Әке шешеден бұрын інілер мұрагерлік құқығына ие болуы

Succession in which a king's brothers inherit over sons

Agnatic seniority is a patrilineal principle of inheritance where the order of succession to the throne prefers the monarch's younger brother over the monarch's own sons. A monarch's children (the next generation) succeed only after the males of the elder generation have all been exhausted. Agnatic seniority excludes females of the dynasty and their descendants from the succession. Contrast agnatic primogeniture, where the king's sons stand higher in succession than his brothers.

Agnatic seniority has been used in several historical monarchies.

The County of Anjou followed inheritance by agnatic seniority. When Henry II of England married Eleanor of Aquitaine, creating the Angevin Empire, this resulted in some question over what inheritance laws would affect their children, as Henry II's father was the count of Anjou, and he inherited England and Normandy through his mother. Henry II's eldest son, the Young Henry, died before him, so the throne passed to his next oldest son, Richard I of England. Henry II's third son, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany died three years before his father, but his pregnant wife later gave birth to a son, Arthur of Brittany. When Richard was mortally wounded during a castle siege, on his deathbed he named his brother John, Henry II's fourth and youngest son, as his heir. However, the inheritance was questioned by the young Arthur of Brittany (then 12 years old). Arthur argued that as the son of John's older brother Geoffrey, he was the rightful heir of Richard and Henry II according to the laws of agnatic primogeniture which were followed in England and Normandy. John countered that as the male line heirs of the Counts of Anjou, the Angevin Empire followed the succession law of Anjou which was based on agnatic seniority. Thus, John claimed that as Richard's younger brother, he stood in line ahead of his nephew. Arthur continued to press his claim for the next four years, allying with the king of France against John, though Richard's deathbed declaration of John as his heir provided greater strength to his claim. Ultimately, Arthur was captured in battle, imprisoned, and presumably killed by John. The matter was never definitively decided, as John lost all continental land possessions in France and had to relinquish any claim to rule of Anjou.

It was practiced by the Shang dynasty and the enfeoffed Shang survivors who ruled the State of Song under the Zhou dynasty in China.

In Moravia and Bohemia since 1055 to 1182 respective 1203, established by duke Bretislaus I in his seniority "constitution".

In the succession for the Emperor of Ethiopia, limitation to agnates was controlled until recent times. According to research by the historian Taddesse Tamrat, the order of succession during the Zagwe dynasty was that of brother succeeding brother as King of Ethiopia (i. e., agnatic seniority), which apparently was based on Agaw laws of inheritance. However, the principle of agnatic primogeniture later became dominant, although succession to the throne at the death of the monarch could be claimed by any male blood relative of the Emperor—sons, brothers, uncles or cousins. To avoid instability and civil war, an Emperor typically took care to designate his chosen heir, and to strengthen the heir's position against rivals. In addition, the Emperor would place the heir's rivals in a secure location, which drastically limited their ability to disrupt the Empire with revolts, or to dispute the succession of an heir apparent. Over time, Emperors were more frequently selected by a council of the senior officials of the realm, both secular and religious. The Ethiopian experience is a particularly good example of the instability which can result from the application of the principle of agnatic seniority.

In Kievan Rus' during the Rurik dynasty, a variant of agnatic seniority known as the rota system gradually evolved over the course of several generations. According to Janet Martin (1995), each new generation of princes fought wars of succession or princely rebellions, resulting in the establishment of a new rule that the next generation accepted. By the end of the 11th century, there was a comprehensive succession system that almost every member of the Rurikid house respected. While some scholars have supposed that Yaroslav the Wise invented the system all on his own, Martin rejected this idea in favour of every generation contributing a new rule.

It was sometimes used in Morocco by the Alaouite dynasty until it was definitely abolished by King Mohammed V (1957–1961) who introduced agnatic primogeniture.

In the Piast Kingdom of Poland, the Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth enacted in 1138 with the establishment of a Seniorate Province at Kraków led to a centuries long period of fragmentation of the country among his descendants.

The principle is currently used by the House of Saud, the royal family of Saudi Arabia; so far, all successors to Ibn Saud as King of Saudi Arabia have been one of his 45 sons. In 2007, however, the Allegiance Council was instituted to facilitate the transition of power to the grandsons of Ibn Saud. The institution of the Allegiance Council arguably makes the succession formally elective, but seniority remains the overriding factor, and it is expected that the most senior dynast will be elected unless he is uninterested in the throne or otherwise disqualified.