Most families of Bengal and Assam follow the rules of ‘Dayabhaga’ while the rest of India generally follows __________.

The correct answer is Mitakshara . Family: The traditional Indian family is a large kinship group commonly known as a joint family. A joint family is one in which two or more generations live under one roof or different roofs having a common hearth. This family is generally patriarchal and patrilineal, which means the father or the oldest male member is the head of the house and administrator of the property and the headship descends in the male line. In modern towns, it has changed into nuclear families which consist of wife, husband, and children. Such families are also patriarchal and patrilineal. There are many regions where families are matrilineal in which the headship descends in the female line such as in Kerala and the northeastern region of Nagaland and Meghalaya. Family is the primary unit of society. The members of the family are bound together by ‘shraddha’, the rite of commemorating the ancestors. Traditionally the family in India is governed by two schools of sacred law and customs. These are based on ‘Mitakshara’ and ‘Dayabhaga’. Most families of Bengal and Assam follow the rules of ‘Dayabhaga’ while the rest of India generally follows ‘Mitakshara’. In the post-independence period, the Constitution provided that each religious community would be governed by their religious personal laws in matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance, succession adoption, guardianship, custody of children, and maintenance.