The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c8.19

c8.19

When the era of child and illiterate brides came, the situation naturally changed. The marriage came to be regarded as the bride's *upanayana*, the husband as her preceptor, and the stay at his place as the counterpart of the stay at the teacher's house (*gurukula*). So, like the teacher, the husband also was endowed by later writers² with a limited power of physical correction over the wife, if she were guilty of a mistake or an offence. It may be pointed out that this power was conceded to the husband in the west also almost to an unlimited extent down to recent times. The calmness with which Chaucer describes the punishments inflicted on rebellious wives by their stern husbands is startling. We see a husband going to a doctor, making arrangements for the treatment of broken bones, and then beating his wife with a pestle and breaking her legs for the offence of disobeying him by visiting a forbidden place¹. In medieval Russia, the bride's father supplied his son-in-law with a new whip as a symbol of his authority, and it was hung over the bridal bed. There was a proverb current in Germany during the 15th century to the effect, that a woman and an ass existed only to be beaten (Hall, *Women in Soviet Russia*, p. 75). In England it was as late as in 1891 A. D., that the husband's right to inflict corporal punishment on his wife was first denied by the law courts. A sessions judge in Madras presidency had recognised this right in 1936, but his view was overruled by the High Court. The above facts will show that we need not feel very much surprised if Hindu Smṛitis, written 2000 years ago, have recognised the husband's right to inflict a mild punishment on his wife, warning him at the same time that he would be liable in a court of law if he overstepped the proper limits in the matter.