Words such as women’s rights, women empowerment etc gets thrown around casually during discussions and debates these days and ‘patriarchy’ is allegedly the root cause of all evils against women. There is conflict and confusion only because we have, as with most other things, directly imported western concept of feminism and applied it to our society which is unique in more ways than one. No alien concept can be applied directly to a culture that is as ancient as ours.
What if I were to tell you women in ancient and medieval India were much more empowered than we would like to believe and our textbooks teach us? Difficult to believe, isn’t it? But by the end of this write up I hope the picture is much more clearer. At the outset, however, we must keep in mind that each society and periods of time people live in has its own norms. So what seems out of place today must have been perfectly suited for the kind of society that existed back then. Let us take a look at two areas which are considered male dominated: the battlefield and Vedic education.
Kshatranis:
Throughout Indian history there are instances of Ranis and Maharanis ruling the land and even going into the battlefield. Rani Laxmibai and her heroic exploits on the battlefield against the British are all too well-known. But she was by no means the only Kshatrani and certainly neither he first nor the last.
Here are the heroics of a few other queens whom we can look at with much pride.
Rani Durgavati (1524-1564): She was born in the Chandel dynasty and married into the Gond dynasty, thereby bringing together both these dynasties. Such political marriages were the norm back then. She took over the reins of the kingdom when her husband Dalpat Shah died in the year 1550 and her son Vir Narayan was too young to look after the kingdom. Akbar’s General Khwaja Abdul Majid Asaf Khan led the Mughal forces against the prosperous kingdom of Rani Durgavati. She repelled the Mughal forces in the first battle despite being in a disadvantageous position. However, Mughal enforcements were brought and Khan attacked her army once again. She put up a valorous fight but got wounded badly. She decided to end her life on the battlefield than being captured and tortured by the Mughals.
Kittur Chennamma (1778-1829): After the death of her husband and son in the year 1824, Rani Chennamma was faced with the uphill task of saving her kingdom from the clutches of the British who used the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ to capture kingdoms that had no natural heirs. Rani had adopted Shivalingappa in 1824 making him the successor to her husband. When her request was not acceded to, much like Rani Laxmibai, she refused to give in and decided to fight the British might. The first round of war took place in October 1824 in which Rani Chennamma emerged victorious. She hoped her victory would bring an end to the war. She was clearly mistaken because the British regrouped and attacked again. Chennamma was captured despite her valiant struggle and imprisoned Bailhongal Fort. It was here that she died in February 1829. Her valour, victory and legacy are celebrated during the annual Kittur Utsava held during the month of October.
We have merely touched the tip of the iceberg. There are many such valorous Kshatranis whose stories need to be brought to the attention of India’s present and future generations. We may argue that these queens were possibly the exceptions rather than the norms. Maurya dynasty had female bodyguards and spies who obviously would not belong to the so called upper castes or influential sections of the society. Also, caste was fluid and not rigid during those eras (that is a topic for another day though). In general, women were accorded a respectable place in society and this can be seen from the examples of Rishikas; women who received Vedic education, performed Vedic rites and rituals including Agnihotra and conducted Gurukuls for girl students.
Lopamudra: wife of Rishi Agastya, she composed the Panchadasi Vedanta Mantra belonging to the Shakta tradition (worship of Devi Shakti). She is also the author of one of the twelve versions of Sri Vidya Mantra.
Gargi: Many hymns of the Rigveda are attributed to her. She participated in the philosophical debate organised by Raja Janak of Videha where she challenged Rishi Yajnavalkya. Her name also finds mention in Asvalayana’s Grihya Sutras.
Maitreyi: was an exponent of Advaita philosophy who lived in the later Vedic period and finds mention in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and many Puranas.
As we can see Bharat has a rich tradition of respecting women and according them an exalted status in keeping with the Manusmriti tradition of “यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवताः । यत्रैतास्तु न पूज्यन्ते सर्वास्तत्राफलाः क्रियाः ।” (Where women are respected there the Devas dwell and where there aren’t respected Devatas are displeased with such a household or society and hence all work becomes wasteful as it does not receive the Grace of Devis and Devatas).
We, therefore, do not need imported concepts of feminism from the West (where the plight of women was vastly different). What we actually need to do is ‘go back to our roots’ and implement what our ancestors taught us; both in letter and spirit.
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