The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c17.s3.3

c17.s3.3

Proprietary rights apart, in all other spheres the position of women continued to deteriorate in this period. Most of the causes responsible for women's degradation during the last period continued to operate in this age also. The *upanayana* of women went completely out of vogue. From the theological point of view the woman therefore came naturally to be regarded as of the same status as the Śūdra. This inflicted an incalculable harm on their general status and prestige. The marriageable age of girls was lowered down still further. Towards the end of the former period, it was recommended that girls should be married just before the time of their puberty. It would appear that this did not exclude the possibility of a few negligent parents failing to marry their daughters before that time. To prevent this possibility it now came to be declared that a girl becomes mature (*ṛituprāptā*) not when menses appear at the age of 13 or 14, but at the age of 10 or 11, when some preliminary symptoms of impending puberty manifest themselves. The proper age for marriage was therefore 10. The age of 8, however, was regarded as the ideal one ; marriage in the case of girls corresponded to *upanayana* in the case of boys, and the proper age for the latter was 8. In Kshatriya families, however, girls continued to be married at about the age of 14 or 15. Widow marriages had become prohibited at this period. The Satī custom had become very common in the fighting classes. The Kshatriya father therefore did not think of marrying his daughter at a tender age, when there was always the possibility of his son-in-law dying before his beloved daughter had come of age in the interminable internecine warfare, that had become common at this time. Many Kshatriya ladies were often called upon to assume the reins of government as regents; so training in administrative duties and military excercises had to be given to them. This also necessitated the postponement of their marriage to a somewhat advanced age.