Historical inheritance systems are different systems of inheritance among various people.
Cross cultural research about systems of inheritance
Land inheritance
Land inheritance customs greatly vary across cultures. The Ethnographic Atlas gives the following data regarding land distribution: primogeniture predominates in 247 societies, while ultimogeniture prevails in 16. In 19 societies land is exclusively or predominantly given to the one adjudged best qualified, while equality predominates in 301 societies. Regarding land inheritance rules, in 340 societies sons inherit, in 90 other patrilineal heirs (such as brothers), in 31 sister's sons, in 60 other matrilineal heirs (such as daughters or brothers), and in 98 all children. In 43 societies land is given to all children, but daughters receive less. In 472 societies, the distribution of inherited land follows no clear rules or information is missing, while in 436 societies inheritance rules for real property do not exist or data is missing; this is partly because there are many societies where there is little or no land to inherit, such as in hunter-gatherer or pastoral societies.
Patrilineal primogeniture, where the eldest son inherits, was customary among many cultures around the world. Patrilineal ultimogeniture, where the youngest son inherits, was customary among a number of cultures including: Fur, Fali, Sami (also called Lapp), Bashkir, Chuvash, Gagauz, Vep, Tatar, Achang, Ayi, Atayal, Kachi, Biate, Chinantec, Hmar, Mro, Kom, Purum and Lushei or Lushai (sometimes mistakenly taken for the whole Mizo people, especially in the past).
Among English peasants there was no clearly prevalent inheritance pattern, while Spanish Basques gave their land to the one considered best qualified, though they had a preference for sons. Giving more or less equal shares of land to sons, but excluded daughters was also common in many populations, as was giving relatively equal shares to both sons and daughters or slightly less to daughters. The same system prevails in contemporary Egypt and most Arab groups (see Islamic inheritance jurisprudence). Most non-Arab Muslims, with some exceptions (Caucasians, Iranians), historically followed their own inheritance customs, not those of the Sharia. In Ancient Egypt the eldest son inherited twice as much as other sons, and in earlier times he was the sole heir.
Among the Lao, the Aceh, the Guanches, and the Minangkabau, all daughters inherited equal shares of land. The Cham, the Jaintia, the Garo, and the Khasi practiced female ultimogeniture. Primogeniture, regardless of the sex of the child, was customary among the Paiwan, the Ifugao, the Chugach, and the French Basques. While ultimogeniture, regardless of the sex of the child, was customary among the Chuvash and the Mari.
Bilateral primogeniture is a rarer custom of inheritance where the eldest son inherits from the father and the eldest daughter inherits from the mother. This practice was common among the Classic Mayas, who transmitted the family's household furnishings from mother to eldest daughter, and the family's land, houses and agricultural tools from father to eldest son. It was also seen in the Greek island of Karpathos, where the family's house was transmitted from mother to eldest daughter, and the family's land was transmitted from father to eldest son.Vernier, 1984 Among the Igorot, the father's land is inherited by his eldest son and the mother's land is inherited by her eldest daughter.
A review of numerous studies found that the pattern of land inheritance traditionally prevalent among English, Dutch and New Englander peasants was partible inheritance. The pattern of land inheritance traditionally prevalent among Russian peasants was found to be close to patrilineal primogeniture, "as oldest sons may well inherit more". The conclusions of this review contradicts previous reports that Russians practiced equal inheritance of land by all sons and that the English, Dutch and New Englanders had no definite inheritance pattern.
In easternmost Europe, patrilineal ultimogeniture prevailed among most Turkic peoples. Equal inheritance of property by all sons prevailed among most Finno-Ugric peoples, and patrilineal primogeniture prevailed among Estonians and Balts.
Inheritance customs are sometimes considered a culturally distinctive aspect of a society. Although it is often thought that the Mizos employ ultimogeniture, this is because the customs of Lushais or Lusheis are confused with those of all Mizos; Mizo and Lushai have been occasionally used interchangeably. Among most non-Lushai Mizos, primogeniture predominates, just as among Kukis. In general there is great confusion about the ethnic identity of the many northeastern Indian tribes. Some regard the generic term Zomi as most appropriate.
Inheritance of movable property
The same disparity is seen regarding inheritance of movable property. Most nomadic peoples from Asia, for example the Khalka Mongols, give a more or less equal share of the herd to each son as he marries. Typically the youngest remain behind caring for the parents and inheriting his father's tent after their death in addition to his own share of the herd. However, others, such as the Yukaghir and the Yakuts, leave most of the herd to one son (in the above examples the youngest and the eldest, respectively). Some pastoral peoples from other geographical areas also practice unequal wealth transfers, although customs of equal male inheritance are more common among them than among agriculturalists.
Patrilineal primogeniture with regards to both livestock and land was practiced by the Tswana people, whose main source of wealth was livestock, although they also practiced agriculture. This practice was also seen in other southern Bantu peoples, such as the Tsonga, or the Venda. Although, among the Venda, while the livestock was inherited by the eldest son, land was not inherited within families but given to each son by village authorities as he married. Among the Tsonga, most of the land was used only for stockbreeding. Patrilineal primogeniture also prevailed among the neighboring Khoi peoples, of whom only the Nama (among whom patrilineal primogeniture also prevailed)remain.
Many other African peoples also practiced patrilineal primogeniture with regards to livestock. These included: The Ngoni, the Gogo, the Mangbetu, the Rendille, the Sapo, the Boran, the Gabra, the Plains Pokot, the Hema, the Beti-Pahuin, the Buduma, the Dogon, the Duala, the Djafun and the Kassena. According to the Ethnographic Atlas, the Fulbe or Fulani, the largest pastoral people in Africa, divided their livestock equally between all sons. However, according to some other sources they practiced male primogeniture.
Chukchi, Koryak and Ket peoples practiced male ultimogeniture. It has been stated that the rest of Siberian peoples, such as Voguls, Samoyeds or Khantys, practiced patrilineal primogeniture, though there isn't much reliable information about the traditional customs of Siberian peoples. It is said that Gilyaks divided their cattle equally between all sons. Patrilineal primogeniture was also traditionally prevalent among pastoral peoples from Australia, such as the Aranda, as well as among Himalayan pastoralists like the Changpa.
Patrilineal primogeniture was traditionally prevalent among some pastoral peoples from Greenland and northern Canada. The neighboring indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast were organized in societies where elder sons and their lines of descent had higher status than younger sons and their lines of descent (a "conical clan"), although a rule of patrilineal primogeniture couldn't develop among most of them since they were mostly hunter-gatherers. However, rule of patrilineal primogeniture did develop among some Canadian indigenous peoples who practiced agriculture, such as the Montagnais, the Kutchin, the Pikangikum, the Ojibwa, the Klallam and the Atsugewi. Canadian indigenous peoples were influenced by the ancient Thule culture, of which little is known with certainty.
Other sources
Intergenerational wealth transmission among agriculturalists tends to be rather unequal. Only slightly more than half of the societies studied practice equal division of real property; customs to preserve land relatively intact (most commonly primogeniture) are very common. Wealth transfers are more egalitarian among pastoralists, but unequal inheritance customs also prevail in some of these societies, and they are strongly patrilineal.
A study of 39 non-Western societies found many customs that distinguished between children according to their sex and birth order. First sons, in comparison to other sons, "are likely to inherit or otherwise gain control of more family land, livestock, or other wealth." First sons inherited more than the other sons among 11 societies studied. Among the Todas, both first and last sons inherited more than the other sons. Last sons inherited more than the other sons among the Lolo and the Yukaghir, and inherited less among the Luo. The people found to have the greatest number of customs favourable to first sons in the study were the Tswana, followed closely by the Azande. The people with the greatest number of customs favorable to last sons in their study were the Lolo. This study confirmed ethnographers' claims that customs favorable to first sons were common in South Asia, Austronesia and Sub-Saharan Africa, while customs favorable to last sons were common among the ethnic minorities of Southwest China.
The only custom that distinguished between sons among the Dagor Mongols was that first sons received more respect from his siblings and last sons received less respect from their siblings. This contradicts those theories that maintain that peoples of the Asian steppe had strong customs favorable to first or last sons. In fact, the indigenous American peoples had significantly more customs favorable to first sons than the Dagor Mongols.
Among Arab peoples, such as the Egyptian Fellahin, all sons inherited the same and had the same wealth. This was also seen among the Alaska Native peoples such as the Eyak.
Jack Goody was an influential anthropologist during the twentieth century. However, his theories have been mostly rejected during the last decades. He made a distinction between a complete and a preferential form of primogeniture and ultimogeniture. In the complete form of both customs, the rest of the children are excluded from the inheritance. However, in the preferential form of primogeniture, the eldest son acts as custodian of the father's rights on behalf of his brothers. In the preferential form of ultimogeniture, the youngest son inherits the residue of his father's property after elder sons have received their shares during the father's lifetime. Goody called ultimogeniture "Borough English" and primogeniture "Borough French" because in England ultimogeniture was a native custom, while primogeniture was a custom brought by the Norman invaders. According to Goody, in Late Medieval England, patrilineal primogeniture predominated in feudal tenures and among the peasantry of large parts of the Midlands. Patrilineal ultimogeniture ("Borough English") prevailed elsewhere in the champion country. Partible inheritance (gavelkind) prevailed in Kent, East Anglia and the Celtic areas.
Both preferential primogeniture and preferential ultimogeniture were practiced in pre-revolutionary Russia, where the eldest son succeeded as family head and inherited more than the other sons. "The youngest son, if he remained with the father, inherited the house and also at times other property" (minorat). However, the share of land and moveables of the other sons was only slightly smaller than that of the eldest and the youngest son. Only in the southern part of the country was the house inherited by the youngest son; in the north it was inherited by the eldest son.