Paper short abstract:

Based on field work data since 1994, this paper analyzes the political and economic roles of matrilineal relationships among the Došmanziyārī tribal people. These relationships are difficult for researchers to learn about because they operate only on occasion, but they are significant for segmental patrilineal ties and during transhumance and out-migration.

Paper long abstract:

The operations of matrilineal relationships are difficult to discern from inheritance rights of land in Došmanziyārī society. These relationships work only on occasion, for example, offers of food and clothing by brothers to their sisters' families, use of maternal uncles' land, organizing summer camps and seasonal workers' groups, and forming coalitions during community conflicts based on patrilineal relations. Based on data gathered during fieldwork between 1994 and 2002 and 2012 to 2013, this paper presents several aspects of matrilineal relations among the Došmanziyārī. First, I analyze the affective features of matrilineal relations in contrast to the political and material patrilineal relations which are significant for inheritance rights and defense. Second, I examine matrilineal influence in social formation. Wives' kin intensify the rivalry among brothers and also provide them with more mobility. Men can even live far away from home with help from female kin. To clarify the roles of Došmanzyārīs' matrilineal relationships in politics and economy, we compare them with Qašqāyi ones, which function more as matrimonial ties, and Japanese ones, characterized by strong patrilineal solidarity over several generations with a single heir inheritance system. Finally, I contrast nomadic-rural with urban Došmanziyārī, where a number of female members have become more economically independent from their brothers playing the role of their life-guardians. As they become rivals with their brothers in family decision-making, the affective relations between them, which were the key to matrilineal ties, are declining.