Tuluva Malayalee lineage system

The regions of coastal Karnataka and Kerala followed matrilineal lineage system historically. Though it is still prevalent in Tulu regions only north Malabar communities have retained this custom. Hindu, Jain and Muslim communities in this region wered bounded by these lineage rules.

Origins

The lineage system is observed in many tribes of South Asia. No marital alliance is possible between persons belonging to the same lineage.

Tulu and Malayali regions practiced matrilineal system of inheritance for a greater part of history. However, very few communities have remained matrilineal now. Though few communities still inherit these lineages matrilineally many other have shifted to patrilineal inheritance. However, historical records show until 16th century almost all of the communities in this region were matrilineal. This might show that even the inheritance of a lineage could have been matrilineal initially. Also, the lineage names between different castes are similar showing a common beginning for this system.

Some believe this lineage system was modeled after Vedic gotra system by non-Brahmin communities. However, not much research has been done on this and as a result the antiquity of this system is not clear.

Description

In Tulu, the lineage is called "bali" or "bari". In Kannada, "balli" and in Malayalam "illam". Though people identify corresponding lineages among Tulu/Kannada/Malayalam names, literally, they are not similar. Also, the names do not follow a definite pattern. They look like a mix of tribe, region, person names.

Curiously, this lineage system was hierarchal with clearly defined the highest and the lowest "bari"s.

Malayalee communities identified their joint family houses with "illam" names.

Few examples

Tulu

* Bunts : "aarya", "saali" etc.
* Billava : "anchan", "saali", "koti", "suvarna" etc.
* Mogaveera: "Amin","Salian","Shriyan","Suvarna" etc.
* Kulala: "Bangera","Salian","Banjan","Gujaran" etc.

Kannada

* Nadava : "ajja", "siri", "shetty" etc.

Malayalam

* Chaliyan : "anjari", "vadiyar", "konkani", "taarurti" etc.

Among these, "anjari" or "ajja" or "aarya" is considered to be the highest lineage.

Other equivalent lineages are,"konkani" and "suvarna"; "saali" (saalinnaya or saali bannaya or saaliyan) and "vadiyar" etc.

Trivia

Krishnadevaraya,a scion of Tuluva Dynasty, was believed to be part of "saalinnaya" lineage.