The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c13.64

c13.64

The reason why women were not granted full rights over the landed property included in their Strīdhana are not difficult to understand. In the vast majority of cases, it used to be a gift from the husband, and so it originally belonged to the property of the joint family. It was not in the interest of the latter to allow a coparcener to fritter away its resources by allowing him to make an unconditional gift to his wife from the family property. The gifts were regarded as valid only during the life of the donees. The latter were not allowed to alienate them to any of their cognatic relations. Similar considerations operated when the property in question was received by the woman from her father. The latter's agnatic relations were not prepared to tolerate his conduct, if he proceeded to permanently alienate a portion of the immoveable property of the family. Patriarchal joint families in ancient times were too much attached to their ancestral possessions to allow their transfer to a cognatic relation.