Women and Society in Early Medieval India: Re-interpreting Epigraphs PDF
Preview Women and Society in Early Medieval India: Re-interpreting Epigraphs
Women and Society in Early Medieval India This book examines women and society in India during 600–1200 ce through epigraphs. It offers an analysis of inscriptional data at the pan- India level to explore key themes, including early marriage, deprivation of girls from education, property rights, widowhood and satī, as well as women in administration and positions of power. The volume also traces gender roles and agency across religions such as Hinduism and Jainism, the major religions of the times, and sheds light on a range of political, social, economic and religious dimensions. A panoramic critique of contradictions and conformity between inscriptional and literary sources, including pieces of archaeological evidence against traditional views on patriarchal stereotypes, as also regional parities and disparities, the book presents an original understanding of women’s status in early medieval South Asian society. Rich in archival material, this book will be useful to scholars and researchers of ancient and early medieval Indian history, social history, archaeology, epigraphy, sociology, cultural studies, gender studies and South Asian studies. Anjali Verma is Assistant Professor, Department of History, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India. She completed her PhD from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla and has taught at several colleges under Delhi University, Panjab University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Himachal Pradesh University and Amity University, Haryana. She specializes in ancient Indian history, culture and archaeology. Women and Society in Early Medieval India Re-interpreting Epigraphs Anjali Verma First published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Anjali Verma The right of Anjali Verma to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-56302-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-44801-0 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC Dedicated to Professor Laxman S. Thakur Contents List of illustrations viii Preface ix List of abbreviations xiii Key to diacritical marks xv 1 Introduction 1 2 Childhood and education 23 3 Marriage, widowhood and satī 45 4 Women and sacred rites 92 5 Capacity for governance 159 6 Property rights 200 7 Conclusion 232 Bibliography 245 Index of names 261 Index of terms and subjects 263 Illustrations Figures 3.1 Marriage within maternal relations 48 5.1 Genealogical tree of six Bhauma-kāra queens of Orissa 163 Tables 4.1 Land grants issued by females 102 4.2 Perpetual lamps donated to temples by females in various capacities 116 4.3 Various gifts donated for religious purpose by females 126 4.4 Contribution of females in Jaina Monastery and temple-building activities 138 4.5 Female disciples of various Jaina sanghas 143 7.1 Various fields of education open to women 233 7.2 Cases of disapproved forms of marriages 235 7.3 Cases of bigamy and polygamy 237 7.4 Few cases of satī and samādhi 239 7.5 Showing administrative capabilities of women 242 Preface The visible presence of women in epigraphs and literature has been worked over the past several decades. Previous studies done so far based on inscriptions and literature certainly have increased our knowledge and understanding on women as subjects of history. At the regional level, several attempts through epigraphs have been made up to recent times by many historians to either locate the female as an agency, her place in social processes and structures, but virtually no pan-Indian study has been done through the analyses of epigraphic material on the period between ce 600–1200. To locate women’s iden- tity solely on material culture or literature and religious texts will not be fair until we compare them to get a comprehensive view. This mon- ograph is a diligent attempt to contextualize women’s visibility during the early medieval period through inscriptions and depicting society through this framework of contextualization. Many textual sources, travel accounts and other contemporary sources have been consulted where sometimes, merger, dilution, differences and divisions appear while comparing the data. Divided into seven chapters, the first chapter of the present work is an introduction outlining the importance of epigraphy with a brief note on various approaches that have affected writings on the his- tory of women, mainly Nationalist and Marxist. Debate on histo- riography among historians on Indian periodization with different perspectives has been entered into. A vast and diverse review of the literature has been explored to conceptualize female identity. Through this review, shaping and reshaping of congenial paradigms of gender history emerges, which provides a panoramic growth sequence to the forthcoming chapters. The review tries to introduce a gender lens by meaningfully incorporating gender as a critical component of writing history simultaneously trying to find her locus.
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