Thomas Lovejoy in 1980 coined the term ‘Biological Diversity’ which was later modified by E. O. Wilson in 1986 who coined the term ‘Biodiversity’ in his report for the first American Forum on Biological Diversity. As a term intimately related to environmental and wildlife conservation, although the popularity of the term has increased dramatically since then in the West, especially in the scientific community in the West as well as globally, biodiversity as conservation is still not an everyday term in India, like words like pollution and evolution are.
Understanding Biodiversity
“All kinds of living organisms and their environments and together with their interactions constitute biodiversity. In other words, all kinds of plants, animals and microbes found in the biosphere and their environment, together with their interactions are collectively referred to as biodiversity”.
There are four categories of biodiversity.
- The first category of biodiversity is what is known as genetic biodiversity. It refers to the differences among the living organisms in terms of genes, genetic material or DNA or genomes.
- The second kind of biodiversity is what is known as species biodiversity. It refers to the kinds of species found in the biosphere.
- The third category is what is known as ecosystem biodiversity. It refers to the different kinds of ecosystems that are found in the biosphere.
- The fourth category of biodiversity is what is known as human cultural biodiversity. This refers to diversity in languages, religions, food habits and other lifestyles among human populations.
Theories on biodiversity can broadly come under the theories formulated under the science of ecology. One major point of departure is the difference between the niche-based as against the neutral models of interaction in community ecology. The Ecological Niche had long dominated community ecology in explaining species interaction in ecosystems in terms of species occupying ecological niches and performing certain ecological roles on the basis on functionalist co-operation as well as competition.
This was challenged by Stephen Hubbell (2001) who introduced a Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity. While ecological niches were useful in explaining species co-existence on the basis of specialized and differentiated niches, Hubbell argued that competitive exclusion occurred over such long periods of time in the total evolutionary process that other processes such as random ecological drift, speciation, etc come to dominate in concurrence (G.M. Mikkelson, 2005).
He argued that the differences between species placed at similar trophic levels in an ecological community are neutral, or not necessary for their success (Science Daily, 2017).
By rejecting role-based competitive exclusion as a rare event in ecosystems, Hubbell partially contradicts the Darwinian hypothesis of the Survival of the Fittest in community ecology as well as the theoretical formulations of Ecological Niches. Ecological systems according to this theory thus exist in long-term existential balance unless some sort of intervention leads to otherwise. To understand this more closely, we must look at the theory of ecological succession, most notably known for the contributions of Eugene Odum.
Ecological succession looks into ecosystem development as in how energy and materials follow cyclical paths within ecosystems. This aspect is what Odum (1969) explored in his paper ‘The Strategy of Ecosystem Development’. A key part of Odum’s analysis is that the strategies of man and nature are diametrically opposed. While the focus for man has primarily been high production out of nature, for example in terms of harvesting certain agricultural crops, reducing the total productive biomass, nature in its succession process goes for the reverse efficiency, thus favouring biomass production rather than production that largely wastes biomass, as in man’s approach. Nature thus manages to maintain a balance in its production process in sustainably producing biomass for procedural use while man’s production processes are not as sustainable. A major environmental aspect of our time is indeed in moving towards an environmentally sustainable future.
Tropical rainforests in total provide habitats for about 90 per cent of the world’s species (A. Young, 2003) while marine biodiversity similarly increases in warmer seas. Biodiversity however tends to cluster globally in dense hotspots that occurs in the form of clusters. About 90 per cent of the world’s species are threatened by human-induced changes to the environment and biodiversity according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Biodiversity as conservation becomes even more important when you consider that India is one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries in the world and about 7 to 8 per cent of species in the world are found in India, in which about 70 per cent of the world’s flowering plants are found in India (C.R. Babu, 2017). A lack of understanding of biodiversity in India thus should alarm us over how well are actually addressing biodiversity as conservation in public life.
Although biodiversity historically in India had been a public good in the sense of an existential balance, the current age is one when more widespread awareness of the devastating effects of the human-influenced Anthropocene epoch is being known. Although protecting the environment has now become a core issue, the lack of an awareness of biodiversity as conservation speaks of the lack of a deeper understanding of environmental sustainability among the Indian public.
Given the total and web-like effects of certain deficiencies in the environment, largely institutional efforts at biodiversity as conservation will not yield the total benefits that an understanding of nature’s balance at the public level could provide. Any good attained by institutional intervention thus could be offset by another instance of human-induced environmental degradation, whether organized or not, at the other end. At a time when humanity is grappling with natural laws that it does not fully understand, a better understanding of the nature of how one should interact and co-exist in one’s life-world would push civilization towards an era of greater maturity.
Threats to Biodiversity
The threats to biodiversity can indeed be immense, given the complexity of biodiversity and the millions of chance possibilities that can introduce changes to ecosystems. The challenges are immense when you consider that biodiversity is being constantly and rapidly destroyed throughout the world, and greater still when the need arises for co-ordinating all activities in line with international policies and events. Approaches in biodiversity as conservation may also vary across countries, regions and in local settings.
A uniform scientific approach is difficult when one would need to tackle myriad policies and intricacies. Although legal documents on biodiversity as conservation are available, which we shall discuss later, a sense of order is required at all levels if we are to think seriously about biodiversity as conservation. In this light, although uncountable causes could impact biodiversity, certain categorizations listed by Mandal & Nandi (2009) can be made over the threats to biodiversity. These are –
- Habitat Destruction / Habitat Fragmentation
Habitat destruction or habitat fragmentation is a broad category that can pose the most significant threat to biodiversity as conservation. Habitat fragmentation, which is the lessening of habitats into scattered patches also brings about immense changes to the composition of biodiversity, as apart from habitat destruction, which can have more total effects.
The age of the Anthropocene has seen massive habitat loss all over the world. The world has for example witnessed a massive loss of about 129 million ha of area under forest cover between 1990 and 2015. This represents an annual net loss rate of 0.13 per cent. The largest loss of forest cover has occurred in the tropics and subtropics, in particular in South America and Africa (FAO, 2015). It is also known for example that about half of the total wetlands globally have been destroyed. California alone has lost about 91 per cent of its wetlands in the last 200 years (Mandal & Nandi, 2009).
Even if a conscious effort is made in limiting habitat destruction due to anthropogenic interventions, habitat fragmentation can still occur due to developmental activity such as building roads, canals, etc and their succeeding effects. Development projects by humans have led to immeasurable habitat losses, severely destabilizing ecosystems world over such that the present geological epoch is being called by many as the Anthropocene, as one whose geography has been influenced primarily by human beings.
- Alien-Invasive Species
Another threat to biodiversity is the introduction of a non-native alien-invasive species into an ecosystem. Humans have introduced more than 330 non-native species into ecosystems worldwide. One only needs to remember how kiwi birds are endangered in New Zealand due to the introduction of animals such as cats for example by settlers. Alien-invasive species need not only be predators to destroy native ecosystems. They can also degrade ecosystems by competing for resources like water, and inviting other predators into the food web for example with mice, etc. Like with habitat destruction, the introduction of alien-invasive species has also exponentially increased with the progress of anthropogenic development.
- Over-harvesting / Over-Exploitation
We are living in an era of high mass consumption, and as such there is incredible strain on the harvesting and exploitation of biological resources. Billions of people depend on biological resources for not only food but also for other economic and daily needs. As such billions of biological units are harvested for human use. One particular area where over-harvesting and over-exploitation have become a flag-point issue is commercial fishing. According to the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations (UN), about 18 per cent of global fishing stocks are reported to be over-exploited and about 10 per cent of global fishing stocks have become significantly depleted. Figures such as these have serious implications for species extinction.
- Pollution
Pollution can severely impact ecosystems by causing diseases and other health problems among organisms in an ecosystem. Sometimes, pollution can affect a particular species, such as how an oil spill can severely impact aquatic life forming habitats near the ocean’s surface. The dangers can be particularly stark if an endangered species is exposed to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), leading to severe health issues such as dysfunction in the endocrine systems and other effects and can severely impact their populations, including changes if any in their reproductive abilities.
- Knock-on Effects
With the addition or withdrawal of species into or out of food webs, there can be certain cascading knock-on effects. One example is that of insect pollinators that are specialized, whose extinction would affect the reproductive abilities of plants dependent on the insect pollinators, thus having cascading effects on the food web in the ecosystem. The great problem with knock-on effects is that often these kind of effects can be greatly unpredictable, making their mitigation even more difficult, if not required to be avoided altogether.
- Climate Change
The possible effects of Climate Change on biodiversity as conservation have been greatly discussed, with the major problem being that its ongoing effects such as the melting of sea ice habitats in the Polar Regions have not been as greatly perceptible in the larger public life.
There can be no doubt however that the heating of the planet and the incredible amount of cascading changes in the Earth’s climate and topography will bring about incredibly massive changes to biodiversity. The scale of the changes, depending on how severely Climate Change progresses in the future, could rival the loss in biodiversity brought about due to habitat destruction. The difference being that habitat destruction had been occurring over a period of time along the development of human civilization while Climate Change can have drastic and quick effects on biodiversity. Another difference is that Climate Change can be mitigated by human intervention in a realistic manner, although presently that is not the case.
- Other Threats
While these are the chief anthropogenic threats to biodiversity as conservation in terms of scale, there are innumerable other threats that can impact biodiversity at different levels of scale depending upon circumstance. Some such threats include the challenges posed by the economic system, wherein organisms are increasingly being over-exploited not just for food, but as products. The spread of diseases, parasites, pathogens and predators can also severely impact biodiversity as conservation.
Another factor impacting biodiversity as conservation can be translocation, wherein certain species are reintroduced into another habitat for a certain constructive purpose such as to save a species from extinction. While this might help in saving a certain species, these same species could act as an alien-invasive species in some way in another ecosystem.
Another threat is the event of an extremely small population of a certain species remaining in their habitats. This condition does not portend very well for the future of that species. Finally, the demographic changes brought about by an ever-increasing human population has and will have in the future an increasingly detrimental effect on biodiversity as conservation given that the chief threats to biodiversity as conservation are largely anthropogenic.
Efforts towards Biodiversity as Conservation
Official concern for biodiversity loss is a relatively recent phenomenon, with the term itself being relatively new. Many species have been endangered and some species had gone extinct before the term came into parlance. Thus in the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was initiated and was then enforced in 1993 as in international legal document with biodiversity as conservation in view. A 196 countries are signatory to the convention, with the United States being a notable exception. In India the primary legal document for biodiversity as conservation is the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (BDA) (B. Meenakumari, 2016). Although legal policies exist, biodiversity as conservation is a vast challenge both for policy-makers and conservationists, especially with many steep sustainable development targets yet to be realized worldwide.
Legal documents for biodiversity as conservation usually act as umbrella policies for many micro-level activities to take place. The most prominent of these activities can include demarcating certain areas as protected areas, which can be a method to conserve habitats, although not all habitats. Also other methods like mapping of sites, identifying gap species being certain species not covered by habitats within protected areas, listing of certain species by the IUCN in the Red List such that renewed efforts are made for the conservation of these species, alternately making Red List Indices that look at the projected extinction risk of certain sets of species in terms of temporal variability, etc (Mandal & Nandi, 2009) can facilitate biodiversity as conservation apart from demarcating certain areas as protected areas. Alternately resource allocation policies can also assist in biodiversity as conservation along with policies for the restoration of natural habitats.
Many other legislations also exist to interlope with the CBD for protecting biodiversity. For example the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has the objective of protecting marine organisms from over-fishing and over-harvesting. Similarly many other regulations exist for combating pollution. The great challenge however, will be rapidly advancing Climate Change and its unpredictable knock-on effects on biodiversity as conservation. Given how Climate Change can be partially mitigated through human intervention with global concern for the same, although the Paris Climate Agreement brings hope in this regard, it shall take a huge amount of struggle for any decisive good to occur.
Endnote
Institutional safeguards alone however, should not wage a lone fight in a cause that requires the co-operation of most of humanity. In what the future may portend, the case of one effort being offset by another necessitates that a total fight for biodiversity as conservation requires some understanding of the existential balance of biodiversity, which can begin with the protection of habitats and ecosystems. This should begin with an understanding of biodiversity as a term known to all, like Climate Change is quickly becoming one. This would represent among the first baby-steps for humanity in moving towards an environmentally sustainable future.
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- India’s telecom market has seen monopoly as well as hyper-competition.
- Twenty-five years ago, the government alone could provide services.
- Ten years later, there were nearly a dozen competing operators.
- Most service areas now have four players.
- The erstwhile monopolies, BSNL and MTNL, are now bit players and often ignored.
- India is ranked second globally—after China—in the number of people connected to the internet. However, it is also first in the number of people unconnected.
- Over 50% of Indians are not connected to the internet, despite giant strides in network reach and capacity.
- India’s per capita or device data usage is low. It has an impressive 4G mobile network. However, its fixed network—wireline or optical fibre—is sparse and often poor.
- 5G deployment has yet to start and will be expensive.
Context
Sunil Mittal, the chairman of Bharti Airtel, said recently that it would be “tragic” if India’s telecom-access market was to be reduced to only two competing operators. He was probably referring to the possible exit of the financially-stressed Vodafone Idea and the increasing irrelevance of government-owned operators, BSNL and MTNL. This would essentially leave the market to Reliance Jio and Airtel. A looming duopoly, or the exit of a global telecommunications major, are both worrying. They deserve a careful and creative response.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Thus Far
The reduced competition is worrying. Competition has delivered relatively low prices, advanced technologies, and an acceptable quality of services. These gains are now at risk. There is a long way to go in expanding access as well as network capacity.
The Indian Telecom Irony
Vodafone Tragedy
Filling the gaps in infrastructure and access will require large investments and competition. The exit of Vodafone Idea will hurt both objectives. The company faces an existential crisis since it was hit hardest by the Supreme Court judgment on the AGR issue in 2019, with an estimated liability of Rs 58,000 crore.
The closure of Vodafone Idea is an arguably greater concern than the fading role of BSNL and MTNL. The government companies are yet to deploy 4G and have become progressively less competitive. Vodafone Idea, on the other hand, still accounts for about a quarter of subscriptions and revenues and can boast of a quality network.
It has been adjudged the fastest, for three consecutive quarters, by Ookla, a web-service that monitors internet metrics. India can ill-afford to waste such network capacity. The company’s liabilities will deter any potential buyer.
Vodafone+MTNL+BSNL ?
A possible way out could be to combine the resources of the MTNL and BSNL and Vodafone Idea through a strategic partnership. Creative government action can save Vodafone Idea as well as improve the competitiveness of BSNL and MTNL.
It could help secure government dues, investment, and jobs. It is worth recalling here that, about 30 years ago, the Australian government’s conditions for the entry of its first private operator, Optus, required the latter to take over the loss-making government satellite company, Aussat. Similar out-of-the-box thinking may well be key to escape the looming collateral damage.
It is not trivial to expand competition in India’s telecom market. Especially since there are no major regulatory barriers to entry anymore. Any new private player will be driven largely by commercial considerations. Global experience suggests that well-entrenched incumbents have massive advantages. New players are daunted by the large investments—and much patience!—needed to set up networks, lure existing customers and sign new ones.
However, regulators and policymakers have other options to expand choice for telecom consumers. Their counterparts in mature regulatory regimes—e.g., in the European Union—have helped develop extensive markets for resale. Recognising the limited influence of smaller players, regulators mandate that the incumbent offer wholesale prices to resellers who then expand choice for end-users.
This has been virtually impossible in India. There is a near absence of noteworthy virtual network operators (VNOs) and other resellers. A key barrier to resale is India’s licence fee regime which requires licence-holders to share a proportion of their revenues with the government. Thus, resale could hurt exchequer revenues unless resellers are subject to identical levies. Understandably, the levies—and consequently additional reporting and compliance—is a disincentive for smaller players. The disincentive flows from levies based on revenues which comes with considerable costs of compliance. It would almost vanish if the levies were replaced by say, a flat fee computed objectively.
The ball is in the court of the regulator and the government. They have options. But will they take decisive action to exercise them? It will be ‘tragic’ if they can’t.
INTRODUCTION
Since most of the early scholars, researchers and historians were men, many aspects of society did not find a place in history books. For example, child-birth, menstruation, women’s work, transgenders, households etc. did not find much mention.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Rather than building a holistic picture of the past, some select aspects such as polity and the different roles of men became the central focus of history writing. Women were confined to one corner of the chapter where a paragraph or two was devoted to the ‘status and position of women’.
Even the details of these paragraphs were hardly different from each other. This made it look like as if history (and thereby society, polity, economy and all culture) belonged to men while women were only a small static unit to be mentioned separately. Of course, there were some exceptions, but these were however rare. This practice is being corrected now and the roles and presence of women are being read into all parts of historical questions.
SOURCES FOR UNDERSTANDING GENDER HISTORY
Sources are the bases of history writing. From simple pre-historic tools to abstruse texts, everything can be utilized to understand life and roles of women in history. The presence as well as the absence of women from sources needs to be duly noticed, deliberated and argued upon and only then to be theorised upon.
Certain objects being directly related to the lives of women or depicting the ideas of the female principle are of central importance. These include but are not limited to female figurines, art objects, texts attributed to or authored or compiled by women, monuments created by or for women, various objects relating to their lifestyle, objects associated with women on account of their cultural roles and so on.
It has been rightly pointed out by Uma Chakravarti that much of the gender history written in early phase was a ‘partial view from above’. This referred to the utilization of select textual sources and focused only on relational identity of women. There were, however, a few exceptions.
GENDER HISTORIOGRAPHY
Amongst the many narratives propagated to denigrate Indian civilization and culture by the British colonial rulers, the condition of Indian women became a point of central reference. Various social evils that made the life of women miserable were pointed out and efforts were also made to introduce ‘reforms.’ Sati, child-marriages, imposed widowhood, polygamy, dowry, educational and economic inequality, purdah (ghoonghat) and many other practices prevailed during the colonial period that made the life of women difficult and pitiable.
Some practices affected women of higher social and economic households while others led to misery for poorer women. Many social reform movements were started in the 19th century to address these issues and contributions were made by Indian reformers as well as British officials and other Europeans.
Women in India came to be treated as a homogeneous category and over generalisation became the norm. While many communities in India practised widow remarriage and did not practise (much less forced) sati and while some practised divorces or separation, the image of the Indian woman who had been subjugated as woman, wife and widow became a dominant theme in history writing.
Secondly, a western vision was placed over the non-western societies and hence interpretations were far removed from the context. For example, notion of stridhan was equated with dowry and little regard was paid to the provisions regarding its use and ownership by women.
The huge social stigma that came along with the selling of jewellery of the household (one of the main components of stridhan) was paid no attention to. Similarly, penal provisions listed by ancient texts for misappropriation of women’s property were not even looked into.
During the Paleolithic age, hunting and gathering was norm. However much importance was given to Hunting than gathering in all literature of history. Studies, however, show that hunted prey formed only 35% of the diet while gathering fruits and other edible material supplied the major portion. Gathering of food resources was ordinarily done by women. Since gathering was an important activity, more than hunting for game, it could point to significant role playing by women.
The gendered understanding of Harappan civilization is being built upon and various archaeological remains have been studied in this respect. The female figurines, idols of pregnant women, the statue of the ‘dancing girl’, various pieces of jewellery and personal belongings that have been discovered at various sites and offer useful insights on the public and private lives of women and men.
The statue of a girl obtained from Mohanjodaro has been called a ‘dancing girl’ on grounds of familiarity with the institution of devadasis in the later times. Such backward looking explanations are problematic.
There is a wide variety of terracotta female figurines that have been found at different sites right from the pre-Harappan times. Women figures are found suckling a baby, holding utensils, kneading dough, nursing infants, carrying objects like drums, seated figures for board games, with steatopygia (fat deposition on the hips and elsewhere), with floral head-dresses and in many other forms.
Even figurines of pregnant women are quite common. However, most of these have been uncritically associated with fertility, religiosity and reproductive ideas, and have been passed off as representations of the Mother Goddesses. While some of them were votive objects, others are held to be toys or other utilities. The focus on female form has been so stereotypical that women have been seen as associated only with home, hearth, fertility, sexuality and divinity. So much so that sometimes even male figurines in assumed womanly roles were classified as female figurines.
POSITION OF WOMEN IN EARLY INDIA
The first literary tradition in the Indian subcontinent (and the oldest in the world) is that of the Vedic corpus. From the four Samhitas to the Upanishads, we find many interesting references to women in various roles. Some of these women have left their mark on the cultural heritage to this day and are remembered in various ritual and social contexts. Their names, stories, some highly revered hymns, and other interesting facets are mentioned in the Vedic corpus.
The Vedic literature has been classified as Early Vedic and Later Vedic. The Rigvedic society and polity seems to be teeming with life and agro-pastoral economy was enmeshed in close kinship ties. Women as well as men participated in society, economy and polity. Some of the most revered hymns including the gayatri mantra are ascribed to women.
Various natural phenomena are depicted as Goddesses and they are offered prayers. While quantitative analysis highlights the predominance of Indra, Agni, Varuna and other male gods, the power and stature of the goddesses is equally well established.
Women participated in all three Vedic socio-political assemblies viz. Sabha, Samiti and Vidhata. They had access to education and were even engaged in knowledge creation. They could choose to be brahmavadinis with or without matrimony.
Hence, there is no reason to believe that they were only confined to home and hearth. T. S. Rukmani attempts to understand if women had agency in early India. Her work has highlighted many interesting details. The author acknowledges the fact that though the patriarchal set up put women at a loss, there were instances where women found space to exercise their agency.
She points out that though the texts like the Kalpasutras (Srautasutras, Dharmasutras and Grhasutras) revolved around the ideology of Dharma and there was not much space to express alternative ideas, still these works also find some leeway to express ideas reflecting changed conditions.
For example, there is a statement in the Apastamba Dharmasutra that one should follow what women say in the funeral samskaras. Stephanie Jamison believes that in hospitality and exchange relations, women played an important role. She says that the approval of the wife was important in the successful completion of the soma sacrifice. In another study it has been shown that women enjoyed agency in deciding what was given in a sacrifice, bhiksha to a sanyasin. The men had no authority in telling her what to do in these circumstances.
Vedic society was the one which valued marriage immensely. In such contexts, Gender Perspectives if a woman chose not to marry, then it would point to her exercising choice in her decision to go against the grain and remain unmarried.
Mention may be made of Gargi. She was a composer of hymns and has been called a brahmavadini. This term applies to a woman who was a composer of hymns and chose to remain unmarried, devoting herself to the pursuit of learning.
Similarly, in the case of Maitreyi, she consciously opts to be educated in the Upanishadic lore and Yajnavalkya does not dissuade her from exercising her choice.
The statement in the Rigveda that learned daughters should marry learned bridegrooms indicates that women had a say in marriage. Though male offspring is desired, there is a mantra in the Rigveda, recitation of which ensures the birth of a learned daughter.
Altekar refers to the yajnas like seethayagna, rudrayajna etc. that were to be performed exclusively by women. Some of the women were known for their exceptional calibre, for example, from the Rigveda Samhita we find mention of women like Apala, Ghosha, Lopamudra, Gargi, Maitreyi, Shachi, Vishwavara Atri, Sulabha and others.
Women have not only been praised as independent individuals but also with reference to their contributions towards their natal or marital families.
The Later Vedic literature shows the progression towards a State society with a change in the organization of the society and polity. The chief comes to be referred to as bhupati instead of gopati. However, within the twelve important positions (ratnis) mentioned, the chief queen retains a special position under the title mahisi.
The importance of the chief queen continued as gleaned from several references to them in the Epics, Arthashastra and even in coins and epigraphs from early historical times.
The other Samhitas also refer to women sages such as Rishikas. The wife is referred to as sahadharmini. Brahmanas or the texts dealing with the performance of the yajna (Vedic ritual), requires a man to be accompanied by his wife to be able to carry out rituals.
For example, Aitareya Brahmana looks upon the wife as essential to spiritual wholesomeness of the husband. However, there is a mention of some problematic institutions as well.
Uma Chakravarti has pointed towards the condition of Vedic Dasis (female servant/slave) who are referred to in numerous instances. They were the objects of dana (donation/gift) and dakshina (fee).
It is generally believed that from the post Vedic period the condition of the women steadily deteriorated. However, Panini’s Ashtadhyayi and subsequent grammatical literature speak highly of women acharyas and Upadhyayas.
Thus, the memory and practice of a brahmavadini continued even after the Vedic period. The Ramayana, Mahabharata and even the Puranas keep the memory of brhamavadini alive.
Mention may be made of Anasuya, Kunti, Damyanti, Draupadi, Gandhari, Rukmini who continued to fire the imagination of the poets. Texts show that the daughter of Kuni-garga refused marriage because she did not find anyone worthy of her.
The Epics also mention women whose opinions were sought in major events. For example, after the thirteen years of exile, while debating upon the future course of action regarding the restoration of their share, the Pandavas along with Krshna asks Draupadi for her views. Similarly, when Krishna goes to the Kaurava’s court to plead the case of Pandavas, Gandhari is called upon to persuade her sons to listen to reason.
Since a woman taking sanyasa was an act of transgression, one can explore women’s agency through such instances. In the Ramayana, Sabari, who was the disciple of Sage Matanga, and whose hermitage was on the banks of river Pampa was one such sanyasin.
Such women find mention in Smriti literature and Arthashashtra. Kautilya’s prohibition against initiating women into Sanyasa can make sense only if women were being initiated into sanyasa. He advises the king to employ female parivrajakas as spies.
Megasthenes mentions women who accompanied their husbands to the forest, probably referring to the Vanaprastha stage. Another category of literature called Shastras that comprises of sutras (aphorisms) and the smriti texts (‘that which is remembered’) becomes important in the postVedic period.
These textual traditions cover many subjects relating to the four kinds of pursuits of life referred to as purusharthas (namely dharma, karma, kama and moksha). In all these texts we find very liberal values and freedom for both women and men.
The setting up of a household is seen as an ideal for men as well as women (though asceticism for learning is equally praised for both). For example, Apastambha Sutra opines that rituals carried out by an unmarried man do not please the devatas (divinities). Similarly, Manusmriti provides that ‘for three years shall a girl wait after the onset of her puberty; after that time, she may find for herself a husband of equal status. If a woman who has not been given in marriage finds a husband on her own, she does not incur any sin, and neither does the man she finds’
Thus, we see that women enjoyed choice in matters of matrimony. It is interesting to note that unmarried daughters were to be provided for by the father. In fact, daughter is stated to be the object of utmost affection. Should a girl lose her parents, her economic interests were well looked after. It was provided that from their shares, ‘the brothers shall give individually to the unmarried girls, one-quarter from the share of each. Those unwilling to give will become outcastes’
With regards to defining contemporary attitude towards women, Apastambha Sutra prescribed that ‘All must make a way for a woman when she is treading a path.’ Later Dharmashastra also makes similar statements.
Yagnavalkyasmriti mentions that ‘women are the embodiment of all divine virtues on earth.’ However, there are several provisions that look problematic.
On one hand, we have reverence assigned to the feminine (divine and worldly) and important roles being played by them, on the other hand we have questionable provisions and descriptions like right to chastise them through beating or discarding.
The post-Vedic phase from 6th century BCE onwards is also rich in literary traditions with ample depictions of women. Interestingly, we have an entire body of literature that is ascribed totally to women who became Buddhist nuns. These are referred to as Therigathas i.e. the Songs of the Elder Bhikkhunis (Buddhist Women who joined the Sangha).
The Arthashastra Gender Perspectives gives us information on women who were engaged in economic activities of various kinds. They formed a part of both the skilled and the unskilled workforce. They were into professional as well as non-professional employment.
Some of their vocations were related to their gender, while the others were not. There were female state employees as well as independent working women. Similarly, some of them were engaged in activities which though not dependent on their biological constitution are nonetheless categorized as women’s domain, e.g. domestic services etc. Some of them were actual state employees, while some others were in contractual relations with the State. For example, we have female bodyguards and spies in the State employment.
Jaiswal suggests that these women perhaps came from Bhila or Kirata tribe. Female spies were not only to gather information and relay it to proper source, but also to carry out assassinations. However, a closer look at the text shows that there were different classes of female spies engaged for different purposes. Amongst others ‘women skilled in arts were to be employed as spies living inside their houses’. Others were required to work as assassins. Some were to the play the roles of young and beautiful widows to tempt the lust of greedy enemy.
We also have various Buddhist and Jaina traditions giving us some glimpses of the ideas and institutions of the times. Apart from the orthodox (Vedic and Brahmanic) and heterodox normative tradition we have many popular texts like the Epics in Sanskrit and Jatakas in Pali.
Even Prakrit language has many interesting narratives and poetic texts. The Therigatha by the Buddhist nuns are an interesting literary source that provides us with a glimpse of various women who attained arhantship or similar other stages of Realisation.
The deliberation on the age and deterioration of the body by Ambapali, the non-importance of sensual or bodily pleasures by Nanda, Vimla and Shubha etc points towards the intellectual and spiritual engagements and attainments of women.
It is interesting to note that an absolutely contrary picture is presented by the Jatakas wherein more often than not, women are depicted as evil. It is important to note that women were given an evil aura mostly in their roles as wives or beloveds.
Both the texts and the archaeological remains have been studied by various scholars and opposing interpretations are not rare. For example, on one side Sita (from Ramayana) and Draupadi (from Mahabharata) have been seen as victims of the patriarchal order; on the other hand, they are also represented as selfwilled women.
Draupadi after the game of dice presents herself as a forceful and articulate woman. It’s her wit that saves her husbands from becoming slaves of the Kauravas. Her incensed outrage at the attack on her modesty, her bitter lamentations to Krishna, her furious tirade against Yudhishthira for his seeming inability to defend her honour and many more such instances show her to be an aggressive woman. This persona is juxtaposed to her representations as an ideal wife elsewhere. However, Draupadi is never idealised as a perfect wife who endures the most severe trials without complaint. This honour is reserved for Sita in the Ramayana. She is also presented as a victim like Draupadi and voices her concern at her fate openly. However, her aggression is directed inwards as indicated by her action against the self which culminate in her union with the mother Earth.
Are the limited number of hymns ascribed to the Vedic women a signifier of their general status? Are the goddesses merely representational with no connection to the ideas and behaviour towards women? Did only princesses choose their spouses? Are the warrior women an exception? Such searching questions need to be addressed with due diligence.
While women studies are a good development there is a need to expand the horizons to include other varieties of human existence. We have narratives of fluid sexuality in various texts. The one year of Arjuna’s life spent as Brihallana and rebirth of Amba as Shikhandi are some interesting instances. The artefacts found at the site of Sheri Khan Tarakai include visibly hermaphroditic figurines. There is a need to understand the notions of the feminine, masculine, neuter, and other forms of gender and sexual identities. These will have ramifications for understanding the ideas of conjugality, family, community, society and even polity and spirituality.
CONCLUSION
Human civilisations were built by men as well as women, however, history writing has a huge male-bias. Women were confined to questions of status and position that were largely evaluated in terms of their roles in the domestic sphere.
Their treatment as wives and widows became a central focus of most research alongside their place in ritual or religious context. This made them peripheral to mainstream history. This was questioned by various scholars from time to time and led to the development of gendered understanding of history. Focusing attention on women’s history helps to rectify the method which sees women as a monolithic homogeneous category. Writing gender history has helped in building an image of the past that is wholesome and nuanced.