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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 medieval Indian history, social history, archaeology, epigraphy, sociology, cultural studies, gender studies and South Asian studies.
This book attempts to reintegrate women into the socio-political milieu of early medieval Orissa. Its sources are inscriptions, mostly Sanskrit, that date from the seventh century to the end of the reign of the Imperial Ganga ruler, Anantavarman Codagangadeva (CE 1078-1147). The evidence indicates that royal and non-royal women had varying but undeniably important roles to play in the socio-political fabric of this prominent regional entity. The Bhauma-Kara dynasty (c. mid-eighth/ninth-late tenth century) that witnessed the rule of six women, four of them in succession, is a case in point. In addition, the palpable presence of several other royal and non-royal women is consistently documented in the epigraphic record. This is an aspect that has received very little attention in secondary works, thereby rendering this study a pioneering one. The work follows on from Rangachari’s earlier Invisible Women, Visible Histories: Gender, Polity and Society in North India (7th to 12th century ad), which had focused on important gendered aspects of early medieval north India through an analysis of literary and epigraphic sources of Kashmir, Kanauj, Bengal and Bihar. The invisibilization of women, whereby their presence is routinely ignored or trivialized, was, similarly, its underlying essence. Please note: This title is co-published with Manohar Publishers, New Delhi. Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
This book examines certain gendered aspects of the early medieval period in north India (between the seventh and twelfth centuries ad) through a study of prominent but representative regional kingdoms located in Kashmir, Kanauj, and across Bengal and Bihar. By examining important epigraphic and literary sources pertaining to these polities in as comprehensive a manner as possible, it shows that gender is a cardinal angle from which to view this period and, additionally, that the same set of sources can yield differing interpretations. It also highlights the indifference of most secondary sources towards gender and related issues. The book, therefore, strives to address a lacuna in the historical reconstruction of the society and polity of this time-span. Although early medieval Kashmir, Kanauj and Bengal-Bihar are linked by their status as important regional powers in this period and by their close political interactions, the book shows that the role and status of women differed considerably according to their regional contexts. The picture, therefore, is not a unified one, thereby stressing the fact that sweeping statements on women cannot be made to apply to early medieval north India as a whole as has hitherto been the trend. The problems and possibilities involved in a gender analysis of this sort that examines the role and presence of women vis-à-vis men is highlighted, in the process. Areas with the potential for future investigation are also indicated. The pivotal importance of gender in any historical reconstruction of the early medieval period in north India is thereby underscored.
A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India is the most comprehensive textbook yet for undergraduate and postgraduate students. It introduces students to original sources such as ancient texts, artefacts, inscriptions and coins, illustrating how historians construct history on their basis. Its clear and balanced explanation of concepts and historical debates enables students to independently evaluate evidence, arguments and theories. This remarkable textbook allows the reader to visualize and understand the rich and varied remains of India s ancient past, transforming the process of discovering that past into an exciting experience.
Women have witnessed acute socio-economic problems in male-dominated society in the annals of Indian sub-continent. However, they maintained their identity and consequently emerged as a useful partner in the household affairs. The theme has been comprehensively weaved into for volumes, viz., ancient, medieval and modern India with a thrust on freedom struggle for Swaraj. It has vividly described status of women during the phases of history; her rights and duties, standard of education, lives of Devadasi and widows, female slaves, divorce, remarriage system, the Muslim queens, participatin of wimen in three major movements during Gandihan era, and their sacrifices, status of Dalit women, socio-economic regeneration, nuns in Kerala, women and family welfare, role in labour force and vision of Annie Besant. These Volumes would be useful for social scientists, researchers and students in India and abroad.
Collection of articles.
This book analyses the diverse ways in which women have been represented in the Purāṇic traditions in ancient India – the virtuous wife, mother, daughter, widow, and prostitute – against the socio-religious milieu around CE 300–1000. Purāṇas (lit. ancient narratives) are brahmanical texts that largely fall under the category of socio-religious literature which were more broad-based and inclusive, unlike the Smṛtis, which were accessible mainly to the upper sections of society. In locating, identifying, and commenting on the multiplicity of the images and depictions of women’s roles in Purāṇic traditions, the author highlights their lives and experiences over time, both within and outside the traditional confines of the domestic sphere. With a focus on five Mahāpurāṇas that deal extensively with the social matrix Viṣṇu, Mārkaṇḍeya Matsya, Agni, and Bhāgavata Purāṇas, the book explores the question of gender and agency in early India and shows how such identities were recast, invented, shaped, constructed, replicated, stereotyped, and sometimes reversed through narratives. Further, it traces social consequences and contemporary relevance of such representations in marriage, adultery, ritual, devotion, worship, fasts, and pilgrimage. This volume will be of interest to researchers and scholars in women and gender studies, ancient Indian history, religion, sociology, literature, and South Asian studies, as also the informed general reader.