The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c8.96

c8.96

¹ Some passages in Buddhist literature show that even in the 3rd century B. C. the slave type of wife, who would quietly bear all the ill-treatment of her husband, was regarded as the best one by some thinkers who preferred her to a wife, who would be her husband's companion (*Jātaka*, No. 269.). The available evidence shows, however, that this theory was not generally subscribed to before the Christian era. The prevalence of child marriages was responsible for its becoming popular in later times.