Of communities recognized in the national Constitution as Scheduled Tribes, "some ... matriarchal and matrilineal" "and thus have been known to be more egalitarian." Several Hindu communities in South India practiced matrilineality, especially the Nair (or "Nayar") and Tiyyas in the state of Kerala, and the Bunts and Billava in the states of Karnataka. The system of inheritance was known as Marumakkathayam in the "Nair" community or Aliyasantana in the "Bunt" and the "Billava" community, and both communities were subdivided into clans. This system was exceptional in the sense that it was one of the few traditional systems in western historical records of India that gave women some liberty and the right to property.