Let us now consider partition in a Mitacshara family. Of course the only persons who can claim a share are the members of the family. These, as has been said, are the male descendants of a common ancestor through males, their wives and daughters. But the females are entirely excluded from any share on a partition, and we have to consider the males only. The rule for ascertaining the share to which each member of the family is entitled can be best explained by the following diagram, which represents the male members of a Mitacshara family of whom A is the common ancestor:-- A +--------------------+----------+---------+ | | | | B C D E | | | | +------+----+ +-----+ | | F G H I K L M | | | | | | +-----+ +--+ | | | +-----+ N O P Q R S T U W | | +---+ | X Y Z The whole family may be considered as forming one group, which may conveniently be called the group A; and it is evident on inspection that the family may be subdivided into a number of smaller groups each similarly organized, each group consisting of a man and his own male descendants. Thus besides the group A we have the group B, consisting of B and his descendants; the group C, consisting of C and his descendants; and so on. A group may die out altogether, as if U and W were to die childless, E and M being already dead. The rule of partition proceeds upon the supposition--not an unnatural one--that a family, when it breaks up, separates always into groups, and that the shares are moulded accordingly. For example, suppose that when the partition is made the surviving members of the family are N, O, S, T, X, Y, Z; then to find the shares we must go back to the common ancestor and reconstruct the pedigree. There were at first four groups, but at some time, it is immaterial when, by the death of E and all his descendants the groups have been reduced to three; hence the first step is to divide the property into three equal parts, assigning one to each group. The group B was originally represented by three smaller groups, but now by only two, the groups F and G, and to each of these we assign ½ of 1/3, or 1/6. And, of the 1/6 assigned to the group F, N will get 1/12 and O will get 1/12. The other 1/6 is divided between the groups P and Q, each group getting 1/12. Then in the group P, X and Y will each get 1/24, while Z, as the sole representative of the group Q, will get 1/12. It may be noted in passing that this principle of division survives in the succession _per stirpes_, of which we find so many examples in other systems of law which had their origin in the patriarchal system. By a