centuries |publisher=Peter Lang |author1=Fauve-Chamoux, Antoinette |author2=Ochiai, Emiko |year=2009 |pages=470–471 |isbn=9783039117390}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Anthropological Demography: Toward a New Synthesis |publisher=University of Chicago Press |author1=Kertzer, David I. |author2=Fricke, Thomas Earl |year=1997 |pages=62 |isbn=9780226431956}}</ref>
In Han Chinese tradition, the eldest son was of special importance. The law punished more harshly offences by a younger brother against an elder brother than vice versa.<ref>{{cite book |title=Brothers: On His Brothers and Brothers in History |publisher=Simon and Schuster |author=Colt, George Howe |year=2012 |pages=56 |isbn=9781451697667}}</ref> The eldest son received the family headship in cases where the family held together as a single unit, and the largest share in cases of family division, since he also inherited the cult to family ancestors.<ref name="fateandfortune">{{cite book |title=Fate and Fortune in Rural China: Social Organization and Population Behavior in Liaoning 1774–1873 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |author1=Lee, James Z. |author2=Campbell, Cameron D. |year=2007 |pages=105 |isbn=9780521039697}}</ref> This is still practiced in Taiwan nowadays,<ref>{{cite conference |url=http://www.wbiworldconpro.com/uploads/bangkok-conference-2013/management/1364451871_422-Yu-Hsu.pdf |title=Revisiting the Issues Regarding the Inheritance System in the Chinese Family Business |access-date=6 June 2014 |author1 =Hsu, Yu-Hsu Sean |author2 =Chang, Connie |book-title=Proceedings of 8th Asian Business Research Conference |date=April 2013 |___location=Bangkok, Thailand |isbn=9781922069207}}</ref> though Chinese peasants have practiced partible inheritance since the time of the [[Qin dynasty|Qin]] and [[Han dynasty|Han Dynasties]], when the previous system of male primogeniture was abolished.<ref>{{cite book |title=Nested Political Coalitions: Nation, Regime, Program, Cabinet |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |author=Cook, Terrence E. |year=2002 |pages=118 |isbn=9780275973957}}</ref> In some cases, the eldest son of the eldest son, rather than the eldest son, was favored.<ref>{{cite book |title=Fenjia: Household Division and Inheritance in Qing and Republican China |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |author=Wakefield, David |year=1998 |pages=156 |isbn=9780824820923}}</ref> Ritual primogeniture was emphasized in the lineage organizations of North China.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |title=Kinship, Contract, Community, and State: Anthropological Perspectives on China |publisher=Stanford University Press |author=Cohen, Myron L. |year=2005 |pages=165 |isbn=9780804750677}}</ref> During the [[Longshan culture]] period and the period of the three Dynasties ([[Xia dynasty|Xia]], [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]] and [[Shang dynasty|Shang]]), patrilineal primogeniture predominated.<ref name="Lamberg-Karlovsky 1991">{{cite book |title=Archaeological Thought in America |publisher=Cambridge University Press |author=Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C. |year=1991 |pages=160 |isbn=9780521406437}}</ref>
Among [[Mongols]] it has been usually stated that the youngest son had a special position because he cared for his parents in their old age. On their death he inherited the parental tent, which was connected with the religious cult in Mongol traditions, though all sons received more or less equal shares of livestock as they married. However, in contrast to this popularly held notion, more rigorous and substantiated anthropological studies of kinship and family in central Asian peoples strongly indicate that in these societies elder sons and their lines of descent had higher status than younger sons and their lines of descent. In central Asia, all members of a lineage were terminologically distinguished by generation and age, with senior superior to junior. The lineage structure of central Asia had three different modes: genealogical distance, or the proximity of individuals to one another on a graph of kinship; generational distance, or the rank of generation in relation to a common ancestor; and birth order, the rank of brothers in relation to each another.<ref>Cuisenier (1975:67)</ref> The paternal descent lines were collaterally ranked according to the birth of their founders, and were thus considered senior and junior to each other. Of the various collateral patrilines, the senior in order of descent from the founding ancestor, the line of eldest sons, was the most noble. In the steppe, no one had his exact equal; everyone found his place in a system of collaterally ranked lines of descent from a common ancestor.<ref>Krader (1963:322, 269)</ref> It was according to this idiom of superiority and inferiority of lineages derived from birth order that legal claims to superior rank were couched.<ref name="Kinship structure and political authority" /> Furthermore, at least among Mongols, the elder son inherited more than the younger son, and this is mandated by law codes such as the [[Yassa]], created by [[Genghis Khan]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Influence of the Great Code "Yasa" on the Mongolian Empire |url=http://www.mypolice.ca/research_and_publications/MongolianLawCodeYasa.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615073730/http://www.mypolice.ca/research_and_publications/MongolianLawCodeYasa.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 June 2013}}</ref>
Among Arabic peoples, it is sometimes argued that the expansion of [[Islam]] brought an end to the sharp distinction between the firstborn and other sons so characteristic of ancient [[Semitic peoples]].<ref name="Kinship structure and political authority">{{cite journal |title=Kinship Structure and Political Authority: The Middle East and central Asia |author=Lindholm, Charles |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |date=April 1986 |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=334–355 |doi=10.1017/s001041750001389x|hdl=2144/3845 |s2cid=131825544 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Studies in Biblical Law: From the Hebrew Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |author=Brin, Gershon |year=1994 |pages=238 |isbn=9781850754848}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Jacob's Wealth: An Examination Into the Nature and Role of Material Possessions in the Jacob-Cycle (Gen 25:19–35:29) |publisher=BRILL |author=Vrolijk, Paul |year=2011 |page=49 |isbn=9789004203297|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vf-DgELK3iMC&pg=PA49}}</ref> However, many peoples who have partially or completely embraced Islam, have also established inequality between sons, such as the [[Oromo people|Oromo]] of east Africa, who had patrilineal primogeniture in inheritance, in spite of the fact that some of them were Muslim.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Political Economy of an African Society in Transformation: the Case of Macca Oromo (Ethiopia) |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |author=Ta'a, Tesema |year=2006 |pages=37 |isbn=9783447054195}}</ref> Other Muslim peoples, like the [[Minangkabau people|Minangkabau]] and the [[Javanese people|Javanese]] of Indonesia, the Turks, or the Fur in Sudan, also have inheritance practices that contradict their Islamic beliefs. Most non-Arab Muslims historically followed their own inheritance customs, not those of the Sharia.
In India, inheritance customs were (and still are) very diverse. Patrilineal primogeniture predominated in ancient times. The [[Laws of Manu]] state that the oldest son inherits all of the father's estate.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Laws of Manu |publisher=Library of Alexandria |author=Buehler, Georg |year=1964 |pages=Law 105 |isbn=9781465536952}}</ref> Since the Middle Ages patrilineal equal inheritance has prevailed in perhaps a majority of groups,<ref>{{cite book |title=Early Medieval Indian Society (pb) |publisher=Orient Blackswan |author=Sharma, R.S. |year=2003 |pages=181 |isbn=9788125025238}}</ref> although the eldest son often received an extra share.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sacredlawsofarya00buhliala |title=The sacred laws of the Aryas: as taught in the schools of Apastamba, Gautama, Vasishtha and Baudhayana (1898) |access-date=6 June 2014|publisher=New York : Christian Literature Co. |year=1898 }}</ref> Under this system, the estate would be shared between all sons, but these would often remain together with their respective families under the headship of the karta or family head, who was usually the eldest son of the previous family head.<ref>{{cite book |title=Industrial Families in India |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |author=Verma, Harnam Singh |year=1985 |pages=131}}</ref> However, among some South Asian peoples, such as the Western [[Punjabi people|Punjabi]], male primogeniture continued to prevail.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/10502/1/10502.pdf?DDD5+dan0sml+dan0sml+dan0sml |title=Networks and Kinship: Formal Models of Alliance, Descent and Inheritance in a Pakistani Punjabi Village |publisher=Durham University |access-date=6 June 2014 |author=Lyon, Stephen M.|journal=Social Science Computer Review |date=February 2013 |volume=31 |issue=1 |doi=10.1177/0894439312453275 }}</ref>
==Fertility and marriage strategies across diverse societies==
===Cross-cultural comparisons===
The practice of [[widow inheritance]] by younger brothers has been observed in many parts of Africa and the Asian steppe, as well as small zones of South Asia. This practice forces younger brothers to marry older women.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://case.edu/affil/tibet/tibetanSociety/documents/02.pdf |title=Why Polyandry Fails: Sources of Instability in Polyandrous Marriages |author1=Levine, Nancy E. |author2-link=Joan Silk |author2=Silk, Joan B. |journal=Current Anthropology |date=June 1997 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=375–398 |doi=10.1086/204624|s2cid=17048791 }}</ref> Eastern European cultures, on the other hand, are characterized by early, universal and equal access to marriage and reproduction, due to their systems of equal inheritance of land and movable property by all sons.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/pop_1634-2941_2004_num_59_6_18495 |title=Peasant Marriage in Nineteenth-Century Russia |author1=troitskaia, I. |author2=Blum, A. |author3=Avdeev, A. |journal=Population |year=2004 |volume=59 |issue=6 |pages=721–764 |doi=10.3917/pope.406.0721|doi-access=free }}</ref> Research on pre-industrial [[Russian Karelia]] however, suggests that younger brothers frequently remained unmarried,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rjh.ub.rug.nl/ha/article/download/2091/2083+ |title=Marriage behaviour in pre-industrial Karelian rural parishes |publisher=Nederlands Agronomisch Historisch Instituut |date=2009 |access-date=6 June 2014 |author=Cherniakova, Irina}}</ref> and the joint-family household characterized by the equal inheritance of land and moveable property by all sons and patriarchal power relations wasn't universal in Russia.
The patrilineal joint-family systems and more or less equal inheritance for all son in India and China meant that there was no difference in marriage and reproduction due to birth order. In the stem-family systems of Northwest Europe however, access to marriage and reproduction wasn't equal for all sons, since only one of them would inherit most or all of the land.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Lifeboat Ethic versus Corporate Ethic: Social and Demographic Implications of Stem and Joint Families |author=Gupta, Das Monica |journal=The World Bank |date=May 1999 |pages=27 |doi=10.1596/1813-9450-2127|series = Policy Research Working Papers}}</ref>
The survival and well-being of children in India and China is positively influenced by the number of older siblings of the opposite sex and negatively influenced by the number of older siblings of the same sex.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ir.ide.go.jp/dspace/bitstream/2344/1108/1/ARRIDE_Discussion_No.319_makino.pdf |title=Effects of Birth Order and Sibling Sex Composition on Human Capital Investment in Children in India |publisher=Institute of Developing Economies |access-date=6 June 2014 |author=Makino, Momoe}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Effects of gender, birth order, and other correlates on childhood mortality in China |vauthors=Choe MK, Hao H, Wang F |journal=Soc Biol |date=Spring–Summer 1995 |volume=42 |issue=1–2 |pages=50–64 |pmid=7481920 |doi=10.1080/19485565.1995.9988887}}</ref> However, definitive celibacy was historically relatively uncommon in India and China, but relatively common in many European societies where inheritance was impartible. The Han Chinese first sons historically married earlier, had lower rates of definitive celibacy and more children (especially males) than their younger brothers. However, they suffered higher mortality rates. This has been attributed to the fact that eldest sons needed to have more children to succeed them as heads and were willing to take more risks and suffer a higher drain of resources to achieve this.<ref name="fateandfortune"/> The Chinese joint family system had strong [[inegalitarian]] traits that made it demographically more akin to a stem family system. According to [[Emmanuel Todd]] and others, it be reminiscent of the system of patrilineal primogeniture prevalent during the [[Longshan culture]] period and the period of the [[Three Kingdoms|Three Dynasties]].<ref name="Lamberg-Karlovsky 1991"/>
===Variations by class and context===
There is a strong relationship between fertility and inheritance in "Malthusian" contexts of resource scarcity. In contexts where resources are plentiful, the relationship between inheritance and social outcomes can be different. In the Midwest and Northeast United States during the period from 1775 to 1875, where resources were plentiful, being the first son was positively correlated with wealth and fertility. As in other western cultures, but unlike European societies where resources were scarce, this has a complex relationship with inheritance.<ref name="Farm family economy">{{cite journal |title=The farm family economy in the American North, 1775–1875: an exploration of sibling differences |author1=Adams, John W. |author2=Kasakoff, Alice Bee |journal=Continuity and Change |date=Dec 1992 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=357–375 |doi=10.1017/S0268416000001715|s2cid=144775570 }}</ref>
Inheritance practices and seniority of patriline, as well as the importance of inheritance itself, have varied over time among the [[Lisu people|Lisu]]. This was mostly in response to changes in resource availability and poppy cultivation.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10524/1545/gillogly_dissertation.pdf?sequence=1 |title=Transformations of Lisu Social Structure Under Opium Control and Watershed Conservation in Northern Thailand |author=Gillogly, Kathleen A. |journal=The University of Michigan |year=2006}}</ref>
In the United States, daughters currently inherit on average more than sons.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/.U1ddo2J_tAk |title=Gender preference and transfers from parents to children: an inter-regional comparison |author=Wong, Edwin S. |journal=International Review of Applied Economics |year=2013 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=61–80 |doi=10.1080/02692171.2012.700702|s2cid=153976809 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In the past, however, the eldest son was favored in matters of land inheritance. During the Colonial Period, the eldest son inherited twice more than the other sons in the northern colonies (these inheritance laws were modelled on [[Mosaic Law]]), and in the southern colonies there was a rule of male primogeniture.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/eb/alston/econ8534/SectionII/Alston_and_Schapiro,_Inheritance_Laws_Across_Colonies.pdf |title=Inheritance Laws Across Colonies: Causes and Consequences |author1=Alston, Lee J. |author2=Schapiro, Morton Owen |journal=The Journal of Economic History |date=June 1984 |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=277–287 |doi=10.1017/s0022050700031880|s2cid=154599682 }}</ref>
In northern Ghana, a region where male primogeniture predominates, rich households favoured sons over daughters. It is likely that first born sons would have been preferred as they would inherit the wealth and therefore have higher reproductive prospects.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Socioeconomic status determines sex-dependent survival of human offspring |author1=van Bodegom, David |author2=Rozing, Maarten P. |author3=May, Linda |author4=Meij, Hans J. |author5=Thomése, Fleur |author6=Zwaan, Bas J. |author7=Westendorp, Rudi G. J. |journal=Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health |year=2013 |volume=2013 |issue=1 |pages=37–45 |doi=10.1093/emph/eot002|pmid=24481185 |pmc=3868360 }}</ref>
==Cultural patterns of child-preference==
In recent times inheritance in the western world has generally been egalitarian despite parents showing favoritism towards daughters and later-born sons.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Birth order, sex of child, and perceptions of parental favoritism |author1=Salmon, Catherine A. |author2=Shackelford, Todd K. |author3=Michalski, Richard L. | journal=Personality and Individual Differences |date=Feb 2012 | volume=52 | issue=3 | pages=357–362 | doi=10.1016/j.paid.2011.10.033}}</ref> In parent-son relationships, mothers usually show favouritism towards the first son and fathers to later born sons however these tendencies have lost much of their importance with regards to inheritance.
Customs of ultimogeniture among farmers has been explained as a consequence of postponing retirement so they do not feel "dethroned" early by their eldest son. This line of thinking has been linked to the preeminence of lastborn siblings in popular myth and folklore around the world. As a consequence, in some cultures that practice male preimogentiure there are ambiguous, contradictory feelings towards last born sons.<ref>{{cite journal | title=The 'Last Born' (Muxogosi) and Complementary Filiation in Tiriki, Kenya | author=Sangree, Walter H. | journal=Ethos |date=Fall 1981 | volume=9 | issue=3 | pages=188–200 | doi=10.1525/eth.1981.9.3.02a00020| hdl=1802/6872 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>
Among the Hausa of West Africa, who practice primogeniture, the mother and oldest son engage in mutual avoidance behavior to mark the woman's positive change in status upon producing an heir. The father may also avoid the son if he is the mother's first male child, speaking to him through intermediaries rather than directly.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Hausa of Nigeria | publisher=University Press of America | author=Salamone, Frank A. | year=2010 | pages=2 | isbn=9780761847243}}</ref>
Among the [[Mossi people|Mossi]] of central Burkina Faso in West Africa, the eldest son would be sent to relatives shortly after circumcision and return to the parental household shortly after puberty; after the death of his father he would inherit his property.
A study of the people of the Pacific island Tikopia in 1929 found that the eldest son must marry and receive more land, while the younger sons remain bachelors, emigrate or even die.<ref>{{cite book | title=We the Tikopia: A sociological study of kinship in primitive Polynesia | publisher=Routledge | author=Firth, Raymond | year=2013 | isbn=9781136538087}}</ref> However, by 1952 many of the customs were being abandoned and marriage was beginning to become universal.<ref>{{cite book | title=Social Change in Tikopia: Re-study of a Polynesian Community After a Generation | publisher=Routledge | author=Firth, Raymond | year=2013 | pages=195 | isbn=9781136537455}}</ref> In the succession to chieftainship, the traditional custom of male primogeniture continued though.<ref>{{cite book | title=Succession To Chieftainship in Tikopia | publisher=Ardent Media | author=Firth, Raymond | year=1960 | pages=169}}</ref>
In some societies in Sub-Saharan Africa where male primogeniture was practiced, tensions between parents and their inheriting eldest son were resolved through rituals of avoidance. This was most extreme among the [[Tallensi]]. Among East Asian peoples, on the other hand, co-residence between parents and their eldest son was thought of as normal and desirable in systems of impartible inheritance, and in some countries such as Japan, Vietnam and South Korea it is widely practiced even nowadays.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Is the Eldest Son Different? The Residential Choice of Siblings in Japan |author1=Wakabayashi, Midori |author2=Horioka, Charles Y. | journal=National Bureau of Economic Research |date=Oct 2006 | volume=NBER Working Paper No. 12655 | doi=10.3386/w12655| doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="isbn9780226386850"/><ref>{{cite book | title=Culture, Ritual and Revolution in Vietnam | url=https://archive.org/details/cultureritualrev00mala | url-access=limited | publisher=University of Hawaii Press | author=Malarney, Shaun Kingsley | year=2002 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/cultureritualrev00mala/page/n15 17] | isbn=9780824826604}}</ref> Historically in Japan, marriage and reproduction by the eldest son was facilitated by their status as heirs.<ref name="journals.cambridge.org">{{cite journal |title=Short tailors and sickly Buddhist priests: birth order and household effects on class and health in Japan, 1893–1943 | author=Honda, Gail | journal=Continuity and Change |date=August 1996 | volume=11 | issue=2 | pages=273–294 | doi=10.1017/S0268416000003349| s2cid=144286753 }}</ref>
In Japan, Korea and Vietnam, as well as in some of those European regions where male primogeniture was practiced, parents didn't transfer their property to the inheriting son at the point of his marriage as among Germans. Instead, the first son remained under his father's authority even after he had married and had had children, and the father remained the nominal head of the family until his death, relinquishing his actual authority slowly and gradually. In Japan, only the inheriting son stayed in the parental household. He could become head of the family any time between his marriage and the death of his predecessor. The timing of this was normally dictated by familial or local traditions.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/rs/bitstream/10086/13400/1/0100700701.pdf | title=Marriage, family labour and the stem family household: traditional Japan in a comparative perspective | author=Saito, Osamu | journal=Continuity and Change | year=2000 | volume=15 | issue=1 | pages=17–45 | doi=10.1017/s026841609900346x| hdl=10086/13400 | s2cid=55491127 }}</ref> The Catalan and Occitan stem families in Europe closely resembled the model seen in Japan.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/RASO/article/viewFile/RASO9191110179A/10771 | title=Sucesión unipersonal y familia troncal en la "Catalunya Vella" | author=Barrera González, Andrés | journal=Revista de Antropología Social | year=1991 | pages=179–204}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Barrera | first=Andrés | chapter=Primogenitura y herencia en la 'Catalunya Vella': Norma ideal y práctica actual | title=Los Pirineos: estudios de antropología social e historia | publisher=Casa de Velázquez| year=1986 | pages=177 | isbn=9788474912012 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ura6R3KcBN8C&pg=PA177}}</ref>
In rural China, property and landholdings are usually divided up when the older son marries.
Normally the youngest son continues to live with the parents and inherits their remaining share of the property. Prior to the [[Chinese Communist Revolution|revolution]] in 1949, most families in rural areas of China stayed together for many years after the oldest son marries, sometimes until the youngest son married.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/IPS/PSC/CCC/publications/papers/JU_Family_Customs.pdf | title=Family Customs and Farmland Reallocations in Contemporary Chinese Villages | access-date=9 June 2014 | author=Unger, Jonathan | archive-date=18 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218094457/http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/IPS/PSC/CCC/publications/papers/JU_Family_Customs.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> However, there is some evidence that the practice of co-residing with the eldest son continues.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Intergenerational Transfers and Living Arrangements of Older People in Rural China: Consequences for Psychological Well-Being |author1=Silverstein, Merril |author2=Zhen Cong |author3=Shuzhuo Li | journal=J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci |date=September 2006 | volume=61B |issue=5 | pages=S256–66 | pmid=16960239|doi=10.1093/geronb/61.5.s256 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
In Israel, coresidence between parents and their eldest son prevails in the context of the [[Moshav]] movement, that prohibited breaking up family plots; thus the eldest son inherits the family farm.<ref>{{cite book | title=Altruism and Beyond: An Economic Analysis of Transfers and Exchanges Within Families and Groups | publisher=Cambridge University Press | author=Stark, Oded | year=1999 | pages=43 | isbn=9780521663731}}</ref>
In South Korea, modern businesses ([[chaebol]]) are handed down according to male primogeniture in most cases.<ref>{{cite book | title=The State, Society and Big Business in South Korea | publisher=Taylor & Francis | author=Lee, Yeon-Ho | year=2002 | isbn=9780203075074}}</ref> A study of family firms in the UK, France, Germany and US found that male primogeniture was the inheritance rule in more than half of family firms in France and the UK, but only in less than a third of those in the US and only in a quarter (25 per cent) of those in Germany.
==Social approaches to inheritance customs==
Employing differing forms of succession can affect many areas of society. Gender roles are profoundly affected by inheritance laws and traditions. Impartible inheritance has the effect of keeping large estates united and thus perpetuating an elite. With partible inheritance large estates are slowly divided among many descendants and great wealth is thus diluted. Inheritance customs can even affect gender differences in cognitive abilities. Among the [[Karbis]], who employ male primogeniture, men perform significantly better than women in tasks of spatial abilities. There are no significant differences in the performance of men and women among the Khasis, who employ female ultimogeniture.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://rady.ucsd.edu/faculty/directory/gneezy/pub/docs/pnas_published.pdf | title=Nurture affects gender differences in spatial abilities |author1=Hoffman, Moshe |author2=Gneezy, Uri |author3=List, John A. | journal=PNAS | year=2011 | volume=108 | issue=36 | pages=14786–14788 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1015182108 | pmid=21876159 | pmc=3169128| bibcode=2011PNAS..10814786H | doi-access=free }}</ref>
The degree of acceptance that a society may show towards an inheritance rule can also vary. In South Africa, for example, the influence of more modern, western social ideas has caused strong opposition, both civil and official, to the customary law of patrilineal primogeniture traditionally prevalent among black peoples, and inheritance customs are gradually changing.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.dejure.up.ac.za/articles-vol-44-3/bekker-jc-koyana-ds | title=The judicial and legislative reform of the customary law of succession |author1=Bekker, JC |author2=Koyana, DS | journal=De Jure | year=2012 | volume=45 | issue=3}}</ref>
Among the indigenous tribes of South Africa, the oldest son inherits after the death of the father. If the oldest son is also dead, the oldest surviving grandson inherits; if the eldest son has no sons, the inheritance is passed to the father's second son or his sons, and so on through all the sons and their male children if necessary. In [[polygynous]] families which were formed of multiple units, the inheritance rules were changed slightly. Each marriage formed a new unit, independent from the others, with separate property which was inherited by the heir of each unit. Polygynous families practised either simple or complex inheritance. In the simple system the heir is the eldest son of the first wife, of if he is dead, the eldest grandson. If the first wife had no sons, the inheritance went to the oldest surviving male descendant of the second wife, and so on through all the wives if necessary. Complex inheritance happened when the homestead was separated into two or three units, depending on the number of wives, and the eldest son of each wife became heir of their unit. If there was no heir in one of the units, the heir of the other inherited both. This form of inheritance was seen among the [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]] people of south eastern South Africa.<ref name="books.google.com"/>
In [[Lesotho]] and southern Ethiopia, most people still follow the custom of male primogeniture.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Chieftainship Succession and Gender Equality in Lesotho: Negotiating the Right to Equality in a Jungle of Pluralism | author=Juma, Laurence | journal=Texas Journal of Women & the Law |date=Spring 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=Land inheritance establishes sibling competition for marriage and reproduction in rural Ethiopia |author1=Gibson, Mhairi A. |author2=Gurmu, Eshetu | journal=PNAS | year=2010 | volume=108 | issue=6 | pages=2200–2204 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1010241108 | pmid=21262826 | pmc=3038728|doi-access=free }}</ref>
However, in Zambia, Namibia and Cameroon, the prevalent customary law of patrilineal primogeniture is beginning to be challenged in court.<ref>{{cite book | title=Protecting Human Security in Africa | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=Abass, Ademola | year=2010 | pages=250 | isbn=9780191637179}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Land Tenure, Housing Rights and Gender in Namibia | publisher=UN-HABITAT | author=United Nations Human Settlements Programme | year=2005 | pages=20 | isbn=9789211317688}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/300/1/NzalieEbi09PhD_A1a.pdf | title=The structure of succession law in Cameroon: finding a balance between the needs and interests of different family members | publisher=University of Birmingham. | date=2009 | access-date=10 June 2014 | author=Nzalie Ebi, Joseph}}</ref> In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the predominant custom of [[male primogeniture]] is also beginning to be considered unfair by some women and younger sons.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://hhi.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/publications/publications%20-%20women%20-%20hope.pdf | title=Hope for the Future Again: Tracing the effects of sexual violence and conflict on families and communities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo | publisher=Harvard Humanitarian Initiative | date=April 2011 | access-date=10 June 2014 | author1=Kelly, Jocelyn | author2=VanRooyen, Michael | author3=Kabanga, Justin | author4=Maclin, Beth | author5=Mullen, Colleen | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109152631/http://hhi.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/publications/publications%20-%20women%20-%20hope.pdf | archive-date=9 November 2013 | url-status=dead }}</ref> The custom of patrilineal primogeniture predominant in [[South Sudan]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201204301478.html | title=Sudan: Customary Justice System in the Nation | publisher=All Africa | date=30 April 2012 | access-date=10 June 2014}}</ref> Uganda,<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.ajol.info/index.php/asr/article/viewFile/57752/46119 | title=Statutory Law, Patriarchy and Inheritance: Home ownership among Widows in Uganda | author=Asiimwe, Florence Akiiki | journal=African Sociological Review | year=2009 | volume=13 | issue=1 | pages=124–142 | doi=10.4314/asr.v13i1.57752}}</ref> Tanzania,<ref>{{cite book | title=Child-Widows Silenced and Unheard: Human Rights Sufferers in Tanzania | publisher=AuthorHouse | author=Magoke-Mhoja, Monica Elias | year=2008 | isbn=9781467899635}}</ref> Burundi,<ref>{{cite book | url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/700157.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202232318/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/700157.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=2 December 2013 | title=Area Handbook for Burundi | publisher=For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off. | author=McDonald, Gordon C. | year=1969}}</ref> Equatorial Guinea,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ncbuy.com/reference/country/humanrights.html?code=ek&sec=5 | title=Equatorial Guinea Human Rights Report | publisher=NCBuy | access-date=10 June 2014 | archive-date=10 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210041158/http://www.ncbuy.com/reference/country/humanrights.html?code=ek&sec=5 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Zimbabwe and Gambia have not caused much opposition.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ilcufoundation.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Gambia-Baseline-Study-ILCUF-June-2012.pdf | title=Rural Gambian Households: A Baseline Study of Credit Union Members in Four Regions of the Gambia | publisher=ILCU Foundation | date=June 2012 | access-date=10 June 2014 | archive-date=4 October 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004231030/http://www.ilcufoundation.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Gambia-Baseline-Study-ILCUF-June-2012.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>
In Ghana, the diverse inheritance customs across ethnic groups, such as the male primogeniture among the [[Ewe people|Ewe]] and the Krobos, or matrilineal inheritance among the [[Akan people|Akan]], contribute to the occurrence of children living in the streets.<ref>{{cite thesis |type=PhD |url=http://etheses.nottingham.ac.uk/3703/1/575417.pdf |title='Streetism' or Living in the Street, an Emerging Phenomenon as a Way of Life in Developing Countries, a Case Study of Children Living on the Streets of Ghana |author=Tettegah, Christine A. N. |publisher=University of Nottingham |year=2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203000645/http://etheses.nottingham.ac.uk/3703/1/575417.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2013 }}</ref> In Sierra Leone, the inheritance customs prevalent in the country, were either the eldest son or the eldest brother inherits the property, create insecurities for widows.<ref>{{cite book | title=Sierra Leone: "we'll Kill You If You Cry" : Sexual Violence in the Sierra Leone Conflict | publisher=Human Rights Watch | author=Human Rights Watch (Organization) | year=2003 | pages=19}}</ref> In South Korea, favouring the eldest son has been predominant almost up to recent times, despite laws of equal inheritance for all children. In 2005, in more than half (52.6 per cent) cases of inheritance the eldest son inherited most or all of his parents' property; in more than 30 per cent of cases the eldest son inherited all of his parents' property.<ref name="isbn9780226386850">{{cite book | chapter-url=https://www.nber.org/chapters/c8163.pdf | title=Volume Title: The Economic Conseque nces of Demographic Change in East Asia, NBER-EASE Volume 19 | publisher=University of Chicago Press | author=Kim, Hisam | year=2010 | isbn=9780226386850 | chapter=Intergenerational Transfers and Old- Age Security in Korea}}</ref> In the past North Korea has the same pattern of inheritance as the South, however no details about current inheritance practices have been available since the county's proclamation of independence in 1948.
Social transformations can also modify inheritance customs to a great extent. For example, the [[Samburu people|Samburu]] of north-central Kenya are pastoralists who have traditionally practiced an attenuated form of patrilineal primogeniture, with the eldest son receiving the largest share of the family herd and each succeeding son receiving a considerably smaller share than any of his seniors.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Samburu: A Study in Geocentracy | publisher=Spencer, Paul Taylor & Francis | author=Spencer, Paul | year=2003 | isbn=9780203584811}}</ref> Now that many of them have become agriculturalists, some argue that land inheritance should follow patrilineal primogeniture, while others argue for equal division of the land.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.isnie.org/ISNIE06/Papers06/03.2/lesorogol.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070720020910/http://www.isnie.org/ISNIE06/Papers06/03.2/lesorogol.pdf | url-status=usurped | archive-date=20 July 2007 | title=Understanding Institutional Emergence: Land Inheritance among Samburu pastoralists in Kenya | publisher=Washington University in St. Louis | date=August 2006 | access-date=10 June 2014 | author=Lesorogol, Carolyn K.}}</ref> The [[Bhil]] people of central India, who were hunter-gatherers in the past, adopted a system of attenuated patrilineal primogeniture identical to that of pastoral [[Samburu people|Samburu]] when they became agriculturalists.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/library/enc-sa.pdf | title=Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Volume III, South Asia | publisher=G.K. Hall & Company | author=Hockings, Paul | ___location=New York}}</ref> The same custom also prevails among some other peoples, like the [[Elgeyo]] and [[Maasai people|Maasai]] in Kenya,<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/XX/LXXIX/195.extract | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204144713/http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/XX/LXXIX/195.extract | url-status=dead | archive-date=2016-02-04 | title=SKETCH OF ELGEYO LAW AND CUSTOM | author=Beech, Mervyn W. H. | journal=Journal of the Royal African Society |date=April 1921 | volume=20 | issue=79 | pages=195–200}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=The Maasai of Matapato: A Study of Rituals of Rebellion | publisher=Taylor & Francis | author=Spencer, Paul | year=2003 | isbn=9780203583401}}</ref> or the [[Nupe people|Nupe]] of Nigeria and Niger. Most of the [[Amhara people|Amhara]] in Ethiopia divide their property between all sons, however male primogeniture is practised in some regions.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.refugeelegalaidinformation.org/sites/srlan/files/fileuploads/Reminick-TheEvilEyeBeliefAmongAmharaEthiopia_again.pdf | title=The Evil Eye Belief Among the Amhara of Ethiopia | publisher=Cleveland State University | access-date=10 June 2014 | author=Reminick, Ronald A. | archive-date=2 June 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602135617/http://www.refugeelegalaidinformation.org/sites/srlan/files/fileuploads/Reminick-TheEvilEyeBeliefAmongAmharaEthiopia_again.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> Favoring the eldest son is also common among the [[Dinka]] in South Sudan.<ref name="books.google_a">{{cite book | title=Customary Law in the Modern World: The Crossfire of Sudan's War of Identities | publisher=Taylor & Francis | author=Deng, Francis | year=2009 | isbn=9780203873571}}</ref> Among the [[Shona people|Shona]] of Zimbabwe and Mozambique, the oldest son it the first to inherit and gets the best piece of the land.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Impact of HIV/AIDS on the Shona Livelihood System of Southeast Zimbabwe | author=Mazzeo, John | year=2007 | pages=105–106 | isbn=9780549273097}}</ref> The oldest accounts of the Shona mention patrilineal primogeniture as their inheritance custom, with the oldest son of any of the deceased's wives becoming the main heir.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Mashonaland Natives | last=Taberer | first=W. S. | journal=[[Journal of the Royal African Society]] | year=1905 | volume=4 | issue=XV | pages=311–336 | jstor=714564}}</ref> The widow was inherited by her husbands brother but could choose not to be.<ref>{{cite book | title=Shona Customary Law: With Reference to Kinship, Marriage, the Family and the Estate | publisher=Manchester University Press | author=Holleman, J. F. | year=1952 | pages=236 | isbn=9780719010262}}</ref>
==Systems of social stratification==
{{Details|Systems of social stratification}}
==
The right of patrilineal
[[Inheritance law in ancient Rome|Roman law]] didn't recognise
Among
The Scottish clan of the feudal era, which survived in the Highlands until 1747, was the only known example of a conical clan in Europe, along with the Roman [[gens]] according to [[Fustel de Coulanges]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.efm.bris.ac.uk/het/fustel/AncientCity.pdf|title=The Ancient City A Study on the Religion, Laws,
As the propinquity removes, they become less considered, till at last they degenerate to be of the common people; unless some accidental acquisition of wealth supports them above their station. As this hath been an ancient custom, most of the farmers and cottars are of the name and clan of the proprietor; and, if they are not really so, the proprietor either obliges them to assume it, or they are glaid to do so, to procure his protection and favour."
Prior to the advent of feudalism during Late Medieval times and the creation of the system above explained, no trace of male primogeniture or a similar custom existed in Scotland or elsewhere in the
The British custom of male primogeniture became also prevalent in some British colonies, most strongly in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/downloads/07-066|title=Farm Succession and Inheritance: Comparing Australian and International Trends|access-date=13 October 2019|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225253/https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/downloads/07-066|url-status=dead}}</ref> The contrary development occurred in South Africa, where the [[Afrikaners|Afrikaner]] colonizers, who practiced partible inheritance,<ref>
In parts of northern France, giving a slightly larger share to the eldest son was common among peasants even before the 10th century; after that century, patrilineal
===Welsh laws of inheritance===
The ancient Welsh laws of inheritance inform us about the evolution of inheritance practices in Great Britain. The [[Venedotian Code]] establishes that land must be partitioned between all sons and that the youngest has a preferential claim to the buildings:
"
"If there be no buildings on the land, the youngest son is to divide all the patrimony, and the eldest is to choose; and each, in seniority, choose unto the youngest."
"Land of a hamlet is not to be shared as tyddyns, but as gardens
"When brothers share their patrimony between them, the younger is to have the principal tenement, and all the buildings, of his father, and eight einvs of land; his boiler, his hatchet, and his coulter, because a father cannot give these three to any one but the youngest son, and though they should be pledged they never become forfeited. Then let every brother take an homestead with eight erws of land; and the youngest son is to divide, and they are to choose in succession from the eldest to the youngest."
This was later replaced by a preference for the eldest son, and the [[Dimetian Code]] provides:
During the
===
Inheritance can be organized in a way that its use is restricted by the desires of someone (usually of the
==
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[[Category:Inheritance]]
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