3/15/2018 History

Assignment

TOPIC: ‘Position of
Women in Ancient
india’

MOHIT KUMAR SF FIRST

YEAR
 Position of Women in Ancient India 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 2

TEXTUAL POSITION OF WOMEN – VEDIC AND POST–VEDIC ............................... 3

POSITION OF WOMEN IN THE FAMILY ....................................................................... 4

MARRIAGE AND WOMEN’S RIGHT TO CHOOSE ....................................................... 5

PROPERTY RIGHTS OF WOMEN ...................................................................................... 6

FEMALE EDUCATION .......................................................................................................... 7

ISSUE OF WIDOW REMARRIAGE .................................................................................... 8

WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC LIFE ................................................................... 9

FAMOUS WOMEN OF ANCIENT INDIA ....................................................................... 10

IMMORAL PRACTICES ....................................................................................................... 11

Issue of Sati: ....................................................................................................................... 11

Purdah System: .................................................................................................................... 12

Devadasi - The Temple Girls: ............................................................................................ 12

The Prostitutes:.................................................................................................................... 12

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 13

BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 13
 Position of Women in Ancient India 2

INTRODUCTION

One of the best ways to understand the spirit of a civilisation and to appreciate its excellences
and realise its limitations is to study the history of the position and status of women in
it. Civilisation is to a great extent the result of a society’s capacity to control some
of the strongest and most selfish impulses embedded in the human nature. No class
of similar importance and extent as that of women was placed in the infancy of
society in a position of such absolute dependence upon men, and the degree in which
that dependence has been voluntarily modified and relaxed naturally serves as a rough
test of the sense of justice and fairplay developed in a community.1

Talking of very early times, the women in India enjoyed an honourable position in
the society. Manu compares the status of the woman to the presiding deity in the
house and says that “where women are honoured, there the gods are pleased; but
where they are not honoured, no sacred rite yields rewards. Where the female
relations live in grief, the family soon wholly perishes; the family, where they are not
unhappy, ever prospers.”

As far as social structure is concerned, the Indian society was mostly patriarchal;
children were given the last name and gotra of their father. However, it was a
common practice to address children by their mother’s name, like the mother’s name
was used for Arjuna when he was addressed as Kounteya (Kunti’s son), and
Yashodanandan (Yashoda’s son) for Krishna, Gandhariputra (putra means son) for
Duryodhana, etc. Altekar is of the view that the participation of women in productive
activities such as agriculture, manufacture of cloth, bows, arrows and other war
materials was at the root of the freedom and better status of women in the Vedic
age; and their position began to deteriorate when the cheap or forced labour of the
enslaved population or of the Shudras became available to the Aryans and women
ceased to be productive members of the society.

1
Dr. A. S. Altekar, “The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization”, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 2nd edn.,
Reprint 1987, Pg. No. 1.
 Position of Women in Ancient India 3

TEXTUAL POSITION OF WOMEN – VEDIC

AND POST–VEDIC
LITERATURE

In India, during the ancient times, respect for women in the society was taken as a
matter of fact. The essence of every natural phenomenon (Deva) is power (Shakti)
and the artistic expression of this Shakti is given a female form. Frank Morales aptly
points out, “Within the concept of Shakti, we find a profound and spiritually oriented
philosophy of women’s liberation.” The texts of the Vedic age provide a great deal
of assistance in analysing the position of women during those times. They are a
storehouse of a great deal of information on the subject.

Going by the Satapatha Brahmana, it is found that the wife was considered to be a
half of the husband and she alone completed him. As far as occupation of the
women during the Vedic times is concerned, it is inferred that the women used to
actively participate in activities such as agriculture, manufacturing of bows, arrows
and other war material. Samhitas also refer to female workers in dying, embroidery
and basket-making. It is interesting to note that the Vedic Samhitas have special
words to denote female workers in the above crafts, which have disappeared in the
later literature.2

The Mahabharata and Yajnavalkya Smriti talk of women enjoying great privileges and
being regarded as “pivots of the entire social organism”. As to the birth of a girl
child in the family, the Aitareya Brahmana observes that while the son was the hope
of the family, the daughter was the source of trouble to it. The Mahabharata even
talked on the same lines when it came to the birth of a female child. Even in the
Kathasaritsagara we find that the son was considered to be the bliss itself and the
daughter was the root of all misery and discontentment. In the Jain Katha
Upamitibhavapra panca many cynical remarks are used against women. They are said
to be as fickle as the wind, deceitful in their ways and an impediment in the road to
spiritual progress. Bhartrhari also took them as an obstacle in one’s way to reach the

2
Supranote 1, Pg. No. 179.
 Position of Women in Ancient India 4

door of heaven.3 Thus, distinct views can be seen as far as the texts are concerned,
be it the Vedic literature, or be it the post – Vedic literature.

POSITION OF WOMEN IN THE FAMILY

In the Vedic times, there was the patriarchal setup and the birth of sons was
favoured. This patrilineal model was adopted uniformly almost at all the times in
ancient India. Children were given the last name and gotra of their father. However
it was a common practice to address the children by their mother’s name. The birth
of a girl was generally considered an unwelcome event in society in ancient times. It
was considered inauspicious. A wife who unfortunately happened to give birth to girls
in succession was despised and even sometimes divorced. Even in the royal family
the difference was clear and well-marked.4

In Rigvedic period, husband and wife were considered as one entity, referred to as
dampati. Wife was made to sit beside the husband in all religious ceremonies for
giving ahuti. Without the wife the ceremonies were considered to be incomplete. She
participated in political functions and vidatha assemblies. Out of the twelve ratnins,
who had to be present during the Rajyabhishek ceremony of the king, three were
women. All these quite evidently hint at the importance women held in the society
and as such they held an important position in the family as well. They were
respected and their presence was something that was looked up to.

But at a later date that is in the later Vedic period a quite evident decline in their
position in the family and in the society as a whole is witnessed which goes on
declining further. Women are deprived of the agricultural function as this goes to the
duties of the shudra class as the caste system goes on to rigidify. Their presence in
religious ceremonies also loses considerable importance because now this is taken
over by the purohit. Also, the women are even left out in the political arena as due

3
A. Chakraborty, S. K. Biswal, “History of Ancient India”, Arise Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 1 st
edn., 2007, Pg. No. 200.
4
B.K. Nanda, “Political and Cultural History of India”, Arise Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 1st edn.,
2007, Pg. No. 157.
 Position of Women in Ancient India 5

to the emerging of large extensive empires upheld by the king, assemblies like
vidatha and samiti lose their being. They fade away and so does the women
participation in public affairs.

MARRIAGE AND WOMEN’S RIGHT TO

CHOOSE

When taking Vedic period in view, as such, the texts do not mention child marriage.
Manu on this point writes in Manusmriti that a man’s body is fully developed by the
time he is twenty-five and that of a woman’s is not developed till she is sixteen. He
advises that a girl should wait at least three years after the onset of puberty and then
the parents should let her choose a husband who is her equal. This concept only
brought up an ancient tradition that was followed in Hindu marriages, that is, the
tradition of Swayamvara. Women could choose their husbands through a type of
marriage called Swayamvara. In this type of marriage, potential grooms assembled at
the bride's house and the bride selected her spouse. Instances of Swayamvara
ceremony can be found in epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. This continued
even in the later period in high class families. 5

At the time of her marriage, the girl was decorated with valuable ornaments and
clothes and various gifts were presented to her by the parents in accordance with
their status. As far as Rigvedic period is concerned, dowry was prevalent but at times
it was the son-in-law who had to pay money in order to purchase his bride. The
marriage of girls was not considered to be essential and there are references to girls
remaining unmarried till late age and living with their fathers and brothers.6

After leaving the parents’ home, her husband’s house was her permanent house. The
idea of the institution of marriage in ancient times was that of a lifelong union; only
death could separate a woman from her husband. The husband was the whole world
for her. She had to be faithful and maintain high ideal of chastity. A woman’s role

5
http://www.thisismyindia.com/ancient_india/woman-in-ancient-india.html [last accessed on: 24/10/2013].
6
V.D. Mahajan, “Ancient India”, S. Chand & Company Ltd., New Delhi, 13 th edn., Reprint 2007, Pg. No.
120.
 Position of Women in Ancient India 6

as outlined in Hinduism in the Rigvedic times was to be a good wife so that the
gods and goddesses would respond to the couple’s requests and needs. An altar
tended mainly by the father/husband, was overseen by the wife/mother when he was
gone from the home. Her job was to keep the sacred flame burning all the time. It
was also the woman’s responsibility to recite and sing hymns to the deities, a duty
ascribed to women in most all other cultures. The human married Indian couple was
the example employed by the Brahmin priests when they expounded on the deities.

PROPERTY RIGHTS OF WOMEN

In early Vedic period, the women were permitted to have personal property in the
form of jewellery and clothing. The Arthashastra permits women to have money up
to 2000 silver panas. The amounts in excess of this limit were held by the husband
as a trust on behalf of the wife. The property of women could be used by the
husband only in case of dire necessity. He could also exercise check on his wife if
she want only to give away her property. After the death of a woman the property
passed to the daughters (not to the husband or the sons). When there were no sons,
the widow inherited the property of the husband.7

Of speaking, the wife was a joint owner in the husband’s property. Theoretically, she
enjoyed economic rights but practically, she was not at liberty to move to court for
claiming her property. That was totally unthinkable on her part. The idea was that
she would have lost her religion had she gone against her husband.

The position of women in connection to property rights improved considerably during

the medieval times. The right to property was recognised in India from the very
beginning. In this connection G. D. Banerjee observes, “Nowhere were the property
rights of women recognised so early as in India, and in very few ancient systems of
laws where these rights been so largely conceded as in our own.” In the form of

7
http://www.preservearticles.com/201105257086/condition-of-women-in-ancient-india.html [last accessed:
24/10/2013].
 Position of Women in Ancient India 7

stridhana women were entitled to the right of property given to them at the time of
marriage by their parents, brothers or relatives.8

Stridhana primarily comprised of gifts received at the time of the marriage. At a

later date, immovable property also started coming within the ambit of stridhan.
Katyayan Samhita talks of a woman being able to sell and mortgage her immovable
property. Implications were such that for a childless mother, if she died, stridhana
devolved upon father and brothers. A brotherless daughter could inherit father’s
property. Shukrasmriti mentions that even if she had a brother, the daughter had a
right to property.

FEMALE EDUCATION

In Vedic times women and men were equal as far as education and religion were
concerned. Women participated in yajna ceremonies alongside men. One text even
mentions a female Rishi, Visvara. Going by the literary evidence, it can be seen that
in early Vedic times women also received the religious teachings. They could study
the Vedas. The Upanishads refer to several women philosophers, who had public
discourses with their male colleagues such as Vacaknavi (also known as Gargi), who
challenged the famous saint, Yajnavalkya.

Once a female child was born, it was the duty of the parents to bring her up and
educate her properly, though the scope of her education was limited. Child marriage
restricted the proper education of women. According to Harita, education can be
imparted to them on condition that they are taught not by an outsider, but by their
own parents or brother.9 There were two kinds of women scholars in the Vedic lot :
Brahmavadinis and Sadyodvaha. There were Upadhyayas, women who took teaching
as their profession. Saraswati was the goddess of learning, writing, knowledge,
mathematics, the arts, music, magic, and eloquence. She created the first alphabet.
Many consider her the mother of all life since it was her divine energy that united

8
SupraNote 3, Pg. No. 209.
9
SupraNote 3 , Pg. No. 201.
 Position of Women in Ancient India 8

with the awareness of Brahma, who was born from the golden egg from sea. Thus
the two created all knowledge and all creatures of the world.

In the times of Buddha, women did not have educational freedom. Education was not
considered as being of any importance to women. Their religious freedom, too, was
restricted. As they had only little freedom, their chances of performing meritorious
religious rites, too, were very limited.10

Taking later Vedic civilisation into view, women like Gargi and Maitreyi were
considered to be highly advanced intellectually. Gargi was one of the learned persons
who was summoned by King Janaka to attend the conference convened by him. The
Upanishads refer to a conversation between Maitreyi and her husband, Yajnavalkya. In
general, girls of royal families were undoubtedly imparted military and administrative
education. There were queens who governed their respective kingdoms after the death
of kings, like Somaldevi of Rajputana, and Gahadavala queen of Jayachandra.

ISSUE OF WIDOW REMARRIAGE

During the Vedic period, the practice of Sati held a symbolic status, that is to say,
the wife would lie on the unburnt pyre of the husband for some time and would
then come back. The usual procedure for the widow during these times was possibly
marrying a younger brother-in-law, who was very often unmarried at that time. The
idea was that the property should remain within the family. References to regular
remarriages of widows in Vedic literature are few, probably because Niyoga was then
more popular than remarriage. At this period, however, a widow could get as many
as three sons by Niyoga; so the Niyoga relationship practically amounted to a
remarriage.11

Widow Remarriages, however, started coming into disrepute during the period 300
B.C. to 200 A.D. As by and by the ascetic ideals and principles started coming into
the picture, the opposition to widow remarriage started getting stronger and stronger.

10
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/position.htm [last accessed on: 25/10/2013].
11
SupraNote 1, Pg. No. 151.
 Position of Women in Ancient India 9

Vishnu recommends the path of celibacy to be followed by a widow. Even Manu

lays down that a widow should never even have a thought about remarriage after her
husband’s death. The condition of widows went on deteriorating. The later Smritis
talk of how a women is supposed to retain her chastity as much as she would have
had in the presence of her husband. Sage Vatsayana refers to a remarried woman as
a punarbhu, meaning a ‘seeker of pleasure’. At this point of time, widows were
allowed to participate in social functions but they were not allowed to attend religious
ceremonies.

At a later date, they are forced to suffer more ill treatment. They are considered to
be inauspicious, a non-entity and she is held responsible for the death of her
husband. Sati starts coming into the scene. The whole idea of prohibition of widow
remarriage is that greater premium starts getting attached to physical purity. By 1000
A.D., even a child widow whose married life had not even started is not allowed to
remarry. They were forced to leave secluded life away from all pleasures that married
women enjoyed. After some time, even the sight of a widow started being considered
to be inauspicious which later gave way to evil practices such as Sati.

WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC LIFE

Around seventh century A.D., when women took active participation in the economic
activities like cattle rearing, weaving, etc., they contributed to the family economically
and thereby held a considerably higher status in the family. In Rigvedic period,
husband and wife were considered as one entity, referred to as dampati. Wife was
made to sit beside the husband in all religious ceremonies for giving ahuti. Without
the wife the ceremonies were considered to be incomplete. She participated in
political functions and vidatha assemblies. Out of the twelve ratnins, who had to be
present during the Rajyabhishek ceremony of the king, three were women. All these
show that women were an active participant in the public life. They were respected
and their presence was something that was looked up to. The Rigveda refers to
women engaged in warfare. One queen Bispala is mentioned.
 Position of Women in Ancient India 10

But in later Vedic period, a quite evident decline in their position in the society is
witnessed which goes on declining further. Women are deprived of the agricultural
function as this goes to the duties of the shudra class as the caste system goes on to
rigidify. Their presence in religious ceremonies also loses considerable importance
because now this is taken over by the purohit. Also, the women are even left out in
the political arena as due to the emerging of large extensive empires upheld by the
king, assemblies like vidatha and samiti lose their being. They fade away and so
does the women participation in public affairs.

The other problem which arises lies within the husbands’ mindset. Jealous husbands
with narrow outlook would not allow their wives to mix freely with the outside
world. This created an atmosphere favourable for the spread of the theory that
women should lead a life of seclusion.12 Thus, considerably women participation in
public affairs decreased. Their social freedom of movement and mixing with other
people was restricted and in this regard they had to observe some kind of code of
conduct. Sukra is also against her free movement, and does not allow her a
moment’s freedom. According to him, an ideal woman should be confined to her
home and be always engaged in domestic affairs from early morning till late
evening.13

FAMOUS WOMEN OF ANCIENT INDIA

There were many women in ancient India who were popular among the commons
and held some special status. Gargi , the Vedic prophetess and daughter of Sage
Vachaknu, composed several hymns that questioned the origin of all existence. She
had discourses with the famous philosopher Yajnavalkya. Her question: “The layer
that is above the sky and below the earth, which is described as being situated
between the earth and the sky and which is indicated as the symbol of the past,
present and future, where is that situated?” – took even the great Vedic men of
letters by awe.

12
SupraNote 1, Pg. No. 177.
13
SupraNote 3, Pg. No. 207.
 Position of Women in Ancient India 11

Vedic wisdom is encapsulated in myriad hymns, and 27 women-seers emerge from

them. But most of them are mere abstractions, except for a few, such as Ghosha,
who has a definite human form. Granddaughter of Dirghatamas and daughter of
Kakshivat, both composers of hymns in praise of Ashwins, Ghosha has two entire
hymns of the tenth book, each containing 14 verses, assigned to her name. The Rig
Veda contains about one thousand hymns, of which about ten are accredited to
Maitreyi, the woman seer and philosopher. She contributed towards the enhancement
of her sage-husband Yajnavalkya's personality and the flowering of his spiritual
thoughts. Yajnavalkya had two wives, Maitreyi and Katyayani. Maitreyi was well-
versed in the Hindu scriptures and was a 'brahmavadini'.

The Rig Veda has long conversations between the sage Agasthya and his wife
Lopamudra that testify to the great intelligence and goodness of the latter. As the
legend goes, Lopamudra was created by sage Agasthya and was given as a daughter
to the King of Vidarbha. After serving her husband faithfully for a long period,
Lopamudra grew tired of his austere practices. She wrote a hymn of two stanzas
making an impassioned plea for his attention and love. Soon afterwards, the sage
realized his duties towards his wife and performed both his domestic and ascetic life
with equal zeal, reaching a wholeness of spiritual and physical powers. A son was
born to them. He was named Dridhasyu, and he later became a great poet.

Others include Sita who was Rama’s wife and daughter of King Janak. Kunti was
the Queen of Hastinapur and mother of the Pandavas. Shakuntala was the Queen of
Hastinapur and wife of King Dushyanta. Draupadi was the wife of Pandavas.

IMMORAL PRACTICES

Issue of Sati:

In the Mahabharata, there is an incidence of Pandu’s wife Madri committing Sati

because she held herself responsible for the death of her husband. Before that, there
is a reference in Ramayana to a daughter-in-law of Ravana, Sulochana, who died on
the pyre because she found her life useless without him. In these cases there was the
 Position of Women in Ancient India 12

free will of the woman. Such kind of acts were not imposed upon them by the
society. Even in the Vedic era, sati held just a symbolic status.

Purdah System:

As time passed, there developed a purdah system in the Hindu society. It was not
the same as it was later seen in modern India. The freedom of women of movement
and freely mixing with other people was limited. They were supposed to follow a
proper code of conduct. Accordingly, “if she ever needed to go outside, she had to
put on garments properly. She was not to walk fast, nor was she allowed to speak
with anyone except a dealer, a recluse, an old man and a physician. While walking,
she was not to laugh, not to talk, not to make any gesture. She was ever to be
wakeful about the proper covering of her body and never to let any part of hers to
be bare.”14

Devadasi - The Temple Girls:

Abu Zayd remarks, “In the Indies they have public women called women of the idol,
the origin of whose institution is such: when a woman has laid herself under a vow,
that she may have children, if it happens that she brings forth a handsome daughter,
carries the child to the God, so they call the Idol they worship and leave her. When
the girl has attained a proper age, she takes an apartment in this public place and
spreads a curtain before her door and awaits the arrival of stranger as well as men
of other sects, to whom this debauchery is made lawful. She prostitutes herself at a
certain rate and delivers her gains into the hands of the Idol’s priest to be used by
him and support the temple.”15

The Prostitutes:

There was a category of women who were engaged in regular prostitution. They were
generally known for their skills in dancing and singing and were extremely beautiful.
Most of them practised it openly. Generally, such women were prohibited from
mixing with common people due to moral reasons. These prostitutes were protected

14
SupraNote 3, Pg. No. 207.
15
SupraNote 3, Pg. No. 211.
 Position of Women in Ancient India 13

by the state and anyone who was found guilty of offence against them had to pay
heavy fines.

CONCLUSION

Women held a respectable position during the Vedic times but things and situations
took on a different turn and their position went on deteriorating. They lost importance
in the family and also in the society. Where on one hand earlier they used to be an
active participant in the public life, later on they were subject to seclusion and
something so rigid as the purdah system. While earlier they were allowed to choose
their husband by virtue of swayamvara system, at a later date, they are given the
charge of the institution of marriage when they hardly know what are its implications
or at the least what does it mean.

Women faced problems with education. While in earlier times where we have women
like Gargi and Ghosha, later, they are forced to marry when it is the time for their
education. The upnayan gets substituted with vivaha. They are simply denied
education. All together, women are neglected and the situation never gets better. It
gets worsened when immoral practices like those of Devadasi, Sati, Jauhar,
prostitution and purdah system come into picture. Women lose their freedom. They
are discriminated. The birth of a female child is considered to be a cause of misery.

Hence, as the paper moves on tracing the deteriorating position of women in ancient
India, we realise that how women from enjoying such a high status in Rigvedic age
go on losing their status throughout. They are reduced from - doing manual labour in
Rigvedic age, thereby contributing to the family economically, to being useful only
for household chores. The times take a shift and we see several problems sprouting
up in this context, like that of Sati, Jauhar, Purdah System, Devadasi System and
others too. Women as such, become puppets in the hands of men. All the ancient
notions of her being a goddess by and by fade away.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Position of Women in Ancient India 14

BOOKS:
• Altekar, Dr. A. S., “The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization”, Motilal
Banarsidass, Delhi, 2nd edn., Reprint 1987.
• Nanda, B.K., “Political and Cultural History of India”, Arise Publishers
and Distributors, New Delhi, 1st edn., 2007
• Mahajan, V.D., “Ancient India”, S. Chand & Company Ltd., New
Delhi, 13th edn., 2007
• Chakraborty, A.S., S. K. Biswal, “History of Ancient India”, Arise
Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 1st edn., 2007
ARTICLES:
• Moudha, Srouti, “Essay on the Condition of Women in India” ,
http://www.preservearticles.com/201105257086/condition-of-women-in-
ancient-india.html
WEBSITES:
• http://www.indianetzone.com/50/women_ancient_india.htm
• http://www.thisismyindia.com/ancient_india/woman-in-ancient-india.html
• http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/position.htm