article

Family and property amongst the Amhara nobility

Journal of African history24Published In 1983 • Pages: 207-220

By: Crummey, Donald.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This work is a historical study of family succession among the Amhara nobility of Abyssinia. Practicing ambilineal descent and partible inheritance, both which tend to dissipate wealth across the generations, the nobility kept their estates intact through the institution of the ALAQENAT. The ALAQENAT privileged one sibling by designating him or her the head of the family and caretaker of its public and private interests. The ALAQENAT was an object of much litigation among heirs, nevertheless it allowed the nobility to maintain wealth and dominance within Amhara society from one generation to the next.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Real property
Inheritance
Classes
Mode of marriage
Household
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Amhara
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
1998
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Africa
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Eastern Africa
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
article
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Unknown
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard ; 1996
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
Unknown
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1700s-1850s
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Ethiopia
NotesAdditional notes
by Donald Crummey
Includes bibliographical references
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
63005723
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Amhara (African people)