______ residence is a practice where women after marriage remain in their natal home with their children and the husbands may come to stay with them.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Matrilocal
Option (1) Patriliny — Incorrect. Patriliny means tracing descent from father to son, grandson and so on. It is a rule of descent, not a rule of where a married couple lives.
Option (2) Matriliny — Incorrect. Matriliny is the term used when descent is traced through the mother. It, too, is about descent, not about residence after marriage, though the Arab traders of the Malabar coast adopted both matriliny and matrilocal residence.
Option (3) Matrilocal — Correct. Matrilocal residence is a practice where women after marriage remain in their natal home with their children, and the husbands may come to stay with them.
Option (4) Patrilocal — Incorrect. Patrilocal residence is the opposite practice: after marriage the wife leaves her natal home and lives with her husband in his father’s family.
Note: The term ‘patrilocal’ is not in NCERT (2026-27); it is explained here for the benefit of the students.
NCERT (2026-27): “5.2 The popular practice of Islam … Elsewhere, Arab Muslim traders who settled along the Malabar coast (Kerala) adopted the local language, Malayalam. They also adopted local customs such as matriliny (Chapter 3) and matrilocal residence.… Matrilocal residence is a practice where women after marriage remain in their natal home with their children and the husbands may come to stay with them. Patriliny means tracing descent from father to son, grandson and so on. Matriliny is the term used when descent is traced through the mother.” |