The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c5: Contents

The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c5

Language: English

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| Preface | i |
| Abbreviations and Transliteration | v |

Importance of the subject, 1-3; girls relatively unwelcome, 3-7; protest against this tendency, 7-8; was there female infanticide? 8-10; education in Vedic and Upanishadic periods, 11-6; women authors, teachers, philosophers and doctors, 12-6; was there co-education? 16-7; games and recreations, 17-8; setback to education at *c.* 300 b. c. and its causes, 18-9; education during *c.* 100-1200 a. d., 19-22; fine and useful arts, 23-4, 26; military training, 24-5; education in Muslim period, 27-9; progress in the last 75 years, 29-30; some suggestions about the present-day problems of female education, 30-3.

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Chapter II

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| Marriage and Divorce | Pp. 34-105 |

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Traces of early promiscuity, 34-36; Vedic and Avestic view of marriage, 36-8; marriage becomes obligatory for girls, 38-41; history and evolution of the eight forms of marriage; why Paiśācha and Rākshasa forms were recognised; Āsura marriage and the custom of bride-price; differences between the four approved forms; 42-55; central idea in Brāhma marriage, 55-7; bride's age in marriage about 16 before 300 b. c., 58-62; about 14 upto 100 b. c., 63-6; 12 upto 500 a. d., 67-8; further lowering of the age after 1,000 a. d. and its causes, 70-1; age in the medieval times, 72-3; recent tendency to raise it and its causes: the Sarada Act, 73-5; early marriages in medieval Europe, 76-7; bride's part in settling the marriage in different ages, 76-8; description of courtship, 79-82; dowry system, 82-4; *gotra*, caste and horoscope in marriage at different periods, 87-92; significance of the marriage ritual, 93-7; conditions of divorce, 98-9, recorded cases of divorce, 100-1; why and when it was discontinued, 101-2; should it be now legalised? 103-5.

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CHAPTER III

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M{\sc{arried}} L{\sc{ife}} Pp. 106-134

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Treatment of the bride, 106-9; wife's status in relation to the husband, 109-12; marital ideal placed before the couple, 113-8; apotheosis of the mother, 118-20; husbands slacker in following the ideal, 121-2; polygamy, supersession and consequent misery, 122-9; free permission to remarry to man alone, 130-2; polyandry, 132-4.

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CHAPTER IV

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T{\sc{he}} P{\sc{osition of the}} W{\sc{idow}}, P{\sc{art}} I Pp. 135-167

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Satī custom elsewhere, 135-7; Satī custom not in vogue upto *c.* 300 {\sc{b. c.}}, 137-42; adopted by a few Kshatriya families in the Punjab, 142-3; custom struggling into existence during 100-500 {\sc{a. d.}}, 143-4; opposition to the custom, 145-6, why ineffective, 147; Smṛitis recommend the custom at *c.* 800 {\sc{a. d.}}, 148; its growing popularity, 149-50; Brahamanas still opposed to it, 150-2; the custom among the Rajputs, Marathas and Sikhs, 153-5; Satī ritual, 157-8; was force exercised? 158-62; only about 1 per cent. widows became Satīs, 162-5; suppression of the custom, 165-7.

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CHAPTER V

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T{\sc{he}} P{\sc{osition of the}} W{\sc{idow}}, P{\sc{art}} II Pp. 168-195

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Levirate, a common custom in early times, 168-9; its prevalence in India, and its causes, 169-72; how the custom was stamped out, 172-6; widow-remarriages prevalent in early times, 176-9; later they become unpopular and are prohibited, why, 179-80; child widows permitted to marry upto 1,000 {\sc{a. d.}}, 181-3; some effects of the prohibition of remarriage, 183-5; Act of 1856 and the developments during the last 75 years, 186-8; tonsure of widows nonexistent before 800 {\sc{a. d.}}, 188-9; how it became common, 190-1; a general resume of the condition of the widow, 191-5.

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CHAPTER VI

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W{\sc{omen and public}} L{\sc{ife}} Pp. 196-228

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Purda system non-existent before the Christian era, 196-200; introduced in a very few royal families only at *c.* 200 {\sc{a. d.}}, 200-1;

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the custom unknown to general population before the Muslim advent: sculptural and literary evidence, 201-6; it becomes common in the Muslim period, 207-9; seclusion of women in the West, 209-11; careers for women, 211-3; dancing girls and temples, 213-7; women as regnant queens, 218-20; as queen regents, 220-223; as queens and administrative officers, 223-4; the role of ordinary women in the administration, 224-5; developments during the last 75 years, 225-228.

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CHAPTER VII

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Women and Religion Pp. 229-251

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Eligibility for participation in sacrifices independently and jointly with the husband upto *c.* 300 B. C., 229-36; eligibility for Vedic studies, pp. 236-8; When and why Upanayana and Vedic studies were prohibited, 238-40; consequences of this step, 241-44; women’s place in Pauranic religion, 244-6; women in Buddhism and Jainism, 246-51.

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CHAPTER VIII

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Proprietary Rights during Coverture Pp. 252-278

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Women as chattel in early times in India and elsewhere, 252-4; wife as joint owner with husband, 255-6; limitations on her joint ownership, 257-8; Limited scope of Strīdhana in early times, 259-60; enlargement of its scope, 260-3; Revolutionary proposals of the Mitāksharā, 264-5; women’s power over Strīdhana in Mitāksharā and Dāyabhāga, 266-9; is the Privy Council interpretation of the Mitāksharā correct? 270-1; heirs to Strīdhana, 272-5; a resume and some suggestions for future developments, 275-8.

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CHAPTER IX

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Proprietary Rights: Inheritance and Partition Pp. 279-333

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General prejudice against female heirs, 279-80; brotherless daughter first succeeds in becoming an heir: history of her right, 280-5; a daughter with brothers an heir in Vedic age if unmarried, 285-7; only one Smṛiti recognises her heirship, 288-90; others provide her with a marriage portion only, 290-2; suggestions for some changes in the present law, 293-9; the widow not an heir in early times : why, 99-101; she was recognised as an heir in *c.* 200 A. D. by some jurists, 302-3; opposition of other jurists to her claim, 303-4; battle among jurists, 304-8; governments oppose widow's right, 309-310; her right recognised all over the country after *c.* 1,100 A. D., 309-10; further important concessions in the Dāyabhāga school, 310-3; widow gets a limited estate, 313-6; were religious gifts an exception? divergent epigraphic evidence on the point, 316-9; Mitramiśra half-inclined to make the widow a full owner, 319-20; modern law and the changes suggested in it, 321-3; mother, grand-mother and Sapiṇḍa widows as heirs, 323-7; women's rights at partition, 327-330; a general resume; 330-3.

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CHAPTER X

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DRESS AND ORNAMENTS Pp. 334-365

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Dress in the Vedic and epic periods, 334-6; evidence of the classical literature, 336-8; why busts of women in sculptures and paintings are uncovered in some places, 338-47; modes of wearing *sari*, *sakachchha* fashion in N. W. F. P. and Central India and *vikachchha* fashion in the Gangetic plain and Maharashtra, 347-49; stitched clothes known in pre-Muslim period, 350-2; influence of the Scythian dress, 353-5; widow's dress, 355-6; *lahaṅgā* and *odhṇī*, 356-7; recent changes, 357-8; ornaments, their number and variety, 358-60; numerous artistic fashions of coiffure, 360-1; ointments and lipsticks, 361-2; nose-ring unknown in Hindu period, 362-4; ornaments as a corrective to the law of inheritance, 364-5.

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CHAPTER XI

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GENERAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS WOMEN Pp. 366-403

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Attitude towards women taken prisoners : liberal view of Smṛitis allowing their readmission, 366-71; subsequent change in the attitude and its disastrous consequences, 371-4; attitude towards unfaithful wives, 375-7; treatment of women captives, 377-9; women not to be killed, 380-1; general good treatment recommended, 382-3; passages deprecating women : their analysis, 383-6; a spirited reply to them, 387-8; renunciation school generally hostile to women in India and in the West, 389-92; patronising attitude towards women: its causes, 392-3; theory of perpetual tutelage of women: how far true, 393-8; the theory common in the West also, 398-401; a general resume, 401-13.

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CHAPTER XII

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RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT Pp. 404-448

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Method explained, 404-6; a synthetic picture of the position of women in the Vedic age, 406-10; the general position during 1,500-500 B. C., 410-2; why the position as a whole was relatively satisfactory, 412-5; why the position deteriorated subsequently, 416-21; general position of women during the period 500 B. C. to 500 A. D., 421-8; why proprietary rights were liberally extended, 426-9; general position during the period 500 A. D. to 1,800 A. D., 428-35; some extenuating circumstances, 435-9; present necessities: reforms in education, marriage and property laws, 439-46; suggested changes in consonance with the spirit of our culture, 446-8.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Pp. 449-454 SUBJECT INDEX Pp. 455-462 INDEX TO PROPER NAMES OF WOMEN Pp. 462-463 INDEX TO AUTHORITES QUOTED Pp. 464-466 ADDENDA AND ERRATA Pp. 467-468