The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c6.67

c6.67

Girls in ruling families used to receive some military and administrative training also. If such were not the case dowager queens like Nayanikā of the Sātavāhana dynasty (2nd century B. C.), Prabhāvatī Guptā of the Vākāṭaka family (4th century A. D.), Vijayabhaṭṭārikā of the Chālukya house (7th century A. D.) and Sugandhā and Diddā of Kashmir (10th century A. D.) could not have successfully administered extensive kingdoms during the minority of their sons. It will be shown in chapter VI that in the Chālukya administration (*c.* 980-1160 A. D.), queen governors and officers were quite common. The due discharge of these administrative duties presupposed a good training on proper lines. In ordinary Kshatriya families ladies used to receive a fairly good amount of military training. Lady guards of kings, referred to in dramas, belonged to this class ; they were usually experts in the use of the bow and the sword. South Indian inscriptions of the medieval period disclose the existence of many Kshatriya ladies defending their hearths and homes in times of danger. Ladies from Karnatak seem to have led the way in this matter. A heroine from Mysore is known to have died in a village affray at Siddhanhalli in 1041 A. D. In 1264 A. D. another Karnatak heroine was honoured by the government of the day with the reward of a nose jewel in recognition of her bravery in overpowering a dacoit. A Nilgund inscription records a military expedition led by a feudatory queen. In 1446 a Mysore heroine died in Shikoga Taluka fighting to avenge the murder of her father¹.