Historical inheritance systems: Difference between revisions

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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 Munro|publisher=S. Edmonson Tulane University|url=http://www.mesoweb.com/pari/publications/rt04/edmonson.pdf}}</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|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 | author=Crisologo-Mendoza, Lorelei and Van de Gaer, Dirk | date=November 1997|accessdate=05 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 [[Russians|Russian]] peasants was found to be close to patrilineal primogeniture, "as oldest sons may well inherit more". The conclusions of this review contradicts previous 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>''Testing{{cite Todd:web global data on family characteristics'', Auke Rijpma and Sarah Carmichael, Utrecht University| url=http://vkc.library.uu.nl/vkc/seh/Lists/Events/Attachments/33/carmichaelrijpma_testing.pdf | title=Testing Todd: global data on family characteristics | publisher=Utrecht University | date=May 2013 | accessdate=5 June 2014 | author=Rijpma, Auke and Carmichael, Sarah}}</ref>
 
In easternmost Europe, Patrilineal ultimogeniture prevailed among most [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] peoples. Equal inheritance of property by all sons prevailed among most [[Uralic]] and [[Finno-Ugric]] peoples, and patrilineal primogeniture prevailed among [[Estonians]] and [[Balts]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/3774059 | title=Ethnographic Atlas XXXI: Peoples of Easternmost Europe Author(s): Dmitri| author=Bondarenko, AlexanderDmitri; Kazankov, DariaAlexander; Khaltourina, AndreyDaria; Korotayev Source: Ethnology, Vol.Andrey 44,| No.journal=Ethnology 3 (Summer,| year=2005), pp.| 261–289month=Summer Published| by:volume=44 University| ofissue=4 Pittsburgh-| Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3774059pages=261–289}}</ref>
 
Inheritance customs are sometimes considered a culturally distinctive aspect of a society; for example, the customs of [[primogeniture]] predominant among many northeastern Indian tribes have been considered as possible proof of their remote [[Jewish]] or [[Semitic]] origin.<ref name="primogeniture">{{cite web | url=http://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10019.1/17750/Fachhai_primogeniture_2007.pdf?sequence=1 | title=Primogeniture in the Old Testament; Towards a Theological-Ethical Understanding of Patriarchy in Ancient Israel | publisher=University of Stellenbosch | date=December 2007 | accessdate=5 June 2014 | author=Fachhai, Laiu}}</ref> 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/ | title=Customary Laws of the Kukis | publisher=Kuki International Forum | date=June 20, 2010 | accessdate=5 June 2014}}</ref> In general there is great confusion about the ethnic identity of the many northeastern [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Chin-Kuki-Ethnic Dilemma: Search for an Appropriate Identity|date=April 25, 2007|first=Chawnglienthang|last=Changsan|url=http://kukiforum.com/2007/04/the-chin-kuki-ethnic-dilemma-search-for-an-appropriate-identity-2/}}</ref> Some regard the generic term [[Zomi]] as most appropriate.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}
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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.
 
Inheritance Rules for Movable Property are as follows: in 381 there isn't enough information, in 132 there are no individual property rights or rules, in 45 sister's sons inherit, in 73 other matrilineal heirs, in 67 all children, but daughters receive less, in 89 all children inherit equally, in 393 only sons inherit, and in 87 other patrilineal heirs.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}
 
Inheritance Distribution for Movable Property are as follows: in 382 there isn't enough information or there are no rules, in 435 equality prevails and in 18 movable property is exclusively or predominantly adjudged to the one best qualified, while in 14 societies ultimogeniture predominates and in 244 primogeniture predominates.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}
 
=== Other sources ===
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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|year=2010|month=Feb|volume=51|issue=1|pages=65–83}}</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 | year=2010 | month=Feb | volume=51 | issue=1 | pages=35–48 | doi=10.1086/648561}}</ref>
 
A study of 39 non-Western societies found many customs that distinguished between children according to their sex and birth order. First sons, in comparison to other sons, "are likely to inherit or otherwise gain control of more family land, livestock, or other wealth." Specifically, firstFirst sons inherited more than the other sons among the11 [[Azande]],societies the Japanese, the [[Kapauku Papuans]], the [[Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania|Luo]], the [[Mossi people|Mossi]], the [[Tswana people|Tswana]], the [[Katab]], the [[Lepcha people|Lepcha]], the [[Mende people|Mende]], the [[Tikopia]] and the western [[Punjabi people|Punjabi]]studied. Among the [[Todas]], both first and last sons inherited more than the other sons,. while lastLast sons inherited more than the other sons among the [[Yi people|Lolo]] and the [[Yukaghir]]., Last sonsand inherited less than any other sons among the [[Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania|Luo]]. Last sons received less respect from their siblings than any other sons among the Dagor [[Mongols]], the [[Fijians]], the Papago, the [[Siuai]], the [[TongaThe people|Tonga]], the [[Tswana people|Tswana]], the western [[Punjabi people|Punjabi]] and the [[Yanomamo]], but they were more spoiled or indulged by their parents than the other sons among the [[Arapesh]], the Egyptian Fellahin, the [[Hausa people|Hausa]], the [[Lepcha people|Lepcha]] and the [[Tikopia]]. Considering all the customs they found (notto only those mentioned here), the people withhave the greatest number of customs favourable to first sons in the study were the [[Tswana people|Tswana]], followed closely by the [[Azande]],. while theThe people with the greatest number of customs favourablefavorable to last sons in their study were the [[Yi people|Lolo]]. Apart from the easily predictable finding that being the first son was good among the Japanese, thisThis study confirmed ethnographers' claims that customs favourablefavorable to first sons were common in South Asia, [[Austronesia]] and [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], while customs favourablefavorable to last sons were common among the ethnic minorities of Southwest China.<ref name=Rosenblatt>{{cite news|title=Birth order in cross-cultural perspective.|authors=Rosenblatt, Paul C.; Skoogberg, Elizabeth L.|journal=Developmental Psychology|volume=10(1)|date=Jan 1974|pages=48–54|doi=10.1037/h0035566|url=http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/10/1/48}}</ref>
 
Among the Dagor Mongols, only certain customs favourable to first sons were found; no customs favourable to last sons were found. The findings concerning the Dagor Mongols contradict those theories that maintain that peoples of the Asian steppe had strong customs favourable to first or last sons. The only custom that distinguished between sons among the Dagor Mongols was that first sons received more respect from his siblings than the other sons and last sons received less respect from their siblings than the other sons. In fact, the indigenous American peoples, such as the Zapotec, the Gros Ventre, the Klamath, the Papago or the Yanomamo, had significantly more customs favourable to first sons than the Dagor Mongols.<ref name=Rosenblatt/>
 
Among [[Arab]] peoples, such as the Egyptian Fellahin, first sons received more elaborate birth ceremonies, had more authority over siblings both during [[childhood]] and in adulthood, and had more power and influence over others. however, they were also given more duties to perform, and last sons were more indulged or spoiled by their parents than the other sons. All sons inherited the same and had the same wealth.<ref name=Rosenblatt/>
 
Among [[Alaska Native]] peoples such as the [[Eyak people|Eyak]], first sons had more authority over siblings, had more power and influence over others and were more likely to head a kin group than the other sons, but all sons inherited the same.<ref name=Rosenblatt/>
 
Among the 39 societies studied, on average "the birth of a first child of either sex is more likely than the birth of other children to increase parent status, stabilize parent marriage, and provide a parental teknonym. Firstborns are likely to receive more elaborate birth ceremonies and, in childhood, to have more authority over siblings and to receive more respect from siblings. In adulthood, firstborn daughters are likely to receive more respect from siblings than other daughters, and firstborn sons, in comparison to other sons, are likely to have more authority over siblings, more control of property, more power or influence over others, to be respected more by siblings, and to head a kin group".<ref name=Rosenblatt/>
 
However, as a counterpart of this general beneficial effect of being the first son and being the first daughter, both first sons and first daughters were given more duties to perform among the Egyptian Fellahin, the Gros Ventre, the Klamath, the Lepcha, the Leyte, the Luo, the Marshallese and the Tikopia. First daughters (but not first sons) were given more duties to perform among the Yanomamo and the Arapesh. This burden placed upon the first-born has been called "the first-born burden" and exists mainly in poorer households because poor families do not have the economic capacity to send their earlier-born children to school, but may send their later-born children to school thanks to the wages provided by their elder siblings with their work (earlier-born children being able to receive higher wages due to their greater age). This phenomenon has been ascertained in many industrialising Third World countries, especially Latin American ones, such as Brazil.<ref>Birth Order, Child Labor, and School Attendance in Brazil PATRICK M. EMERSON Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA and ANDRE´ PORTELA SOUZA * Sa˜o Paulo School of Economics, Fundac¸a˜o Getulio Vargas, Brazil http://econ.ucdenver.edu/beckman/tiffany/childlabor/emerson-birth-order.pdf</ref> It also existed in Europe during the period of industrialization.<ref>Sibship size and status attainment across contexts: Evidence from the Netherlands, 1840–1925 Hilde Bras Jan Kok Kees Mandemakers http://vkc.library.uu.nl/vkc/seh/research/Lists/Research%20Desk/Attachments/39/testingtodd.pdf</ref><ref>Individual Lives and Family Strategies in the French Proletariat* Louise A. Till http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/67452/10.1177_036319907900400204.pdf?sequence=2</ref> In Sub-Saharan Africa, later-born children tend to receive more education than earlier-born children in poorer families, while earlier-born children tend to receive more education than later-born children in richer families.<ref>Birth Order and Schooling: Theory and Evidence from Twelve Sub-Saharan Countries Michel Tenikue and Bertrand Verheyden http://jae.oxfordjournals.org/content/19/4/459</ref> In India, the eldest son receives more education than the other children.<ref name="faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu">Why Are Indian Children Shorter Than African Children? Seema Jayachandran Northwestern University Rohini Pande Harvard University July 27, 2013 http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~sjv340/height.pdf</ref> In Chinese-speaking countries like China and Taiwan, as well as in Vietnam, Japan and South Korea, eldest sons also receive more education than the other children.<ref>Has the One-Child Policy Improved Adolescents’ Educational Wellbeing in China? Juhua Yang http://paa2006.princeton.edu/papers/60804</ref><ref>W EI - HSIN Y U The University of Texas at Austin K UO - HSIEN S U National Taiwan University* Gender, Sibship Structure, and Educational Inequality in Taiwan: Son Preference Revisited http://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~khsu/mobile/sibling.pdf</ref><ref>Family size and children’s education in Vietnam Truong Si Anh, John Knodel, David Lam, Jed Friedman http://link.springer.com/article/10.2307/3004027</ref><ref>Does Money Matter? The Effect of Private Educational Expenditures on Academic Performance by Changhui Kang http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/ecs/pub/wp/wp0704.pdf</ref><ref>Gender, sibling order, and differences in the quantity and quality of educational attainment: Evidence using Japanese twin data October 3, 2013 Tien Manh Vu† Ph.D Candidate, Osaka School of International Public Policy Hisakazu Matsushige Professor, Osaka School of International Public Policy http://www.osipp.osaka-u.ac.jp/archives/DP/2013/DP2013E007.pdf</ref> Evidence regarding Arab countries is varied,<ref>Determinants of educational participation and gender differences in education in six Arab countries Jeroen Smits Janine Huisman www.ru.nl/publish/pages/516298/nice_12102.pdf</ref><ref>Family background and context effects on educational participation www.ru.nl/publish/pages/516298/nice_07106.pdf</ref> but in Egypt, earlier-born children receive more education than later-born ones.<ref>Gender Differences in Schooling Attainment: The Role of Sibling Characteristics and Birth Order Effects Diane M. Dancer and Anu Rammohan http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/sydwpaper/2123_2f7643.htm</ref><ref>Child schooling and child labour: evidence from Egypt http://www.erf.org.eg/CMS/uploads/pdf/9916%20.pdf</ref>
 
In developed countries, such as those of North America and Oceania, earlier-born children are generally more educated than later-born ones.<ref>Birth Order, Eminence and Higher Education
Stanley Schachter Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2089913</ref><ref>Birth order and educational achievement in adolescence and young adulthood David M. Fergusson L. John Horwood Joseph M. Boden http://www.otago.ac.nz/christchurch/otago014903.pdf</ref> In Europe, earlier-born children are also more educated, although, surprisingly, this effect is even stronger when care and education are shifted from parents to state-run institutions.<ref>Crown Princes and Benjamins: Birth Order and Educational Attainment in East and West Germany Martina Eschelbach http://www.lsw.wiso.uni-erlangen.de/BGPE/texte/DP/085_eschelbach.pdf</ref> In Indonesia, gender and birth order effects on education have disappeared as the country has developed.<ref>The Changing Relationship Between Family Size and Educational Attainment Over the Course of Socioeconomic Development: Evidence From Indonesia VIDA MARALANI http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831397/</ref> In pre-industrial societies these correlations between education and birth order do not exist, as shown by a study on education and family characteristics in Late Imperial China (1300–1850).<ref>Human Capital and Fertility in Chinese Clans, 1300–1850 Carol H. Shiue March 2008 http://www.mcgill.ca/files/economics/shiue.pdf</ref>
 
The only custom that distinguished between sons among the Dagor Mongols was that first sons received more respect from his siblings and last sons received less respect from their siblings. This contradicts those theories that maintain that peoples of the Asian steppe had strong customs favorable to first or last sons. In fact, the indigenous American peoples had significantly more customs favorable to first sons than the Dagor Mongols.<ref name=Rosenblatt/>
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 [[Russians|Russian]] peasants was found to be close to patrilineal primogeniture, "as oldest sons may well inherit more". The conclusions of this review contradicts previous 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>''Testing Todd: global data on family characteristics'', Auke Rijpma and Sarah Carmichael, Utrecht University http://vkc.library.uu.nl/vkc/seh/Lists/Events/Attachments/33/carmichaelrijpma_testing.pdf</ref>
 
Among [[Arab]] peoples, such as the Egyptian Fellahin, all sons inherited the same and had the same wealth. This was also seen among the [[Alaska Native]] peoples such as the [[Eyak people|Eyak]].<ref name=Rosenblatt/>
In easternmost Europe, Patrilineal ultimogeniture prevailed among most [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] peoples. Equal inheritance of property by all sons prevailed among most [[Uralic]] and [[Finno-Ugric]] peoples, and patrilineal primogeniture prevailed among [[Estonians]] and [[Balts]].<ref>Ethnographic Atlas XXXI: Peoples of Easternmost Europe Author(s): Dmitri Bondarenko, Alexander Kazankov, Daria Khaltourina, Andrey Korotayev Source: Ethnology, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Summer, 2005), pp. 261–289 Published by: University of Pittsburgh- Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3774059</ref>
 
[[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 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| url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/204320}}</ref> The "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 Chapter 2| title=Village Communities in Russia], | Emilaccessdate=5 June 2014 | author=de Lavelye, Emil}}</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"/>