Introduction:

Every human society is invariably characterised by social differentiations.

Gender based differentiation is one. Men had the role of earning and women
had the role of reproduction of heirs and home making. A historical
understanding of status of women in early Indian society shows a declining
trend in the position of women. The historical analysis of the position of women
in ancient India shows that women did not share an equal position with men.
Women were recognised only as wives and mothers. Their position was as
subordinate to men. The Indian patriarchal society that dominates the social,
political and economic life of people in the country has never encouraged its
women in any field, except kitchen! Indian women are relatively disempowered
and they enjoy lower status than that of men from times immemorial.
The root to the participation of women in politics can be traced back to 19th
century reform movement. Social reformers thought that social change could be
initiated by educating women and bringing progressive legislation. Social evils
can be eradicated by raising consciousness and making people sensitive to
injustice done to women.

Women in Ancient India:

In the ancient Indus valley civilisation of India, evidences show the worship of
the mother goddess. Hence, the veneration for the mother is evident during that
period. During the Rig Vedic period, it is believed that the position of wife was
honoured and women’s position was acknowledged, especially in the
performance of religious ceremonies.
Education of young girls was considered as an important qualification for
marriage. There are references in Vedic literature that in the Kshatriya society,
brides had exclusive right of selecting their own consorts, which was known as
‘Swayamvara’. In Rig Vedic society, dowry system was unknown. However,
the concept of marriage as a dan or gift was prevalent. Monogamy was the
general practice though Bigamy was also in practice, but it was limited to the
aristocratic classes. The wife was respected in her new house. The wife
participated in the sacrificial offerings of her husband.
However, being a patriarchal system, the women were expected to bear sons
since the son performed the last rites and continued the lineage. Remarriage of
widows was permitted under certain conditions. Female morality maintained a
high standard although the same degree of fidelity was not expected from the
husband. In this age there was no practice of divorce. The Rig Veda states that
the widow had the right to marry again with her husband’s brother. Rig Veda
recognised the right of inheritance of unmarried daughters on the property of
her father but married daughters were exempted.
Gradually, religious ceremonies were increasingly conducted by the priests
resulting in weakening of the women’s eminent position in the household.
Later, in the Age of the Upanishads, the ‘anuloma’ system of marriage, i.e.,
between the male of a higher caste and female of a lower caste prevailed during
this period.
In the Age of Sutras and Epics, the ‘Grihya-sutras’ give detailed rules regarding
the proper seasons for marriage and qualifications of bride and bridegroom. The
bride was supposed to be at a mature age, over 15 or 16. The elaborate rites
indicate that marriage was a holy bond and not a contract. The women held an
honoured position in the household. She was allowed to sing, dance, and enjoy
life. Sati was not generally prevalent. Widow Remarriage was allowed under
certain circumstances.
On the whole, the Dharma-sutras take a more lenient attitude than the Smritis of
a later age. The ‘Apastamba’ imposes several penalties on a husband who
unjustly forsakes his wife. On the other hand, a wife who forsakes her husband
has to only perform penance. In case a grown up girl was not married at a
proper time by her father, she could choose her husband after three years of
waiting. The most pleasing feature of this period is the presence of women
teachers, many of whom possessed high spiritual knowledge.
As in all patriarchal societies during that age, the birth of a daughter was
unwelcome. The son lived with his parents, earned money for the family,
protected the family from enemies, and perpetuated the name of the family. The
Ramayana along with the Mahabharata and the Puranas constitute the epic
literature in India. The position of women gradually deteriorated not only in the
society but also in the family. The discontinuance of Upanayana, the neglect of
education, and lowering of the marriage age had a negative consequence upon
the position and status of woman.
During this period, a woman was considered to be a commodity which could be
kept on bet and could be sold or purchased. But we also get quite contrary views
from Ramayana and Mahabharata. Sita is regarded as one of the five ideal and
revered women in India, the other four being Ahalya, Draupati, Tara, and
Mandodari. There are references in Mahabharata which reflects that women
used to guide men on religious and social questions. It was expected of a good
woman to cooperate with her husband in religious pursuits.
Marriage was a religious sacrament. A woman was considered unfit for
independence at any time as she required protection throughout her life. In the
Age 600 BC to 320 AD, marriage between the same caste was preferred
although inter caste marriages were prevalent. Of the eight forms of marriage
prescribed by the Dharma-sutras, the Arsha form of marriage was most popular.
The bridegroom was selected by the girl’s father. According to Nearchus, the
Indians “marry without giving or taking dowries but the girls, as soon as they
are marriageable, are brought forward by their fathers and exposed in public, to
be selected by a person who excels in some form of physical exercise”. This
indicates a modified form of Swayamvara.
Lowering of the marriage age affected their education and culture adversely.
Emphasis was now laid on the physical chastity of women which discouraged
widow remarriage, divorce, and encouragement of Sati. There is also evidence
that women were active in such public economic activities as wage-labour, as
well as serving as temple dancers, courtesans, and court attendants. During the
earlier part of this period, there were highly educated women holding an
honorable position in the society and household.
Women also received training in arts, music, painting, and for some, military
training also. Buddhist and Jain nuns renounced the world for the sake of
spiritual salvation. Jain texts refer to Jayanti who carried on discussions with
Mahavira himself and later on became a nun. In spite of the progress, there were
growing regression. Upanayana ceremony was reduced to only a formality.
Manu laid down that marriage was equal to Upanayana while Yajnavalkya took
the step of prohibiting Upanayana ceremony for girls.
The wife who used to perform Vedic sacrifices was denied the right to do so.
Sati existed but was confined to the warrior class only. Women courtesans were
not looked down by religious leaders or kings. A famous courtesan Amrapali
who lived during the reign of Bimbisara (300 to 273 BC) was a beauty whom
Buddha visited. Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya dynasty, was
reputedly assisted by Kautilya, a Brahman prime minister, who composed the
Arthasastra, a handbook of statecraft.
The elaborate documents states that women had property rights to the stridhan,
which was the gift made to a woman at the time of her marriage by her parents
and afterwards augmented by her husband. Marriage was both a secular and
sacred institution. Widows could remarry, although, when they did so, they lost
rights to any property inherited from their deceased husbands.
In 320 to 750 AD, the Gupta Empire is seen as the classical age of Indian
culture because of its high literary and artistic accomplishments. Some
information on roles for elite women comes from the Kama Sutra, a manual
about the many ways to acquire pleasure, a legitimate goal for Hindu men in the
householder, or the second stage, of their lives. Women were expected to be
educated, to give and to receive sexual pleasure, and to be faithful wives.
Courtesans were trained in poetry and music as well as the skills of sexual
pleasure and were esteemed members of society. An important example is of a
noble-hearted courtesan Vasantesena, the heroine of the “The Little Clay Cart,”
a popular play in Sanskrit ascribed to Sudraka (ca. A.D. 400). The other major
dramatic female heroine of classical Indian literature is Shakuntala, a docile
young woman who yearned for her distant lover in Kalidasa’s “Shakuntala and
the Ring of Remembrance.”
There was a growing tendency to lower the marriageable age of girls with girls
being married before or after puberty. Marriage within the same caste was
preferred but prohibited within certain degrees of relationship. Girls of high
families had adequate opportunities for acquiring proficiency in higher learning.
In Vatsyayanas Kamasutra, instances of princesses are mentioned whose
intellect was sharpened by knowledge of the Sastras.
The literary evidence of the Gupta age proves that girls of high families as also
those living in hermitages read works on ancient history and legend. Girls living
in royal courts were trained in singing and dancing too. Vatsyanana draws a
picture of a good wife which may be taken as a reflection of the real life during
that period. Sati was extolled by some but strongly disapproved by others.
The only direction in which the position of women improved was in the sphere
of proprietary rights. As society began to discourage widow remarriages, there
began to arise a class of childless widows who needed money to maintain
themselves. Due to a lowering of the age of marriage, girls were not educated as
before. This reduced the position and status of women. Brides being too young
had no say in choosing their partners.
Love marriages were a thing of the past. During this period, marriage became
an irrevocable union, but it was one sided in favour of the husband. Since
women were not as educated as before, they did not know what their rights
were. Among the most striking changes may be the increased recognition in
Katyayana of the women’s right to property and a remarkable rule in Atri that
allowed women molested by robbers to regain her social status.
Pre-Vedic Period:
The recorded history of India began with the arrival of Aryans in the 15th
Century B.C. When Vedic Era began, the patriarchal culture has eliminated the
matriarchal culture. It could be considered the beginning of gender
discrimination in India.
The historical period marked by Rigveda reveals the predominance of religious
concern over the civil life. Vedic culture was widespread until the arrival of the
Muslims in the 8th Century. The period that followed the Muslim invasion is
considered the medieval history in India which also witnessed the predominance
of patriarchal culture.
With regard to patriarchal ordering of the social life, Islamic era did not differ
much from that of the Vedic era. What followed the Muslim era is the British
Raj in the 18th Century. It was also predominantly patriarchal. Throughout the
past centuries, the patriarchy and the patriarchal social organization prevailed –
so too the gender discrimination. A survey of Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads and
Epics reveals the status of women and their struggle for power in ancient India.
The status of women during the pre-Vedic period is not clear. It is believed that
pre-historic man who lived in the Paleolithic age was a nomad. Food gathering
was the chief occupation.
Culture and civilization are the attributes of Neolithic man who became a food
producer leaving slowly the style of food gathering. Men began to settle down
on river valleys. Indus valley civilization which was the first known civilization
in India is said to have flourished in the 25th Century B.C.
During this civilization, historical evidence shows that the people worshipped
natural forces and divine references were mostly feminine. Nature was often
called mother. Mother goddess was the first worshipped deity of the people of
Indus Valley civilization.
From these findings, we may conclude that Indus community was basically
matriarchal. Family was headed by mothers. Mother had control over the
children. The custom of monogamous marriages was of later origin and the role
of a man as a father of the children of a woman was not recognized.
There are reasons to believe that in pre-historic India, gender discrimination was
non-existent. Polyandry was common in matriarchal communities of pre-
historic India. The role of father in child birth was not known and women were
believed to be the masters of home commanding the respect of children and the
youth. Many old civilizations of the world were matriarchal for the same reason.
Pre-historic communities were not settled permanently at a site and were
moving around in search of food which consumed most of their waking hours.
Both men and women were engaged in food gathering which was the only
economic activity. Therefore, there are reasons to believe that both men and
women had equal participation in the economic life.
Women in Vedic Literature:
Vedic period witnessed the historical development of human civilization from
nomadic style to settled style. During the early Vedic era, there is evidence to
show that woman was given some respect and opportunities in domestic life.
She was considered the creator, protector, and educator of her children. Women
were given opportunities to offer sacrifices along with their husbands.
A man could not become a spiritual whole unless he was accompanied by his
wife. The gods were thought not to accept the materials offered by a bachelor.
Sati did not exist in this period. Widowed mothers were protected by their sons.
Rigveda the first Vedic script brings to light the culture and civilization of early
invaders to India who were predominantly nomadic.
The society had not yet settled down with farming. They were mainly food
gatherers. Society in the Rig-Vedic period was prominently pastoral and it did
not produce surplus to allow any section to be completely subordinated or
withdrawn from the process of production. Both the men and women were
engaged in food gathering and partook equally the struggle for survival.
Each family was a single economic unit without any specialization or gender
based division of labour. Both men and women could participate equally in all
the political, economic and religious affairs, which were very simple in terms of
organization and functioning. This perhaps explains the comparatively better
situation of women in the Vedic period in terms of access to education, religious
rights, freedom of movements etc.
Gradually a transition from matriarchal to patriarchal order of the society is
seen. Vedic texts including Brahmanas and Upanishads prescribed the limits of
her social, political and religious freedoms. Women were supposed to live the
life as prescribed by these religious codes. Upanishads gave the foundation for
the earliest Hindu culture and tradition that governed the lives of Indian women
till the middle age.
Upanishads had an important role in framing a pretty stereotype of Indian
woman. In Brhadarranyaka Upanishad, Yajnavalkya says that women should be
honoured with ornaments, clothes and food by their husbands, brother-in-law
and maternal relations. For a woman, her husband should be everything.
Through devotion and love for him, she fulfills her duty and develops her
highest personality. The noblest duty of a woman is the arduous task of
motherhood.
Brahmanas and Upanishads were annexures to Vedas and reflect the life of later
Vedic age. Brahmanas reflect a transitional development in the status of woman
limiting her role in the social life except in the performance of religious
sacrifices. Her social and political freedom was curtailed.
The lives of women began to be confined to the four walls of their household.
We find passages in Aitereya Brahmana and Maitrayani Samhita which show
that women were forbidden to go to the assemblies. Sati was known during
Vedic period. Sati became popular during the later Vedic period where the
widows either chose for themselves or were forced to jump into the pyre of their
husbands so that they may not be spoiled afterward by others.
Gradually it became an acceptable custom to safeguard the purity of the tribe.
The birth of daughter, which was not a source of anxiety during the Vedic
period, became a source of disaster for the father during the post-Vedic phase.
Thus it was said that the birth of a son is bliss incarnate, while that of a daughter
is root of family’s misery.
Sutras are contemporary to the Upanishads. The Sutra literature developed
during the period from 500 to 200 B.C. It has contributed very much in the
formation of the traditional image of Indian woman. Dharma Sutra, an
extension of the Grihya Sutras, states that marriage was solemnized before agni
which is represented as the ‘supreme reality’.
‘Woman’s existence merged with that of a man through the performance of the
couple to carry this supreme witness along with them and cherish it in their
home with ardent devotion all through their lives; and at death the body was to
be consumed by this sacred fire’.
We cannot ignore the contrasting image of womanhood presented in the same
Vedic texts of ancient India. The double standard regarding the status of women
is made clear when we read other texts in Vedic literature. Woman, according to
Manu, should be protected and honoured at all stages of her life.
Manu starts with the fundamental principle that women must be kept all day and
night in control by the males of their families. Her father protects her in
childhood, her husband protects her in youth, and her sons protect her in old
age; a woman is never fit for living independently.
He says that the creator implanted in them carnal passions, love for ornament,
impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice and bad conduct. Manu gives the
circumstances under which a woman is likely to go astray. Drinking, associating
with immoral people, separation from her husband, roaming around, sleeping
late and dwelling with other men is the six causes of her ruin.
Manu further states that a vicious husband must be worshipped, but a bad wife
may at any time be superseded by another wife. Even though the husband is of
bad character seeking pleasure elsewhere he must be constantly worshipped as
god by a faithful wife.
A barren wife may be superseded in the eighth year; she, whose all children die
in the tenth, she who bears only daughters in the eleventh, but she who is
quarrelsome, without delay. ‘A wife, who, being superseded, in the anger
departs from her husband’s house, must either be instantly confined or cast off
in the presence of the family’.
Women during Later Vedic Age:
Ramayana and Mahabharata are the great epics of India. The lifestyle presented
in these epics reflects the contemporary socioeconomic reality. Mahabharata,
which is written presumably later, presents a story prior to that of Ramayana.
The social life presented by Ramayana and Mahabharata may be the first
written record of Hindu way of living.
The popular from of marriage as seen in the epics is Swayamvara. Swayamvara
is the institution of marriage especially among the higher castes. In this ancient
form of marriage, women were said to have exercised the freedom and
autonomy to select their life partner. Sita of Ramayana and Draupati of
Mahabharat married by way of Swayamvara.
Swayamvara does not give the freedom of choice to the bride in the modern
sense, because often her freedom to choose her husband is limited. In the
institution of ‘Swayamvara’ she is compelled to marry the winner of a
competition, conducted to prove the martial excellence of her prospective
bridegrooms.
Gandhari is the noblest of the women characters in the Mahabharata. She set an
example of true sahadharmini who dared to bandage her own eyes for the sake
of her blind husband Dhrutarashtra. Debate continues whether Gandhari was
doing the right thing by willfully impairing her eyesight.
Would she have been a better companion and a more useful guide to her totally
blind husband if she was not blind? However, she shows boldness to
remonstrate with him when she knew her husband was following the wrong
path. Has she impaired her sight in order to avoid seeing the injustice done by
her husband or to empathize with him?
Another character, Kunti is the embodiment of patience, perseverance and self-
sacrifice. Draupati, the central figure of the great epic, was a woman who
possessed courage, sense of dignity and justice.
‘The loftiness of her soul, her unfading courage in the face of disaster, her spirit
of self-sacrifice, and above all, her moral earnestness and spiritual integrity has
shed luster on the ideals of womanhood in ancient India.’ The epics have
presented many other noble woman characters.
There was gradual degeneration in the status of women in India after the Vedic
age. Caste system and ritualism began to take deep root in the lives of common
man. Child marriage and Sati became popular. Buddhism and Jainism emerged
as alternative religious orders devoid of caste-based social order.
These new religions professed equality between men and women but had little
impact on rural masses. Among the intellectuals they appeared as strong
countercurrents for caste ridden Hindu society. Till the arrival of the Muslims,
the Hindu philosophy was the guiding force for the masses in India.
Patriarchal social order backed with religious sanctions nurtured gender
discrimination in economic, political and social life of traditional communities
in India. Education of women, which was an accepted norm during the Vedic
period, slowly began to be neglected and later on girls were totally denied any
access to education.
Upanayana or sacred thread ceremony, which was performed to initiate a person
into the Vedic studies, was prohibited for women and Shudras by the Manu
codes thus closing the doors for any formal education to women. Thus there
prevailed no system of education for them, as they had no Upanayan Sanskar.
Child marriage was accepted as a means to protect ritual purity of the caste
ridden communities. In a matrilineal society where considerable concern for
ritual purity is emphasized, women play a vital role in the protection of the
purity of the group.
If men of ritually low status were to get sexual access to women of higher
status, not only the purity of the women but also that of the entire group would
be endangered. Since the main threat to purity of the group came from female
sexuality, it becomes vital to guard it. Most groups solved this problem by the
custom of pre-puberty marriages.
By circa 8th century, the marriageable age for girls was lowered to 9 or 10
years, which not only gave a final blow to any effort at educating women but
also encouraged the sinister practice of pre-puberty marriages. The situation of
widows was very pathetic in the later Vedic era.
Even if certain ancient texts have supported the remarriage of widows, Alberuni
has observed that the re-marriage of the widows was prohibited by custom.
Today with the introduction of a new comprehensive legislation dealing with
the personal laws of the Hindu, Manu Smriti has ceased to be a law. Manu,
however, will be venerated as the first law giver for the Hindus.
Changing Role of Women in Vaishnative Cult:
The Culture and society of Bengal had undergone certain important changes
after the invasion of Turks on Bengal. The Islamic religion and culture had deep
impact on the Bengali culture and society, if a bit perversely in that the
predominantly Bengali society and culture started to witness a breakdown of its
moral and ethical code. As a defensive response the Smarta tradition in Bengal
(the scripture of Hindu code of conduct) under Raghunandan and his
Navyanaya group (the contemporary hegemonic Brahmanic ideology) shackled
the Bengali society with their orthodox rules and regulations.
Shri Chaitanya Deva and his liberal Vaishnava religion challenged both the
oppressive Smarta laws and buttressed the social modes on the other hand.
Social perspective of Bengal was conditioned by the responses from the
Vaishnavite movements. Predominantly literary texts help us to construct the
changing modes of society.
A plethora of historical works from the time of Tapan Raychaudhuri have
already looked into these aspects. However, a picture of women of 16th-17th
century Bengal which can be constructed from many Vaishnavite literatures and
other sources remains a lacuna in this overall historiographic scenario.
Actually after the invasion of Turks in Bengal the period of Smriti Shastras
started. The orthodox Brahman leaders of Bengal created their own Hindu rules
and regulations to protect the Hindu society from the touch of Muslims,
especially to protect Hindu women. On the other hand the tantrism degenerated
into simply antinomian malpractices. All the suppressing rules and rituals over
women perpetrated by the conservative and superstitious Brahmins reached its
zenith.
From various kind of religious texts, articles, and literatures we can find out a
picture of the condition of women in pre-Chaitanya and his contemporary pe-
riod, which reflects on the depressing patriarchal ideology ruling the roost.
Child marriage, polygamy of koulinya-tradition, the Sati system (committing
suicide into husband’s funeral pyre) and more than that, lots of restrictions
within home made a pathetic picture of the women of pre-Chaitanya period.
After the incarnation of Shri Chaitanya Deva (C 1486) the Vaishnava religion
and literature started to flow in a new direction. His liberal Namadharma (in the
name of Lord Krishna) influenced all the societies, religions and cultures.
Though personally he was an ascetic, keeping himself away from the women,
his disciples were ordered to preach the Nama majesty of Lord Krishna and
Radha to the men and women in general.
From ‘Shri Shri Gouranga Champu’, ‘Shri Shri Chaitanya Charitamritam’, ‘Shri
Shri Chaitanya MangaIa’, we can find a picture of polite, devoted, happy and
sometimes truant women. Though it was not a very radical change but it was
much better than the society of pre-Chaitanya period. Within Vaishnava society
the women enjoyed much freedom, peace and happiness than during the Navya-
naya period (pre-Chaitanya period).
But the remarkable change was noted in later half of the 16th century within
Vaishnava society. (It can be attributed to his (Chaitanya’s) follower Sri
Nityananda Mahaprabhu who preached Vaishnavism irrespective of gender,
caste or creed. It is stated that he gave shelter to Budhist Sahajiyas, Saktas and
followers of other occult practices which widened the democratic base of
Vaishnava religion.)
All these changes happened due to various reasons. First of all, after Karrani
dynasty Bengal was under Mughal Empire and though political instability was
within the political powers but there was no such social suppression by the
ruling power that time which means the social stability unlike sultanate reign.
Secondly, the Sufis who came during Sultanate period spread their very simple
and liberal philosophy reticently through the societies which were neglected
either by upper class Hindu Brahmins or economically solvent people.
Thirdly, at that time some Buddhist Sahajiyas, Hindu Tantrics and other
Sahajiya sects who were committed themselves in transgressions, were making
the society nasty. In this perspective Sri Chaitanya Deva and then Sri
Nityananda and his son Birabhadra took revolutionary steps against the above
mentioned sects.
It is found that though Sri Chaitanya Deva himself did not like to come in
physical contact with women, but his liberal Nama majesty changed the
ongoing orthodox religious thought. This line of thinking influenced his
followers, especially Sri Nityananda Mahaprabhu who preached Vaishnavism
irrespective of gender, caste or creed. This tradition went on through his son Sri
Birabhadra. Unlike pre-Chaitanya period Sri Nityananda Mahaprabhu began to
treat women equal in the field of religious rites and rituals since second half of
16th century which helped many women to read and write, like Janhava Devi,
Subhadra Devi, Hemlata Devi, Kanchanlatika Devi and so on. From the latter
half of the sixteenth century they began to take part in scholastic endeavours.
Even the literacy rate of women among the Vaishnavite sects was somewhat
higher than the other societies.
From ‘Shri Chaitanya Bhagvatam’, ‘Chaitanya Mangala’ it is evident that,
though the Sati system was in vogue in the society, none of the Vaishnava
widow women committed Sati which means that they succeeded to some extent
to break the fetters against the women. Even the Namadharma was preached
among the deprived or the social outcastes i.e. the prostitutes.
This trend continued even up to the reformation taken by Shri Virabhadra, son
of Shri Nityananda Mahaprabhu. It is said that he gave shelter to 1200 Neda and
1300 Nedi (possibly Buddhist Sahajiyas who practiced antinomian rituals)
against the opposition of the orthodox Brahmin leaders and six Vrindavana
Goswamis, who followed a different type of Vaishnava practices more orthodox
in nature. With the inclusion of these sects the position of the women changed
perceptibly.
From the latter half of 16th century and 1st half of 17th century inter-caste
marriage started. Post puberty marriages and of course opinion of the girls
regarding the groom was sought. From 1st half of 17th century many women
Gurus appeared in the Vaishnava society such as Janhava Devi, Kanchanlatika
Devi, Ganga Devi, Madhabi lata Devi and so on.