The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c17.s2.2

c17.s2.2

The position of women deteriorated considerably in this period, and its causes may be conveniently discussed here. Some centuries before the beginning of this period, the Aryan rule had become well established over the greater part of India. The Aryan conquest of the indigenous population and its loose incorporation in the social structure of the victors as members of the fourth Śūdra class, had given rise to a huge population of a semi-servile status. We saw that the introduction of slavery revolutionised the position of women in the classical period of Greek history; they became parasites and lost the esteem of society. The same happened in India, when a definite semi-servile status came to be assigned to the Śūdra class within Hindu society, service of the Aryan conquerors being its only and definite duty. Women, however, did not suffer merely because they ceased to be productive members of society. A greater calamity awaited them from the presence of Śūdra women. In the earlier period of their expansion, the Aryans followed the traditions of ruthless warfare. Indra, we are told, trampled upon the Dasyus in their cave retreats. When, however, the Aryans reached the upper Gangetic plain, they found that the indigenous civilisation there was too deep-rooted to be completely wiped out by them. They had to remain content merely with imposing their sovereignty, very often merely a nominal one, over the original inhabitants, variously described as Dāsas, Śūdras, or Nāgas. When the two races proceeded to live together peacefully, inter-marriages became inevitable. In the age of the Ṛigveda, we do not come across any cases of Arya-Śūdra marriages. The Brāhamaṇas and the epics, however, supply ample evidence to show that the Aryan chiefs were freely marrying non-Aryan princesses in the later period. Arjuna married Uḍupī, a Nāga princess-regent. Bhīma married Hiḍimbā, a sister of a Rākshasa chief. The sage Kavasha, who plays an important part in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*, was the son of a slave girl. These examples are only typical and would show that in the concluding half of the later Samhitā period (*c.* 1000 B. C. to *c.* 500 B. C.), the marriages of Aryan men with non-Aryan women were becoming common. It is important to note that the early Dharmaśāstra writers have no objection to an Aryan marrying a Śūdra woman, provided he had another Aryan wife; it is only later writers who proceed to interdict such a procedure with a great vehemence¹.