Today, Kerala is the most literate state of India (69 percent in 1981). From about 1800 until 1947, it was divided among three political administrations each of which pursued different educational policies. All three areas, however, achieved remarkably high rates of literacy. Government policies affected the timing of increases in literacy in the three jurisdicitons; but culture explains the readiness with which, irrespective of policy, Kerala's people sought literacy-oriented education. The most important aspect of that culture was the place of women. At the beginning of this century about a third of the population was matrilineal and another 20 percent was Christian. Both traditions offered more scope for women than they experienced elsewhere in India. The Kerala evidence suggests that literate men have literate sons, but literate women have literate families.