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POSITION OF WOMEN IN VEDIC, POST-VEDIC, BRITISH,
AND CONTEMPORARY INDIA
Written by Govind Kumar Saxena* & Major Gen. Praveen Kumar Sharma (Retd.)**
*Phd Scholar Law
** Director, Amity Law School, Amity University, Haryana
Abstract
Both male and female are essential components of human society. We depend on each other
and life can only be sustained if there is a balance between these two components. For human
evolution and existence of humanity, we need both men and women. So, we can agree to this
fact that one is not bigger or better than the other. Still, we have witnessed inhumane, unethical,
and immoral practices against women.
We have seen gender inequality for many years in India but where does it start? In this article,
you will read a comprehensive article on the social status, position, and life of women in Vedic,
post-Vedic, British, and Contemporary times. Several sociologists, anthropologists, feminists,
and other scholars have tried to assess the position of women. They study the changes in their
status over time. Their findings have been both shocking and enlightening. Both men and
women are wheels of a chariot, both are needed for proper movement. There should be
harmony between men and women according to Hindu scriptures then why we see rape cases,
dowry cases, harassment cases, and many such cases? We will look at all of this in this article.
To understand the solution to this problem, we must take a look at the current and historic laws.
In the second part, you will read how laws have changed over the years and whether laws have
opposed or facilitated gender inequality. We have analyzed the position of women in India
based on several parameters like education, rights, economic conditions, social evils, etc. After
considering all these factors and many additional factors, we have created this article to give a
comprehensive write-up about the changes in the women's position in India.
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Introduction
Today, women in India constitutes nearly half of the population but the hegemonic masculine
beliefs have been a constant reason for their suffering. Women have been denied equal
opportunities, equal pay, equal status, and equal position at mostly all sectors of our society. In
the modern days, there has been a rise in Feminist thoughts that have led to the tremendous
upliftment of the condition and position of women in our society. If we look back to ancient
India then we will see a completely different society that respected and revered women equally.
How have the things changed and why women have been subjected to such inequality? Was
the position of women same in the Vedic period or different? What can we do to change it in
future? All of these questions are dealt with in this article. Instead of a global scenario, we will
only look at India and its society here.
We will take an insight into the past, present, and future of position of women in India. In this
patriarchal society, women don't have the same status as men but how true is it in the case of
India. We will analyze this phenomenon in this article. In the second part, we will look at both
Historic and Modern laws that concern women in the Indian society. What is the difference
between them and how have things changed? We have analyzed the ancient Hindu scriptures,
texts, and literary books to come to a conclusion. After a thorough comparison and juxtaposing,
we have found the pros and cons of both. At last, you will get a complete understanding of the
evolution of the position of women in India for thousands of years.
Vedic
If we want to understand how women and girls were treated and looked upon in the Vedic
period, then we must analyze the ancient Hindu scriptures, hymns, religious books, and various
literary work that reflects the social customs that were then prevalent in India. We can get a
picture of the status that was accorded upon women by analyzing the position of women in
terms of education, society, finance, rights, customs, etc. There are several parameters that can
be considered to analyze the position of women in the Vedic period in India. To get a deeper
insight into the past, we can look into Vedas, Gita, Mahabharat, Ramayana, Arthashastra,
Dharmashastra, and several similar ancient literary work.
In the Vedic times, the women had to face a world full of paradoxes. Women enjoyed high
status in early Vedic culture and later it got deteriorated in the later Vedic period. They were
allowed to organize 'Sayambhar' and they could choose their significant other in that
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Sayambhar. However, women lead a miserable wedded life as their spouses were allowed to
have more than one wife. The men from privileged societies of the old Indian culture followed
polygamy. Women were married after the age of 16. Also, they had considerable freedom in
terms of choosing their matrimonial partner.
Manu, the father of Indian Political Theory, describes the position of women of Vedic age as a
place of reliance and subordination. The classical political literature Arthashastra confirms that
extensive limitations were placed on the development of women in the society. In terms of
education, all unmarried women had to study. Several female saints of the Vedic period like
Maitrayi, Ghosa, Gargi, and Vak, were highly skilled and learned as they composed complex
Vedic stanzas for hymns. There are several verses in the Vedas that proves that women had the
right to education. As a wife, women were given affection and respect and as a mother, she
was considered a figure of profound reverence. They were held in higher respect in India than
in any other ancient countries. It will not be wrong to say that women enjoyed a much greater
freedom and higher status in the Vedic period than in later India.
Post-Vedic
As per ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, women enjoyed considerable freedom and high
status in the Indian society. However, in the next thousand years, the position of women
deteriorated significantly in all spectrums. In the post-Vedic age, the status of women had
started degenerating due to several factors. Child marriage began in the Smriti age and the self-
immolation practice called Sati started in the Medieval period. Till the time Mughal period
started, a number of problems arose for the Hindu women. We can clearly see that as the time
passed, the conditions of women became worse.
During the first Muslim invasion in the eighth century and the second invasion in the eleventh
century, there was a gradual decline of social, political, economic, and cultural life of women,
particularly Hindu women. Mohammad Ghazni conquered India in the eleventh century and
from this period till the eighteenth century, Mughals ruled in India. In this period, several
gender inequalities had surfaced the Indian society. Practices like Pudah Pratha, Sati Pratha,
Child marriage, polygamy, female foeticide, etc, were the biggest social evils of the post-Vedic
period. At the same time, social reformers and revolutionaries like Kabir, Meera, Ramdas,
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Nanak, Chaitanya, and many others stood for equal rights for women. Due to their support,
women achieved religious freedom and to some extent, social freedom. On the economic status,
women were completely dependent on the male members of the family. The status of women
deteriorated from a divine being to an object of gratification as we approached the post-Vedic
and Mughal period from the Vedic period.
British
In the mid-eighteenth century, the Britishers entered India as traders. For the first 100 years,
the British East India Company ruled over India and then it came under direct control of the
queen of Britain for the next 100 years. In this period, practices like Sati, Child marriage, and
several other social evils were banned and eliminated from the Indian society. They also
encouraged widow remarriage and they legalized it too. At that time, there were high cases of
female infanticide in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Sind, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, etc. In
1779, the Britishers declared female infanticide to be murder by the Bengal Regulation XXL.
Similarly, the age of consent was raised to 12 by the British government in 1891. Several forms
of slavery like domestic and predial were dealt with.
However, the British government only passed laws and bills. The main hero or the main
character behind all these social reforms were great Indian revolutionaries like Raja Rammohan
Roy, Arya Samaj, Ishwar Vidyasagar, B. R. Ambedkar, and several others. Several legislations
have contributed to the upliftment of the status of Hindu women in terms of marriage,
inheritance, and adoption. Some of them are the Hindu Law of Inheritence (1929), the Hindu
Women's Right to Property Act (1937), The Hindu Marriage Act, etc. In this period, women
helped their male counterparts to fight Britishers and they contributed extensively to the
Freedom movement. The gradual process of being a conglomeration of languages, ethnicities,
cultures, and states to an independent nation, contributed to the upliftment of women's position
in the society. India as a nation suffered under the hands of Britishers and their oppressive
economic and political policies. However, it ignited and united the entire nation to stand up
against inequality in one voice, whether women or men.
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Contemporary
The post-independence India has a democratic government and a constitution that mentions
women as legal citizens who have equal rights. If we analyze the contemporary times from
several parameters then we can understand the current position of women in India. The law
protects women, her fundamental rights, and her existence, in general.
Every year new policies and laws are enacted to protect women from crimes, discrimination,
gender inequality, etc. So, we can say that we are conscious of the fact that women deserve
equal rights. However, the ground reality speaks a different truth. In modern society, women
are treated as sexual objects and they are constantly targeted for being the weaker sex. Every
day, several rape cases, harassment cases, dowry cases, sextortion cases, and several other
gender-based crimes are reported across India. It clearly depicts that the society has not
accepted women as an equal counterpart in India yet.
On the other hand, women have the right to education, right to property, right to practice any
religion, right to marry without parents' consent, and so on. Still, women lack acceptance from
the male-dominated society. We cannot deny that we live in a patriarchal society and men
mistreat women on several occasions. Men are greatly revered and little girls have little respect
in the social hierarchy. Social workers, social activists, and reformers are trying to bring gender
equality in India through laws, bills, and policies. However, we must strengthen women from
the core. We must work on 3Es - Empower, Educate, and Enable. The need of the hour is to
enact these 3Es properly and work extensively for the upliftment of women in our society.
Historical Law
In Vedic times or ancient India, laws were primarily evolved from customs and religious
parameters. India has a detailed and recorded legal history and a set of laws also known as
smritis starting from the Vedic ages. Even in Indus Valley Civilization, India had a set of laws
and a legal system that was the backbone of the society and the government. Hindu laws have
been emanated from the Vedas, the Upanishads, and several other religious scriptures and
textbooks. The secular law in India differed from one region to another. However, courts and
the legal system remained essential features of various ruling dynasties. Hindu laws were based
on Dharma and they are mentioned in Dharamshastra written by Manu. It consisted of Varna
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system which means Caste system. According to Hindu Varna system, the society had 4 classes
in a hierarchy. It consisted of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. Dharmashatra
consisted of life-cycle rites, daily rituals, specific duties, proper conduct of all four classes or
varnas. It also consisted of punishments, crimes, king's duties, etc.
Women had equality in the society and they were treated same as men. Therefore, no specific
laws are stated to provide reservation to women or laws that protect women from dowry or
laws that ban female foeticide. All these laws didn't exist in the historic times and neither they
were needed. However, things changed in the coming centuries and new laws were made to
tackle the present situation. As we moved to British period, women had faced several social
atrocities like Sati practice, Pardah practice, child marriage, and the list is long. To counter and
eliminate these social evils, new laws were enacted by the British Government. Later, Indian
government enacted more laws to provide safety and security to women and their rights.
Modern Law
After independence, India has enacted several laws that fight several social practices that are
not just inhumane but extremely atrocious. The modern law protects women from harassment,
slavery, crimes, and discrimination at the workplace, home, or anywhere. New laws were
enacted to meet the present requirements at the ground level. Many laws and acts have been
passed in various parts of the world that protects the rights of women. Several massive
programs in different countries have been introduced to the constitution that deals with the
socio-economic development of the weaker section of the society, especially women.
Similarly, in India, many acts have been passed for women, some of them are PITA, Protection
of women against sexual harassment at workplace bill, National Commission for women act,
the rights of children to free and compulsory education act, and many more. Other than these,
women and children are protected under criminal law.
There are several provisions for women's protection from psychological, physical, and sexual
abuse. In the Indian Penal Code (IPC), section 304B deals with dowry death, section 375 deals
with the rape of women, section 498A deals with cruelty by a spouse, section 312-318 deals
with the protection of the unborn child, etc. In different countries various act, provision,
program, law, policies, and constitution provides protection to women. All of these factors have
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definitely improved the current position by building trust among victims, promising justice,
spreading awareness, etc. The reporting mechanism has been improved to support victims. So,
there has been a positive change without a doubt. However, we still have a long way to gender
equality and better women's position in the society. With the help of 3ES, we can achieve
gender equality and it will reduce the crimes against women by enabling women to fight and
win. 3Es are Empower, Educate, and Enable.
Conclusion
During the Vedic period, there was no kind of gender discrimination in India. Women were
extremely respected and revered by the male members of the family, they were considered
goddesses. In those times, women took part in several professions, they were free to marry as
per their choice, study and gain education until they get married, etc. They had a special place
in the society.
The gender discrimination in India started in the post-Vedic period and it reached its highest
peak in the Mughal period. In this period, crimes against women became highly dominant and
women were treated as objects. They went from the highest position in the society to the lowest
position. They were subjected to constant suffering and they had no fundamental rights. Even
minimum freedom was denied to the female members of the society. This continued even in
the British period and it remains unchanged for a long period.
However, in the post-independence era, the position of women in India changed significantly
and they secured several fundamental rights. The law protects rights of every person. Still,
women on ground level continue to suffer due to social evils like gender inequality, unethical
beliefs, etc. Things have changed a lot from Vedic to post-Vedic and to contemporary times,
we still live in a patriarchal society. As a society, we have to work together to make the life of
women safe and happy in our country. This is only possible through 3Es - Empower, Educate,
and Enable.
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