percent. In 1950, when the Madras Presidency became Madras State, the literacy rate was slightly higher than the national average of 18 percent. In 1901, there were 26,771 public and private institutions with 923,760 scholars of whom 784,621 were male and 139,139 female. By 1947, the number of educational institutions had increased to 37,811 and the number of scholars to 3,989,686. Apart from colleges, in 1947 there were 31,975 public and elementary schools, 720 secondary schools for boys and 4,173 elementary and 181 secondary schools for girls. Most of the early graduates were Brahmins. The preponderance of Brahmins in the universities and in the civic administration was one of the main causes for the growth of the Anti-Brahmin movement in the presidency. Madras was also the first province in British India where caste-based communal reservations were introduced. In 1923, the Madras University Act was passed after its introduction by Education Minister A. P. Patro. Under the bill's provisions, the governing body of Madras University was completely reorganised on democratic lines. The bill asserted that the governing body would henceforth be headed by a Chancellor who would be assisted by a pro-Chancellor, usually the Minister of Education. Apart from the Chancellor and the pro-Chancellor who were elected, there was to be a Vice-Chancellor appointed by the Chancellor. Culture and society Hindus, Muslims and Christians generally followed a joint family system. The society was largely patriarchal with the eldest male member the leader of the family. Most of the presidency followed a patrilineal system of inheritance. The only exceptions were the district of Malabar and the princely states of Travancore and Cochin which practised the marumakkathayam system. Women were expected to confine themselves to indoor activities and the maintenance of the household. Muslims and high-caste Hindu women observed purdah. The daughter in the family rarely received an education and usually helped her mother with household chores. Upon marrying, she moved to the house of her in-laws where she was expected to serve her husband and the elder members of his family. There have been recorded instances of torture and ill treatment of daughters-in-law. A Brahmin widow was expected to shave her head and was subjected to numerous indignities. Rural society comprised villages where people of different communities lived together. Brahmins lived in separate streets called agraharams. Untouchables lived outside village limits in small hamlets called cheris and were strictly forbidden from having