Kinship Systems of Three Chittagong Hill Tribes (Pakistan)

7/28/2019 Kinship Systems of Three Chittagong Hill Tribes (Pakistan)

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Kinship Systems of Three Chittagong Hill Tribes (Pakistan)

Author(s): Claude Lvi-StraussReviewed work(s):Source: Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Spring, 1952), pp. 40-51Published by: University of New MexicoStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3628553 .

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KINSHIP SYSTEMS OF THREECHITTAGONG HILL TRIBES (PAKISTAN)

CLAUDE L1iVI-STRAUSSSHORT VISIT to the ChittagongHill tribeson the Bengal-Burma orderin September1950, while on a missionto Pakistan for the UNESCO De-partmentof Social Sciences,enabledus to collect a few documentson these littleknownpopulationsl includingthree lists of relationship ermspertainingrespec-tively to the Cakma,the Kuki,and the Mog. These lists will be submitted n thispapertogetherwith miscellaneous nformationon relatedsubjectssuch as socialstructure,preferentialmating, and the like. Unfortunately, the kinshipsystemsremainedncompleteon accountof the briefnessof our stay in the nativevillagesand the correspondingmpossibilityof checkingon the lists of terms and fillingin some obviousgaps with the help of genealogies.Imperfectas they are, theymay be found to be a useful additionto the existing literatureon neighboringor related ribes n Assam and Burma.

(AKMA RELATIONSHIPTERMS*1. baba father2. ma mother3. aju father'sfather, father'smother4. nanu mother's ather,mother'smother5. borobaba great-grandfather6. boroma great-grandmother7. pua son; 8. da4gar: first born; 9. nukd6m: second born;10. honet: thirdborn

1 C. Levi-Strauss,Le Syncretisme religieux d'un village mog du Territoire de Chittagong(to appearshortly in Revue de l'Histoire des Religions). Except for a sprinklingof short papersand notes, most of them outdated, our main source for the Chittagong Hill tribes remains T. H.Lewin's three books: The Hill Tracts of Chittagongand the Dwellers Therein (Calcutta, 1869);Wild Racesof SoutheasternIndia (London, 1870); A Fly on the Wheel (London, 1885) whichcontainapproximately he same information.See also R. H. Sneyd Hutchinson, "ChittagongHillTracts" (in East Bengal and Assam District Gazetteers,Allahabad, 1909).* Orthographicnote: Because certain special type are not available,substitutions have beenmade in the author's scheme of transcription.( is substituted for s with hook below (thesound tch); a z with a circling tail has been used for 2; with inverted caret above (dj); j sub-stitutes for z with inverted caret above (dz); w for u with breve below (the semi-vowel u)-EDITOR.40

VOL. 8, 1952

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CHITTAGONG HILL KINSHIP SYSTEMS11. mila12. natim13. ddrJgada15. beiput17. pei19. bhagina21. geta22. kaka23. getatobai24. kurtotobai25. getatobun26. kurtotobun27. mama28. mami29. mamatobai30. mamatobun31. pici32. pisa33. piftotobai34. piftotobun35. maci36. mu;i37. maftotobai38. maftotobun39. bo40. foor41. yori42. borofala43. 5ala44. gegat45. sali46. bu$i47. bebo48. bonai49. bogjami50. nek51. mu;a52. aIbwoi ogun

daughterson's on, on'sdaughter, aughter'son,daughter'saughterbrotherolder);14.fikinda:brotheryounger)brother'son;16.begi:brother'saughtersister(older);18.bun: ister(younger)sister'son;20.bhagini:ister's aughterfather's lderbrotherfather's ounger rother.father's lderbrother'sonfather's ounger rother'sonfather's lderbrother'saughterfather's ounger rother'saughtermother's rothermother's rother's ifemother's rother'sonmother'srother'saughterfather's isterfather's ister's usbandfather's ister'sonfather's ister's aughtermother'sister(olderandyounger)mother'sister's usbandmother'sister'sonmother'sister's aughterwifewife's atherwife'smotherwife'solderbrotherwife'syounger rotherwife'selder isterwife'syoungeristerelderbrother's ifeyounger rother's ifeelder ister's usbandyoungerister's usbandhusbandhusband'sister's usbandreciprocaletweenmenmarriedo sisters

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SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY53. ;edi father'selder brother'swife54. kaki. father'syoungerbrother'swife55. ogiami daughter'shusband56. pudobo son'swife

OBSERVATIONS ON THE USE OF CAKMA TERMSThe Cakmakinshiptermsare,on the whole,Bengali,but the originof a fewterms remainsdoubtful, for instance aju and nanu (perhapsUrdu) for thegrandparents;nukd6mand honet for the second and third sons; gegat, wife'seldersister;labwoifogun, two menmarried o sisters (to be compared,however,withBengalisotin,sopotni:co-wife).On the other hand, there are noticeablediscrepanciesn relation to currentBengaliuse.Thus, mila,daughter, s Sanskritmahila, woman; he termsfor great-grandparents re different from generalBengali though they consist in a com-bination of the Bengali termsfor father and motherplus the qualificativeboro:big, much.A similarobservation an be madeon the termsfor brother (youngerand elder). While nek:husband, s probablyBengali nayak:master, he term forwife: bo is shifted away from its normalBengali connotation:sister.2The termfor youngersister: bunis rarelyused, this relativebeing calledby her name.The

youngerbrother'swife beboand the wife's elder sistergegat are prohibitedrela-tives. One cannot either joke with them or address them. The opposite is truewith the elder brother'swife busi and the wife's youngersisterfali with both ofwhom one enjoys a joking relationship.There is a close connectionbetweenlabwoifogun, two menmarried o sisters,whoworktogetherand help eachother.MARRIAGE AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

Theoretically, marriageis prohibitedwithin seven generations.In practiceit is allowedwhen no traceablerelationship xistswithin the precedingthree orfour generations,and some informantsstated that marriagecan take place withfather's sister's daughter, mother's brother'sdaughter, and mother's sister'sdaughter.There seems to be a certainamountof avoidancebetweenparents-in-lawndson-in-law,but we could not find, within the short span of our stay, any trace

2 We are indebted to Prof Jules Bloch of the College de France for checking on cakmaterms of doubtful origin. T. H. Lewin has quoted some other terms which may not be Bengali.These are lyngia, "lover"; langonee, "mistress";sowalta, "best man"; sowullee, "bridesmaid"(cf. T. H. Lewin, Wild Races,pp. 167-168).

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CHITTAGONG HILL KINSHIP SYSTEMSof the bashful bridegroomattitude which has been described, n the past, forthe Cakma.3

In case of marriageby elopement (siygala or deigena), the guilty couple isfined (zorimana) cash and a pig. The pig-fine is called fokor. But should thecouplerepeattheiraction three timesand pay on each occasion he correspondingfine, the marriagebecomes inaland the girl's parentsmust abideby theirdaugh-ter's choice.4

Ordinarymarriageis by purchase,the bride-price ncluding money, orna-ments,cloth, pigs, rice,and rice-beer.Marriageis ordinarilypatrilocalexcept if a father "likes his daughter verymuch."In that case he insists on a specialtype of marriage (gamaiutha) where,for the firstyearor two, the husbandshould resideat his parents-in-law'souseand work for them; the bride-prices then considerablyower.Political power belongs, among the Cakma, to a patrilineallineage, whereit is transmitted rom father to first-born on. There are about thirty such line-ages, which our informantscalled gusti.5 Formerlyonce every year, now onceeveryfour or five years (on accountof the heavy expense), each gusti celebratesan offeringfeast to the ancestors morabaddena) duringwhichpossession cenestakeplace.6Membersof the royalgusti are endowedwith a magicalpowercalledfi. This powermakes them and everything hey may come in contactwith highlydangerousfor people of lesser status, especiallycommoners.As our informant(himself a memberof the royal family) put it, this is "on account of all thegods we carry."7The result of this supernaturaload is that while on a journey,a princelyindividualcannot rest in or even enter a commoner'shouse lest hebring upon it all sortsof calamities.Thus, he is obligedto remainoutsidein theheat and sun while his cooliesenjoy the freshnessand the shade. There are onlytwo ways to escapefrom that awkwardsituation,the first one being to ennoble

3 T. H. Lewin, Wild Races,p. 178.4 Already described n Hutchinson, "ChittagongHill Tracts"p. 97.5 The term gusti, which was the only one used by our informants,corresponds o the termgoza (Sanskrit gotra) given by Lewin with the meaning "clan," "family." There were thirty-three goza among the cakma plus seven for the Toungjynya, a subdivision of the tribe (cf.Lewin, Hill Tracts, p. 73).6 Levi-Strauss,op. cit.7 This seems the appropriateplace to express our gratitude to Mr Rai Bahadur KumarBirupaksha Roy, a member of the cakma royal family, who, through the kind offices of ColL. H. Niblett (at that time District Commissionerfor the Hill Tracts), consented to becomeour companion and interpreterand without whose help the material of this and other forth-comingarticlescould not have been collected.Thanks should also be directedto Mr Aziz Ahmed,Chief Secretary,Governmentof East Bengal, and Asgar Ali, District Magistrateof Chittagong,who made our trip possibleand altogether delightful.

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SOUTHWESTERNJOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGYtheowner f thehouse;hus,he becomes ble o bear ontactwith heperilousi.Another rocessonsists,n thepartof theowner, f invitingheprinceo enterhishouse.The lattershouldrefuse everal imesandcomply nlywhengivenasumof moneybyhiswould-beostwhichhewillreturndouble ateron.The fiappearso be neutralizedy this double nversion f the originalrelationshipbetween rince ndcommoner.

KUKI RELATIONSHIPTERMS1.2.3.

panuu

4. pu5. pi6. nau

12. linu

18. topa19. atu20. atunu21. un22. sopwi23. sopwipa,sapa24. upanau25. sopwipanau26. ,arnu27. nute28. papwi29. pate30. kapapwinau31. kapatenau32. kapapwisenu33. kdpatesenu34. pute

fathermotherfather'sather, lder ister's usband, usband'slderbrothermother's father, great-grand-father,reat-grand-mother,wife's ather.father'smother,mother'smother,wife'smotherson,elderbrother'son;7. umi: firstson;8. naumi:secondon;9. tomi: hird on;10.nlika: ourth on;11.drnaka:ifthson.daughter; 3.rolmi: irstdaughter; 4. milai: econddaughter;15. tujka: third daughter;16. nlika:fourthdaughter;7.grnaka:ifthdaughterson's son

daughter'sonson'sdaughter,aughter's aughterbrotherelder), ister(elder)brotheryounger), usband'sounger rotheryounger rother'sonelderbrother'saughteryounger rother'saughteryoungeristersister'ssonfather'selder brotherfather'syoungerbrotherfather'selder brother's onfather'syoungerbrother's onfather'selderbrother'sdaughterfather'syoungerbrother'sdaughtermother'sbrother,wife's brother,wife's brother'swife

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CHITTAGONG HILL KINSHIP SYSTEMS35. pite36. ni37. maraiJg38. kaninau39. kanisenu40. nupwi41. nute42. kunupwinau43. kunutenau44. kunupwisenu45. kunutesenu46. dog47. putenau48. putesenu49. kodojgunu50. kodo6jgsopwinu51. kodoiJgsopwinupasal52. kunu53. kaswapoipadau54. sopwinupasal55. kasarnupasalupa56. kasarnupasalnaupa57. samakpasarnu58. kasarnupasalmrwi59. pasal60. kopunaimrwi61. kasamapa62. amaunu

mother'srother's ifefather'sister,husband's otherfather'sister's usband,usband'satherfather'sister's onfather's ister's aughtermother'slder istermother'soungeristermother'slder ister'sonmother'soungerister'sonmother's lder ister's aughtermother'soungerister's aughterwifewife'sbrother'sonwife'sbrother'saughterwife'selder isterwife'syoungeristerwife's sister'shusband, eciprocalerm betweenmenmarriedo sisterselderbrother's ifeyounger rother's ifeyoungerister's usbandelder ister's usband'srotheryoungerister's usband'srothersister's usband'sisterhusband'selativeswoman p.)husbandwife'srelativesman p.)daughter'susbandson's wife

OBSERVATIONS ON THE USE OF KUKI TERMSThere seemto be no termsfor eithermother'sbrother'son or mother'sbrother's aughter.This maybe connectedwith the positionof the latteraspreferential ate.As a matter f fact,theterms ormother's rother'searrela-tives areveryclose to those for wife'sfamily,e.g. pu: mother'sather,wife'sfather,andmoregenerally sedas a termof respect,pu-te (-te, diminutive):mother'srother, ife'sbrother;u-te-nau: ife'sbrother'son;pi:grand-mother,

wife's mother;pi-te:mother'sbrother'swife. On the other handputesenu:wife's

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SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGYbrother'sdaughter appearsto be the object of a strong prohibition,a featureexcludingany secondarypreferentialmarriageof the Miwok type. Kod5ogunu:wife'seldersister, s equallyprohibited,but there is a joking relationshipbetweena manandhis kodoejgsopwinu, ife'syoungersister.The termsquotedaboveshow a generaltrendtowardraisingmatrilinealrela-tives throughmales one generation.There is in Lushai a correspondingrend toloweringby one or two generationsthe patrilateralrelativesthrough females,merging hem underthe generalname of tu whichin bothsystems s used for thegrandchildren.8Our Kuki materialdoes not show the lattertendencyon accountof the use of special terms for father's sister'shusbandand patrilateralcross-cousins.

A remarkable eature of the systemis the developmentof descriptive erms.Even if some of these were made up by the informants n orderto answerourqueries,the ease with whichthey were able to describe mpromptuany kind ofrelationshipby creating new terms would be by itself striking. For instancekodor3gsopwinupasal:a; relation to the speaker;doig: wife; sopwi: removed;nu: feminine;pasal: husband,i.e. wife's sister's husband,or two men havingmarriedsisters.Again, kasarnupasalnaupa:a: relation to the speaker;sarnu:sister;pasal:husband;nau:male;pa: father,i.e. sister'shusband'sbrother,etc.SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONThe Kuki of the ChittagongHill Tracts are divided in moietiescalled re-spectivelyPar3kho nd Ban;ogi. Men belongingto each moietywear their hair(which is usually left long) differently:with a bob on the forhead (maktersomor) for the Ban;ogi, and with a bobon the nape of the neck (nulter somor)for the Paukho.The natives state most emphatically hat these moieties are not exogamous.The only function of which they seem to be aware is that chiefs are generallychosen from among the Par3kho.However, villages are exogamous,and thereis preferentialmarriagewith mother'sbrother'sdaughter,while father'ssister'sdaughteris avoided.Polygyny is allowed,but stepdaughtermarriage s strictlyprohibited.Since moiety affiliationfollows the father's line, the result is thatmoieties tend to be exogamous hough in an indirectway. Another consequenceof the system (of which the natives seem to be equally unaware) is that, onaccount of village exogamyand patrilocalresidence, he adult male populationof any village (and the childrenof both sexes) tend to be predominantly ither

8 See for instanceLorrainand Savidge, Grammarand Dictionary of the Lushai (Shillong,1898).

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CHITTAGONG HILL KINSHIP SYSTEMSParikho rBangogi.For nstancen thevillageof Dralaukhan-parain Cakma:Bosonto),wherewe spenta few days,the unmarrieddolescents'ance (lam)whichwe witnessedncluded welveparticipantsthreegirlsandnineboys)outof whichonly threewereBan;ogi (two boysand a girl) and all the othersPaurkho.The mother's rothers highlyrespected,nd there eems o be a periodnearpubertywhenuterine ephewsndboysoccupyinghesame tatushaveno otherdutythan to combandbeautify hemselves ithflowers nd ornamentsndtoplaythe role of attendants ndcup-bearerst their uncle'shome.In the casewhichweobserved,he twoboyswhowereoccupying position f that kindatthe villageheadman's ousewererespectivelyis brother'son andhis sister'sson'sson.It maybe interestingo givethemain inksof eachhouseholdf thevillage(sevenaltogether)withthe headman:

1. Headman,wife,daughters,on,son'swifeandbaby;2. Headman'slderdaughterndson-in-law;3. Headman'sister's onandfamily;4. Headman'slderdaughter'sather-in-law;5. Headman'sounger rother, ife,andchild;6. Headman'sounger rother'son-in-law, ife,andchild;7. Headman'slassificatoryrother'sonandfamily.

Altogether, orty-sixpersons ncluding16 men,15 women,3 unmarriedirls,4 unmarriedoys,8 smallchildren.Marriages by purchase. he pricefor a chief'sdaughters approximatelyRs250,lessthevalueof thegongs (darkwar; btainedromBurmeseBuddhistmonasteries) nd buffaloeswhichwouldbe in any casepreferredo money.This is littlesurprisingincebuffaloes rereckonedn themarriagericeon thebasisof Rs 50 perhead,while heirordinaryrading alueperheadcango ashighasRs300.The bride's athergiveshis daughter lothesand ornamentsonsisting famber ecklacessana)traded n theBurma ndAssamborders,ilvernecklacesof Indiancraftsmanshipought n the bazaar, ndgirdlesmadeof numerousringsof copper ubes.Thus, it was perhaps s an inducemento prospectivebridegroomshat the headman'swo unmarried aughterswerecontinuouslywearingeveral ounds f jewelry.Marriages patrilocalxceptf thegirl'sfatherhasno son.In that casehe

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SOUTHWESTERN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGYgiveshis daughtern marriagematrilocally, systemwhich s calledsamkuimalutk3.

Whena woman ies,herjewelrys disposed f in the following rder: on-daughter-husband-father.When a mandies,the son who is at the momentivingin the homesteadinheritst. Thosewho havealreadyeft it haveno rightwhatsoever.he widowdoesnotinherit, utthesonhasthedutyto support er.In casethe firstthree onshavemarried ndleft thehomestead,he fourthson is obligedo remainwithhisparents.He willalso nherit he houseand thecattle.Thisfourth on'scompulsorynheritances callednaucemmi.Somereferencewasmadeduringourstayto a naming east,naurmingp6.The child's athermustoffer hreepotsof rice-beerzupwi)andsacrifice cock.He nominatesnindividualo act asname-giverrmingojpo pera).When a hunterkills a deer,a boar,or a bear,he mustgivea feast of meatto thevillageandprovide ice-beerndrice.Anadulterers fineda pig.UnliketheCakma nd theMog,theKukido notacknowledge arriageyelopement.n caseanelopementakesplace, heculprits refinedRs20each.

MOG RELATIONSHIP TERMS1. aba,ada2. aiun3. napuse4. i6kma5. abo'`r6. sa7. sami8. mrij9. samimamrij10. mrirma11. kugri13. kugrisa14. kugrisami15. niensa16. niensemi

fathermotherfather'sathermother'satherfather'smother,mother'smothersondaughterson'sson (daughter'son)daughter'sonson'sdaughter, aughter's aughterbrother elder);12.niense: rother younger)elderbrother'son,father's rother'sonelderbrother'saughter,ather's rother'saughteryounger rother'sonyounger rother'saughter

9 A few Mog kinship terms somewhat different from our list may be found in Sten Konow,Notes on the Maghi Dialect of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Nachrichten iiber Angelegenheitender Deutschen Morgenlindischen Gesellschaft,vol. 57, 1903).

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CHITTAGONG HILL KINSHIP SYSTEMSsister(elder)sister(younger),wife'sbrother's ifesister'son,wife'sbrother'sonsister's aughter, ife'sbrother'saughterfather's lderbrother,mother'sister's usbandfather's ounger rothermother's rother,ather's ister's usbandmother's rother's ife,father's istermother's rother'son,wife'sbrothermother's rother'saughter,ather's ister's aughterfather's ister's onmother'slder istermother'soungeristerwifewife's ather,husband'satherwife'smotherwife'selder isterwife'syoungerister, ister's usband'sisterwife'selder ister's usbandwife'syoungerister's usband,ister's usband'srotherhusbandhusband's otherreciprocaletweenmenmarriedosistersdaughter'susbandson's wifeOBSERVATIONSNTHEUSEOFMOGTERMS

As with the preceding ystems,familiaritywith the wife's eldersister (marlse)is prohibitedwhile thereis a joking relationshipwith the youngersister (krema).Throughoutthe systemone noticesa consistentuse of a few termsas suffixes,e.g., -gri: elder; -se: remote or distant; -sa: son; .sami: daughter;-ma: female.The ending-r seemsto be reserved o the third ascendingor descendinggenera-tion and to affinalkin.The natives state that the ideal spousefor a man is his mari, i.e. the bilateralcross-cousin, type of marriagewell groundedin the terminologyas shown inthe equivalencesof terms 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 34, 36, and in term 33:marisefor wife's elder sister. Such being the case, it is surprising o find specialterms for parents-in-law 31, 32, 38): the term for wife's mother is different

17. megri18. na'ma19. tu20. tuma21. abagri22. abese23. mamu24. arisa25. iopa26. mari27. asaUgri28. agrima29. aiema30. mia31. sogoj32. sogorjma33. marise34. krema35. ako36. nien37. laj38. aiari39. oso540. sama41. kuma

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SOUTHWESTERNJOURNALOF ANTHROPOLOGYfrom that for husband'smother (32 and 38) while the same term (31) appliesto both wife's and husband'sfathers. This could perhapsbe explainedas theresult of a conflict betweenmale and female terminology (comparea,fids:hus-band's mother and asajgri: father's sister'sson, for speakersof both sexes), afeature whichthe main characteristics f the social structurecould well support,as will be shown.On the otherhand,the shift t/k in kuma:son'swife, and tuma:sister'sdaughter,wife's brother'sdaughter,remainsunexplained.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONThe Mog, who call themselvesMorma,l1appearto be divided into numerousclans (gagaisa), patrilinealand agamic.The Chief Hladwai~g'svillage (on the

right bank of the KarnafullyRiver about two miles inland and twenty milesdownstream rom Rangamati),where we spent a few days, includedabout onehundredeighty persons belonging to two clans, Rigiesa and Kioprusa.Otherclansrepresentedn southernvillagesincludedthe following:PalaiJsa Oiiujsa Ok'saKogderjsa Cerilgsa RaiJbrisaPararsja Polaksa SapregiaLo'g'dusa Rwakoinsa SainMarosaThe Kioprusaclan is said to be the oldest settledin the Hill tracts,while theRigiesacame later from Arakan and submitted their predecessorso their rule.We were told that of the two Mog traditionalchiefs, the "Bohmo6rg"hiefbelongsto theRigiesaandthe "Mo5rg"hief to thePalaijsa.Only two of the above clan nameswere mentionedpreviously n the litera-ture.They arethe Palairsa and the Kogde3jsa,ranscribed y Lewin as Palaingtsaand Kowkdyntsa."The nativescould not suggest any differentialfunction for

their clans though they mentioned dialectal and other peculiarities (especiallyin the wayof wearing he turban)whichmade t possible n the past to distinguishone clan fromthe other.However,the clansremainsufficiently mportant or thefirst question,addressed o a newcomer, o be gatajsale, "Which clan do youbelong to?"Although clans are patrilineal here are several indicationssuggestingmatri-lineal trends or remnants n Mog society. It is said that ArakaneseMog are10 Cf. E. Riebeck,The Chittagong Hill-Tribes: Results of a Journeymade in the year 1882(A. H. Keane, tr., London, 1885).11 Lewin, Wild Races,pp. 146-149.

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CHITTAGONG HILL KINSHIP SYSTEMSmatrilocal.This is not the case in the Chittagong Hill Tracts; however, in-heritancerules still distinguishbetween"malegoods" (iokia wajn) includingthehouse,goats, cattle, and land whichgo from father to son, and "femalegoods"(min ma wain) consistingin ornaments, ewelry, female dresses,spinning andweaving apparatus, owl and pigs which go from motherto daughter.Usuallythe first-born on is the main heir except if he has alreadyleft the homestead;in that case the male inheritance oes to the youngestson who is alwaysfavoredin relation to his intermediatebrothers.Girls appearto enjoy a great freedomin their choice of a husband. Shouldtwo young people lack their parents'consent and elope, they would be finedRs 100 or more,but after this formalitythe marriage s held to be valid. There-fore the Mog go still fartherthan the Cakmain the acknowledgement f elope-ment as a normalway to contracta union.12When we visited the Hill Tracts, the Moirg chief of Manicoriwas said tobe an elderly woman who had been ruling for many years, her father lackingmale descendants.However, this "lady-chief"had a son who it was understood,we were told, would succeed her. Since our informantswere quite positivethata man would be succeededby his brother before his son, we have several con-vergingindications hat the agnatic family may not exist amongthe Mog.On a more psychological evel, one is struck by the great freedomenjoyedby women, contrastingwith both the Hindu and the Muslim patternswhichhave permeated akma societyto a greaterextent.Mog womenmix freely withmen, and they do not even avoid foreign visitors.In the chief's house wherewestayed lived a divorcedson, and another divorcedyoung man was living in thesamevillage. In both cases divorce (kwair) took place at the woman'swish andwithout the husband'sconsent.The divorcefine (raguai) is simply doubled ifoneparty'sconsent s lacking.In the last case,the wife wassaid to haveremarriedfive times.

ECOLE PRATIQUE DES HAUTES ETUDESSORBONNE, PARIS

12 See above, p. 43.

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Kinship Systems of Three Chittagong Hill Tribes (Pakistan)