Note the existence of partible paternity supporting this. Gavelkind was the practice of partible or equal inheritance, as opposed to primogeniture. This behavior survives among some remaining hunter-forager groups that believe in partible paternity. Southern Malabar saw a patrilineal system but partible property. The French custom of partible inheritance at the time would lead to political fragmentation. Under Brehon law, gavelkind, a form of partible inheritance, was the system of land inheritance. Partible inheritance was abolished by Parliament in 1542. This partible inheritance often caused internal strife, which made centralized government problematic. Partible inheritance is a system of inheritance in which property is apportioned among heirs. The common rule of land inheritance was partible inheritance, as in the Celtic world. Partible inheritance ("gavelkind") prevailed in Kent, East Anglia and the Celtic areas.