Malabar was a member of British India's Madras Presidency. 'Marumakkathayam' is defined in the Madras Marumakkathayam Act 1932 as the heritage system in which descent is traced by females, and 'Marumakkathayee' means a person governed by the inheritance law of Marumakkathayam. The inheritance system is now abolished by the Kerala State Legislature, The Joint Family System Act, 1975.
In what is now Kerala, Marumakkathayam was a matrilineal inheritance system prevalent in. Descent and property inheritance were traced through females. Both Nair castes, a few of the Ambalavasis, Mappilas, and tribal groups followed. The elder male was considered the head known as karanavar, and he controlled the entire family assets as if he were the sole proprietor. But it was not his sons who were given the estate, but his sons' daughters or their mothers.The word literally means inheritance, as opposed to sons and daughters, from children of sisters. In the Malayalam language 'Marumakkal' means nephews and nieces. Under the matrilineal system, the joint family is known as Tharavad, and formed the nucleus of Kerala society. The customary inheritance law was codified by the 1932 Madras Marumakkathayam Act, Madras Act No. 22 of 1933, published in the Gazette of Fort St. George on August 1st 1933.