INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the texl directly from the original or copy submitted. Thul, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others m.y be tram any type of computer printer. l'he quallty of thil Nproduction 1. dependent upon the quallty of the copY lubmittecl. Broken or indistinct print, coIored or poor quality illustrations and photographl, print bleedthrough, subltandard margins, and improper alignment can &dversely affect reproduction. ln the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI • complete manulClipt and there are milling ~s, the.. will be noted. AllO, if unauthorized copyright material h8d to be removed, a note will indic8te the deletion. Oversize materi.ls (e.g., maps, drawingl, ctwrts) .re reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning Ilthe upper left-hMd corner and continuing tram Ieft ta right in equal sections with small overlaPl. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in thél copy. Higher quality e- x 9- bI8ck anet white photographie printl Ire ••ilable for "y photographs or illustnltïonl appearing in this copy for an -*iitional charge. Contact UMI directly to 0Ider. Bell & HoweIllnforrnation .nd LMming 300 North Z8eb ROIICI, An" Arbor, MI 48108-1348 USA 800-521-œoo NOTE TO USERS Page(s) not included in the original manuscript are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was microfilmed as received. 7 This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI ·' MATRILINY AND DOMESTIC MORPHOLOGY: A STUDY OF THE NAIR TARAWADS OF MALABAR Balakrishna Menon. P School ofArchitecture McGill University, Montreal August 1998 A thesis submitted to The Faculty ofGraduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilment ofthe requirements ofthe degree of Master ofArchitecture • e Balakrishna Menan. P National Ubrary BibliothèQue nationale 1.1 ofC8nada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 welington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 ean.da caNIda The author bas granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library ofCanada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sen reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies ofthis thesis in microfonn, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership ofthe L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this tbesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may he printed or otberwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission .. autorisation. 0-612-50688-6 Canadl ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work took much longer than 1had anticipated. The subtleties and intricacies • ofthe topic were much more than what 1had bargained for initially. However, in the end it bas been an extremely satisfying task. From its conceptualization to the final copy this effort has been abundantly supported and assisted by several people, among them my professors, relatives and friends, scholarship agencies, several Nair families, and so forth. Let me briefly, but gratefully acknowledge them. • Prof. V. Bhatt and Prof. Annmarie Adams: my supervisors, friends and staunchest erities; • My parents and my uncle Dr. N. M. Nayar for daring me to dream beyond the mundane. That brought me here to McGill; • Marcia King and Maureen Anderson, among the two MOst considerate and helpful people 1have met in North America; • The Social Sciences Graduate Research Committee for the Graduate Research Award and The McGill Center for Research and Teaching on Women (MCRTW) for the Margaret Gillett Award that enabled me to undertake the field survey; • The School ofArchitecture and the Financial Assistance Office for the Architecture Graduate Fellowship and fee waivers; • My friends Alejandro, Andrein~ Cyrus, David, Freddie, Helai, Hong Bing, Jacob, Jane, Jesus, Juan, Kurien, Laura, Manuel (small and large), Marcello, Maria, Meenakshi, Mehrdad, Rachelle, Roula, Sarwat, Scott, Sriram and Xiaoli; • Members ofsevera! Nair families, especially Paliam, Mambullikalam, Kunnath and Kelamangalath tarawads and in particular, the late Tulasi Achan ofPaliam; • Shri T. P. Rajan and family ofShoranur, Shri. Ananda Bose and Prof. Ashalatha Thampuran at Thiruvanathapuram and Dr. Savitri De Tourreil in Montreal; • And finally, the great institution called McGill University. This thesis is dedicated to three MOst important people who have shaped this work and beyond il, my thoughts and ideas about great Many things around me. They are my rather, Dr. Parameswaran Nair; my mother, Dr. Ragam Nair and my supervisor Prof. V. Bhatt. Their contributions are as much as, ifnot more than, mine. • TABLE OF CONTENTS • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 LIST OF FIGURES 5 GLOSSARY 8 ABSTRACT 11 RESUME 12 1. INTRODUCTION 13 1.1 BACKGROUND 13 1.1.1 Introduction 13 1.1.2 Rationale 14 1.% DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS 17 1.3 GOAL OF THE STUDV 18 1.4 INTENDED AUDIENCE 18 1.5 METHODOLOCV 19 1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS 19 1.7 SCHEMATIZATION OF THE THESIS 10 END NOTES 11 2. MATRILINY AND THE NAIRS Of MALABAR 23 %.1 MATRILINEAL KlNSHIP 13 2.1.1 Background 23 2.1.2 Distinctive Features OfMatrilineal Descent Groups 26 2.1.3 Matrilineal Communities And Women 28 2.1.4 Kinship Character [n Matrilineal Societies 33 1.% MATRILINY IN MALABAR 37 2.2.1 An Introduction to the Land ofMalabar 37 2.2.2 Matriliny in Ancient Kerala 39 2.2.3 The Origins ofMatriliny in Malabar 40 2.2.4 The Tarawad 4S • 2.2.5 Marnage And Other Related Rites Among Nairs 53 Ta"ofCon1en1s 2.2.6 Status ofNair Wornen in Malabar 61 • END NOTES 64 3. THE SOCIAL LOGIC OF SPACE 68 3.1 BACKGROUND 68 3.2 GENDERAND SPACE 71 3.2.1 The Gabras ofWest Africa 71 3.2.2 Dogons ofMali 73 3.2.3 Panare ofVenezuela 74 3.2.4 [slamic Societies 75 3.2.5 Blacksrniths ofZaghawa 77 32.6 Summary 78 3.3 KINSHIP AND SPACE 79 3.3.1 Tiv ofNigeria 79 3.3.2 Bororo ofBrazil 79 3.3.3 Communities ofNorthem Ghana 80 3.3.4 Summary 82 END NOTES 83 4. MATRILINY AND DOMESTIC MORPHOLOGY 84 4.1 BACKGROUND 84 4.% INFLUENCES ON TRADITIONAL AND VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE 84 4.2.1 Geographical 84 4.2.2 Climate 85 42.3 Geological and Geornorphological 85 4.2.4 Vastusastra 86 42.5 Basic Forms ofResidential Architecture 88 4.3 MATRiLINY AND THE SPATIAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE NALUIŒTTUS 89 4.4 CASE STUDIES 102 4.4.1 Kunnath Tarawad, Shoranur 103 4.4.2 Paliam Tarawad, Chendamangalam 112 4.4.3 Kelamangalath Tarawad, Emakulam 126 END NOTES 130 CONCLUSION 131 5.1 KEY CONCLUSIONS 131 5.% FURTHER RESEARCH 132 • BIBLIOGRAPHY 134 LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 2.1 Malabar Coast and Kerala • Fig. 2.2 Organization ofKinship among Nairs Fig. 2.3 A Nair Karanavar Fig. 2.4 System ofProperty Division Within a Tarawad F·Ig. ?­_.~ A Nair sambandham (as depicted in an oid Malayalam movie) Fig. 3.1 Typical Man Dasse Fig. 3.2 Gender Association in the Layout orthe Ideal Village and Dwelling Unit Fig. 3.3 Plan ofa Typical Ma/oca Fig. 3.4 Generic Plan ofTypical Muslim Dwelling from S. Asia Fig. 3.5 Stages in Home Building - Blacksmiths ofZaghawa Fig. 3.6 Homestead ofthe Tiv ofNigeria Fig. 3.7 Bororo Seulement from Amazonia Fig. 3.8 Seulement Plan ofKasuliyili Village Fig. 3.9 A Dagomba Compound Fig. 4.1 Basic Forms ofResidential Architecture Fig. 4.2 The Ritualistic and Religious Core ofa Nair TarQlvad Fig. 4.3 Family Shrine Close to the Main TarawadHouse - Paliam tarawad Fig. 4.4 Spaces Associated With Distinct Women-headed Households­ Paliam Main Tarawad Fig. 4.5 Spatial Organization ofa Typical Addition - Puthen Bungalow, Paliam Fig. 4.6 Gender-segregation of Spaces Within the House - Paliam Main Tarawad Fig. 4.7 Strategie Positioning ofStaîrs - Kunnath Tarawad Fig. 4.8 Level ofPublicness ofSpaces - Paliam Main Tarawad Fig. 4.9 Ritualistic and Religious Core - Paliam Tarawad Fig. 4.10 Location ofCase Studies Fig. 4.11 Kunnath Tarawad - Western Facade Fig. 4.12 Spatial Organization ofActivities - Kunnath Tarawad Shoranur • Fig. 4.13 Spaces Associated with Individual Women-headed Households - Kunnath ListorFfpns Tarawad, Shoranur • Fig.4.14 Gender Division ofSpaces ... Kunnath Tarawad, Shoranur Fig. 4.1 5 Level ofpublicness ofspaces ... Kunnath Tarawad, Shoranur Fig.4.16 Views ofthe Female and Male Bathing Ponds Kunnath Tarawad Fig. 4.17 Ceremonial Core and a View ofthe Courtyard Kunnath Tarawad Fig. 4.18 Kovilakam Fig. 4.19 Padippura Malika Fig. 4.20 Spatial Organization of Activities ... Paliam Main tarawad house, Chendamangalam Fig. 4.21 Main Tarawad House Fig.4.22 Spaces Associated with Individual Women-headed Households Fig. 4.23 Gender Division ofSpaces ...... Paliam Main tarawadhouse, Chendamangalam Fig.4.24 Level of publicness of spaces ... Paliam Main tarawad house, Chendamangalam Fig.4.25 Ceremonial and Ritualistic Core Fig. 4.26 Puthen Bungalow Fig.4.27 Spatial Organization ofActivities Fig.4.28 Spaces Associated with Individual Women-headed Households Fig.4.29 Level of Publicness of Spaces- Puthen Bungalow, Paliam tarawad, Chendamangalam Fig. 4.30 Gender Division ofSpaces - Puthen Bungalow Fig. 4.31 Kelamangalath Tarawad - Facade Fig.4.32 Core Tarawad and Later Additions Fig. 4.33 Spatial Organization ofactivities Fig. 4.34 Level ofpublicness ofspaces ... Kelamangalath tarawad Emakulam • GLOSSARY Anandaravan Literally translated as, 'one who cornes after', and in common • parlance, it meant nephew. Dikshala A building or building block oriented to one of the cardinal directions. Dwishala Two unit (block) structure.