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The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c11.s1: Purda System

The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c11.s1

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English

Purda System

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¹ The Anglo-Indian spelling 'Purdah' is not followed in this work.

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Considerable discussion has been going on as to whether the Purda system was prevalent in ancient India or not. There is a divergence of opinion on the point. Some hold that it was quite unknown in the pre-Muslim days. Others maintain that Hindu ladies used to wear veils even before the advent of the Mahomadens. The available evidence on the point is of a dubious nature, and can be manipulated to support either view. It therefore requires a very careful scrutiny.

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There is no doubt whatsoever that the Purda was quite unknown down to about the beginning of the Christian era. In Indo-Iranian times women could move quite freely in society, and manage the family farms if necessary¹. The same was the case in the Vedic age. We have shown already how girls were often educated along with boys (*ante*, p. 16). We have also shown how love marriages would take place not infrequently, and how youths could approach their sweethearts to win their love, and how both would often go together to see shows and sports (*ante*, pp. 79-80). All this would not have been possible if the Purda system had been observed in society by maidens.

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¹ Dowson, *The Ethical Religion of Zoraster*, p. 153

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Nor did the things change after the marriage. The Vedic marriage hymn requires the bride to be shown to all the assembled guests at the end of the marriage ritual². The hope was further expressed that the bride should be able to speak with composure in public assemblies down to her old age³. The presence of ladies in social and public gatherings was a normal feature in the Vedic times. It was quite welcome to society⁴. Whenever anything charming or graceful is to be described, Vedic poets usually think of the gaily attired lady, going out for a function, as the standard object of comparison (*R. V.*, IV, 58, 7; X, 168, 2; etc.). From the *Nirukta*, (*c.* 500 B.C.), we learn that ladies used to go out to courts of law to establish their claims of inheritance (III, 5). There is no reference to any Purda arrangement being made for their attendance. Nor does *Ṛigveda* I, 167, 3 contain any reference to the Purda system¹. The laddle, now being dipped into the ghee pot and then being taken out and brought forward to pour its contents into the sacrificial fire, is compared in this verse to a lady, now remaining in the privacy of her house, and then coming out in public to attend a meeting.

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² सुमंगलीरियं वधूरिमां समेत पश्यत । सौभाग्यमस्यै दत्वायाथास्तं वि परेतन ॥ । *R.V.*, X, 85, 33.

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³ वशिनी त्वं विदथमावदासि । *Ibid*, X, 85, 26. अथ जिर्ब्रिविदथमावदासि ॥ *A. V.*, XIV, 1, 21.

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⁴ जुष्टा नरेषु समनेषु वल्गुः । *A. V.*, II 36, 1.

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¹ मिम्यक्ष येषु सुधिता घृताची हिरण्यनिर्णिगुपरा न ऋष्टिः । गुहा चरन्ती मनुषो न योषा सभावती विदथ्येव सं वाक् ॥

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The earliest reference to the Purda system is to be found in the present version of the epics. There we see that some kind of Purda was observed in certain royal families, which felt, probably on account of a notion of prestige, that royal ladies should not come within the gaze of vulgar eyes. At the time when Sītā set out with her husband for the forest through the public thoroughfares of Ayodhyā, a regret is expressed in the Rāmāyaṇa that a lady, who had so far not been seen even by the spirits of the sky, should now become the object of public gaze². A similar observation occurs in the Mahābhārata also at the time of Dhṛitarāshṭra’s departure to forest.³ The Rāmāyaṇa further observes that there is no objection if women come out in public on the occasions of marriages, *svayaṁvaras*, sacrifices and public calamities¹. It would follow from this that they should remain in Purda in normal life.

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² या न शक्या पुरा द्रष्टुं भूतैराकाशगैरपि । तामद्य सीतां पश्यन्ति राजमार्गगता जनाः ॥ II, 33, 8.

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³ या नापश्यच्चन्द्रमा नैव सूर्यो रामाः काश्चित्ताः स तस्मिन्नरेन्द्रे । महावनं गच्छति कौरवेन्द्रे शोकेनार्ता राजमार्ग प्रपेदुः ॥ XV, 16, 13.

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¹ व्यसनेषु च कृच्छ्रेषु नो युधे नो स्वयंवरे । न क्रतौ न विवाहे च दर्शनं दुष्यति स्त्रियः ॥ VI, 116,28.

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It would appear that all the three passages above referred to, are interpolations of a later age, when the Purda system was introduced in a few royal families. For the other data in the epics themselves go against the prevalence of the Purda. Thus when Kauśalyā, Kaikeyī and Sumitrā go out to Chitrakūṭa to induce Rāma to return to Ayodhyā, they move in public without any veil. Sītā herself feels no embarrassment of a Purda lady, when she is going out through the streets of Ayodhyā. In the forests too, which were infested with demons and enemies, she is moving about without any veil. So the poet's observation that she had not been seen even by the spirits of the sky is simply a poetic exaggeration made to heighten the pathos of her banishment to forest life. Draupadī's public appearance in the gambling hall presupposes an entire absence of the Purda. Neither Kuntī nor Gāndhārī is seen to be observing it. In the story of king Poshya, narrated in the Mahābhārata (I, 1-3), we find the student Uttaṅka proceeding to the queen in her harem in order to beg her earrings for presenting them to his teacher's wife. This would not have been possible, if there were Purda in the king's palace. Apart from the verses referred to in the last paragraph, the epics show no acquaintance with the Purda system. They are therefore likely to be later additions, made with the desire to heighten the pathos of the departure of Sītā and Dhṛitarāshṭra to forest.

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It would however appear that soon after the beginning of the Christian era, a section of society began to advocate a greater seclusion for women. This was more particularly the case in royal families, where the notion began to prevail that royal ladies should not come within the public gaze. The earliest evidence of this view is to be found in the dramas of Bhāsa (*c.* 200 A. D.). In his *Pratimā* we find Sītā coming on the stage with a veil, though subsequently Rāma asks her to remove it in order to allow the weeping citizens to have a parting glance of the princess, whom they adored so much. The widowed queens of Daśaratha are also seen in this drama to be moving with a veil, when they go out to see the gallery of royal statues. This prevents even Bharata from recognising them. In the *Svapnavāsavadattā*, Padmāvatī does not observe any Purda during her maidenhood, but after her marriage she does not like that her husband should receive the ambassador from Ujjayinī in her presence. The king, however, overrules her objection, pointing out that the *elite* of the society would feel offended if the Purda was observed by the queen in their presence¹.

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¹ राजा:—**कलत्रदर्शनाहं जनं कलत्रदर्शनात्परिहरतीति बहुदोषमुत्पादयति। तस्मादास्यताम्।** Act VI.

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It would therefore appear that by about 300 A. D. some royal families were beginning to think it desirable that their ladies should be seen only by the select few; when moving in public they should put on a veil. The royal example was being imitated by a few families in higher and fashionable society; in the *Mṛichchha-* *kaṭika* we find the courtesan Vasantsenā being offered a veil, when she was raised to the status of a respectable lady at the end of the drama.

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This view was, however, shared only by a small section of society, perhaps confined to one part of India. It appeared as altogether irrational to women in general, who began to oppose it with all their might. From the *Lalitavistāra* we learn that when Gopā, the bride-elect of the Buddha was betrothed to him, she was advised to wear a veil. She refused to follow the course, observing that the pure in thought require no such artificial protection¹.

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¹ गोपा शाक्यकन्या न कंचन दृष्ट्वा वदनं छादयति स्म ।

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This rational opposition, which the Purda system was receiving from spirited ladies, resulted in the system not becoming popular for several centuries. It may have been prevailing in a few royal families, but their number was very small. It was probably confined to a small corner of northern India. Sculptures and paintings of the first millennium of the Christian era do not at all disclose any veils over ladies' faces. The sculptures at Sanchi in Central India, for instance, show that the women of the 2nd century B.C. could see a procession from the balconies of their houses without covering their faces with veils (Plate I). The same was the case in the Deccan during the 5th and 6th centuries A. D., as may be gathered from several paintings at Ajanta². This is clearly incompatible with

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² Yazdani, *Ajanta*, Part II, Pl. XXIV.

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Her argument was:—
> ये कायसंवृता गुप्तेन्द्रियाः सुनिवृताश्च
> मनःप्रसन्ना किं तादृशानां वदनं प्रतिछादयित्वा Canto XVI.

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the Purda system. Ajanta supplies further and more significant evidence to show that the Purda was altogether unknown in the Deccan at this time. We find queen Māyādevī seated in the open court without any veil, when astrologers are being consulted about the implications of her dream¹. The wise minister Vidhura Paṇḍita delivers his sermons to royal ladies, none of whom cares to veil her face in his presence². Both at Sanchi and Ajanta we come across mixed throngs of men and women moving together in streets³, and participating in worship at public temples (Plate II); women are, however, not to be seen wearing any veils. To show a veil round the face may be rather difficult for a sculptor, but not at all for a painter. If therefore we see even married women moving about in public without any Purda in Ajanta paintings, the conclusion is irresistible that it was hardly much in vogue even in the higher and fashionable sections of society.

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¹ *Ibid*, Pl. XX.

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² *Ibid*, Plates XXXIV, XXXIX.

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³ *Ibid*, Plates XXIV, XXV; Cunningham, Pl. XXVII.

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The evidence of sculptures and paintings is corroborated by the data of Dharmaśāstra and classical Sanskrit literatur . Several Smṛitis like those of Manu and Yājñavalkya lay down detailed rules about the life of women, but they nowhere lay down that women were not to go out except when properly veiled.

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In Sanskrit dramas, we do not find any traces of the Purda system. The plots of the *Śākuntala*, and the *Mālatī-Mādhava*, for example, would not have been possible in a Purda-ridden society. In the first Act of the *Śākuntala* the maidens do not cover their faces with veils, even when they see and converse with Dushyanta¹. In the Mālatī-Mādhava the heroine and her numerous friends go out to the temple without any veil whatsoever; the hero is thus able to perceive the maddening beauty of the heroine and falls in love with her. Similarly in the Kādambarī of Bāṇa, neither Mahāśvetā nor Kādambarī, nor any of their numerous friends and attendants observe any Purda. From the *Meghadūta* (I, 26) we learn that women of Ujjayinī used to go to the Siprā for sport in water at the time of bath. This would not have been possible if the Purda were in vogue there. Yuan Chuang has given an intimate picture of the Hindu society of the 7th century A. D., but he nowhere refers to the Purda system. We learn from him that Rājyaśrī, the widowed sister of Harsha, used to come out without a veil in her brother's court. The *Rājataranginī* gives a detailed account of the life in Kashmir court and palace during the period 700-1150 A. D.; but we can nowhere get any references to the Purda in it. Abu Zaid, an Arabian traveller of the early 10th century, has noted that in most of the courts in India queens appeared in public without any veils (Elliot and Dowson, I, p. 11). It is therefore clear that the Purda was confined to a very small section of the ruling classes down to the 10th century A. D.

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¹ In the V Act, the heroine no doubt appears with a veil, but that is because she had donned it as a protection against the dust and weather during her journey. It was not doffed by her for some time owing to her sense of bashfulness and embarrassment at her first public appearance before her husband. Her veil in the V Act therefore does not prove the existence of the Purda system.

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Though in Hindu society as a whole there was nothing like the modern Purda system in existence, there were certain restrictions on the movements of women. They could go out to visit their friends and relations, but decorum required that they should not stay at their houses for the night, or when their business was over. They were to observe a certain amount of reserve in the presence of strangers. They could speak with merchants and doctors and transact the necessary business, but they were to be circumspect while dealing with unknown persons¹. They could receive male guests, but they were relieved of this duty, if there were male relatives in the family to discharge it. There were here and there some jealous husbands, who would not allow their wives to go out without their permission to see shows and amusements (*Arthaśāstra*, III, 3), but they were the exception rather than the rule.

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¹ न परपुरुषमभिभाषेत अन्यत्र वणिक्प्रव्रजितवैद्येभ्यः । Śaṅkha in Aparārka on *Yāj.*, I, 83.

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Though there was no Purda system, women who felt themselves to be in a rather helpless condition, would often avoid going out in public. Such was the case of widows and maidens without proper guardians, and of married women, whose husbands had gone out on a journey². Thus in the *Svapnavāsavadattā* of Bhāsa, queen Padmāvatī observes that it was but natural for Tāpasī to avoid strangers, because her husband was out on a journey³. If it was necessary for such women to work for their bread, Kauṭilya lays down that the Superintendent of the Weaving Department should make arrangements to send cotton to their homes for being spun into thread. They were not required to go to his office, unless they chose to do so (II, 23). When they moved out, or had to converse with strangers, they used to put on a veil. When their guardians returned, they used to discard it.

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² क्रीडां शरीरसंस्कारं समाजोत्सवदर्शनम् । हास्यं परगृहे यानं त्यजेत्प्रोषितभर्तृका ॥ *Yāj.*, I. 84.

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³ प्रोषितभर्तृका परपुरुषदर्शनं परिहरत्यार्या । Act VI.

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To conclude, we find that even in pre-Muslim times there was a section in society from *c.* 200 A. D., which advocated the use of the veil for royal ladies for the purpose of increasing their prestige. There is, however, no evidence to prove that even five per cent. of royal families observed this custom during the Hindu period. Women of richer classes led a more sheltered life than what would be welcomed by the educated ladies today. This is shown by the term *antaḥpuram* ‘inner apartment’ used to denote the harem in the palace. Strangers were not expected to enter it. Women themselves would often retire into seclusion, when they found that their natural guardians were not with them. With their return, they would again begin to move out as usual, of course with due regard to decorum and propriety.

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Even in the *Kathāsaritsāgara*, written towards the end of the 11th century A. D., there are hardly any traces of the Purda. In the story of Arthalobha (III, 286) we find a lady participating in mercantile business. Polygamous kings occasionally attempted to introduce some seclusion in their harems, but they were strongly and successfully opposed by their queens. Thus in the story of Ratnaprabhā, we find the heroine protesting to her husband against his view that even his own friends should not enter her apartments. ‘I consider’, says she, ‘that the strict seclusion of women is a folly produced by jealosy. It is of no use whatsoever. Women of good character are guarded only by their own virtue and nothing else¹.

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¹ आर्यपुत्र प्रसंगेन वदामि तव तच्छृणु ।\ रक्षा चान्तःपुरेस्त्रीवृद्ध नैवमेतन्मतं मम ॥\ नीतिमात्रमहं मन्ये स्त्रीणां रक्षा नियन्त्रणम् ॥ 36, 6-7.

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There are absolutely no traces of any Purda observed within the family in the Hindu period. It was the regular duty of a daughter-in-law to pay her respects to elderly relations by bowing at their feet. There is nothing whatsoever in our tradition or literature to suggest that the father-in-law or the elder brother-in-law could not see the face of a daughter-in-law or a younger sister-in-law, as is the case now under the Purda system in northern India.

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The general adoption of the Purda system by the ruling and aristocratic families of Hindu community is subsequent to the advent of the Muslim rule. It was accepted by Hindu society partly in imitation of the manners of the conquerors, and partly as an additional protection for the women folk. In the Muslim ruling families the Purda was so strict that a message had to pass through three intermediaries before it could reach the desired person in the zenana (*J. A. S. B.*, 1935, p. 246). The Hindu chiefs and nobles followed the example of their overlords in their own harems. This happened almost universally in northern India, where the Muslim rule and culture were in ascendancy for a long time. In the Deccan, the Muslim influence was superficial, and so the Purda system got no footing in the Hindu society there. It was, however, introduced in their families by the Maratha rulers with a desire to render themselves as respectable as the Muslim kings whom they had supplanted.

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There were some further causes to facilitate the general adoption of the custom at about 1200 A. D. As a rule Hindu women at this time were illiterate and inexperienced. The times were unsettled, there was a general feeling of insecurity and Hindu life and honour did not count for much in the eyes of the conquerors. The Purda afforded some additional protection to beautiful women while out on journey from the covetous eyes of an unscrupulous soldiery. It was therefore welcomed by Hindu women. They did not protest against it as Ratnaprabhā, a heroine in the *Kathāsaritsāgara*, had done before.

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The Purda system became quite common among rich Hindu families of Bengal and United Provinces in the 15th and the 16th centuries. Both Vidyāpati and Chaitanya refer to it. When the wives of Raja Rudra Pratap Singh of Puri came to see Chaitanya, they travelled in covered litters. In Rajputana the custom became universal in the ruling families. It was regarded as an essential insignia of respectability and high breeding. As a consequence, down to the present century, persons who had risen in wealth and importance were anxious to introduce Purda in their family in order to command respectability. Women of the peasant and working classes could of course not afford to remain in seclusion; they had to move out for their daily work. They used to move the lapel of their *saris* slightly over their faces when a stranger passed by them.

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The above survey of the history of the Purda system would show that it was confined to an infinitesimal section of Hindu society down to the beginning of the 11th century A. D. In most strata of the community, there was no seclusion of women and they could take a fair part in the social life around them. They could move about with a fair degree of freedom in the earlier period. They could visit temples and monasteries to listen to religious discourses. They could go to see shows in the company of their friends and lovers. These visits afforded convenient opportunities to young people, anxious to settle in matrimony. In urban areas women could go out to public parks for sport and recreation. A fifth century inscription describes the parks of the city of Mandsore in Central India as full of young ladies singing gleefully¹. In the Rāmāyaṇa we are told that when peace and order prevail in society, maidens go out in the evening to gardens for play and recreation (II, 67, 17). Ladies in high families could even take part in dramas that were to be shown to a limited audience.

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¹ प्रजलगार्भिश्च : राङ्गनाभिर्भवनानि यत्र समलंकृतानि ॥

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The situation gradually changed with the lowering of the marriage age. Inexperienced and uneducated wives became incapable of taking part in many of the activities mentioned above. Naturally husbands began to claim and excercise a greater control over them, which proved detrimental to their participation in the social and public life and activities. 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. During the Hindu period, however, the theory found acceptance only in a very small number of ruling families. With the advent of the Muslim rule it gained a powerful impetus owing to the culture and example of the conquerors. Women were ill-fitted to fight for their earlier freedom on account of their inexperience and ignorance and submitted to the new order.

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It may be, however, pointed out that seclusion of women was not confined to India alone. In Athens at *c.* 500 B. C. women could not meet their husbands’ guests, or go outside the house without proper guards (*E. R. E.*, Vol. V, p. 735). A bridegroom could not see his bride before marriage in the cultural capital of ancient Greece, owing to the strict conventions under which women lived (*Ibid*, Vol. VIII, p. 445). A character in one of the plays of Menander says, ‘A free woman should be bounded by the street door’. At Sparta women had separate apartments and could not be present at a banquet. In ancient Assyria veil was worn by all married women, harlots and concubines being regarded as ineligible for it. In Persia also seclusion of women had become quite common before the beginning of the Christian era. The Bible lays down’ that women should not speak in public at the Church. If they had any difficulties, they were to ask their husbands at home, for ‘it is a shame for women to speak in the Church’ (I Corinthians, 14, 34-5). Early Church Fathers held similar views. Tertullian says, ‘For a virgin of virtuous habits every public appearance with an unveiled face was equivalent to suffering a rape’¹. Clement of Alexandria says, ‘Let the woman be entirely covered, unless she happens to be at home. She will not invite another to fall into a sin by uncovering her face’.² In Russia soon after the introduction of Christianity the Terem system was introduced, which shut out women from friends and foes alike. In the 16th century wives and daughters of noblemen could not be seen even by their own brothers and other near relations (Halle, *Women in Soviet Russia*, p. 11).

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¹ Quoted by M. Lyer in *Family*, p. 229.

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² Quoted by Davies in *A short History*, p. 223.

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To come to modern times, we find that in the west also women lived under strict conventions till quite recent times. Down to 1850 A. D. in England a woman could not take a walk, much less a railway journey, alone; nor could she ask a fellow worker to visit her, unless that fellow worker happened to be not only a girl, but also a member of a familiar family. It was almost scandalous for a woman to address a public meeting. When two ladies spoke at a meeting convened for the purpose of supporting the women's cause in 1869, a member of Parliament said, ‘Two ladies, wives of members of this Parliament, had recently disgraced themselves by speaking in public.’ When the House of Commons was built in 1844, it was with great difficulty that a Ladies' Gallery was sanctioned. It was, however, decided to put a grille before it in order to screen the occupants from the public gaze. This grille was removed only in 1918¹.

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¹ Ray Srachy, *The Cause*, pp. 79, 118, 362.

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The above survey of the Purda system shows that the seclusion of women was quite common in most of the eastern and western civilisations down to quite recent times. Owing to the continuance of the medieval atmosphere and the advent and dominence of the Muslim civilisation, India has continued to cling to the custom down to modern times. In recent years, however, the Purda custom has begun to beat a precipitate retreat. Social reformers and medical practitioners have been long pointing out its evil consequences. The education, which women have now begun to receive in larger and larger numbers, is proving fatal to the custom. Strange though it may appear at first sight, the Non-cooperation and Civil Disobedience movements have helped a good deal in the annihilation of the Purda. They inspired many Purda ladies to come out in the public to take part in the political movement, and their example had a magnetic influence. It may be confidently prophesied that in a generation the Purda custom would be completely banished from Hindu society.

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