The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c15.s1.68

c15.s1.68

Jackets, blouses and frocks seem to have come into vogue in the plains of northern India, when they were included in the dominions of the Scythians, the Kushāṇas and other Central Asiatic invaders. As these conquerors hailed from a very cold region, they were accustomed to wear shirts, trousers and overcoats. This is quite clear from the evidence of their coinage. Kushāṇa kings like Kanishka and Huvishka are invariably seen wearing a trouser and an overcoat on their coins³. In the Mathura and Gandhāra sculptures, which belong to the period of Kushāṇa supremacy (c. 50 A. D. to c. 300 A. D.), women begin to appear in blouses and frocks. In one basrelief at Mathura even *Sapta Mātṛikās* are seen wearing frocks¹. In Gandhāra sculptures, which mostly hail from the N. W. F. Province, blouses and jackets are fairly common. In one place we find Hāriti wearing a blouse of long sleeves². A Nāgiṇī in human form is also seen doing the same (See Pl. V, A). In another sculpture, Māyādevī is shown wearing a frock over her *sari*³. On one of the coins of the Scythian ruler Azilises even goddes Lakshmī standing on a lotus is represented as wearing a blouse and a trouser⁴ !