Social Stratification and Family Structure
The Tibetan social organization under Lhasa control from the 17th century on was quasi-feudal, in that arable land was divided and owned by aristocratic families, religious organizations, and the central government and the population was subject to those district divisions. The population was further divided into social classes:
- aristocratic lords (ger-ba)
- monastics (as much as 20% of the population)
- subjects (mi-ser) consisting of:
- taxpayer families (tre-ba or khral-pa)
- householders (du-jong or dud-chung-ba)
- landless peasants (mi-bo)
Read more about this topic: Polyandry In Tibet
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