In the present, the top three environmental issues facing the Thar are water availability, land quality and dust emission. While dwindling water reserves call for urgent attention to water management, threats of global warming and population pressure are not only deteriorating the land condition, but also increasing the sand mobility and atmospheric dust load.
The Thar Desert is one of the most fragile ecosystems of India. Its low and uncertain rainfall, high temperatures, high wind speeds, and a rolling sandy topography dominated by 10 to 40 m high sand dunes, provide an awe inspiring glimpse of desolation and emptiness in the western part of Rajasthan in India and adjoining part of Pakistan, between the Aravalli Hill Ranges and the fertile Indus Valley. The Desert also has occasional small stretches of sandy alluvial plains with sparse vegetation. The plains have mostly been formed by dry streams that originate from the Aravallis, but also partly by a major Himalayan stream that has long disappeared. Because of insufficient rainfall and sandy terrain, the present day streams cannot flow for long distances, and disappear in the thickness of the sand.
Despite its dryness, the Thar has its own precious natural endowments, on the strength of which it formed a hinterland to the cradle of civilization in the Saraswati-Indus Plains (circa 3300-1300 BC). Apart from its well built people, who have over the last few millennia developed a strong adaptive mechanism to the extremes of the environment, the desert also has a wealth of animal resources that thrive and perform well under dry conditions. Survival instinct under uncertain rainfall, long and severe drought, strong sun, high wind, poor soils and above all, limited water availability has compelled the desert dwellers to innovate constantly for a better sedentary life from the available land resources. This is in stark contrast to the Sahara-Sahel region of Africa where large scale transhumance is still a major adaptive mechanism.
Thar Desert has a distinctive set of traditional wisdom, at the core of which lie the themes of water conservation, mixed farming of crops and livestock, agroforestry and land care. This is unlike the history of settlement in many other deserts where animal husbandry and migration were the core concepts.
Proximity to the Harappan towns and cities, a large number of which grew in the then-drying Saraswati River valley (present day Ghaggar River that once used to carry the waters of the Sutlej also, but long before the Harappans settled), meant that the desert population had an added opportunity of trading in crop and animal products, and hence an urge to evolve technologies for water conservation and dryland agriculture.
Since then a system of agriculture, based on mixed cropping and animal husbandry that depended on the optimum utilisation of the capricious monsoon rainfall and the management and care of the region’s fragile land resources, became a strong asset of the region. The mixed cropping helped to take care of grain production in years of monsoon aberrations, while animal husbandry helped most during droughts, not only through sales proceeds of the live animals, but also animal products.
A host of practices for land care and water conservation are in-built in the traditional customs and agricultural practices of the rural population. Practices like keeping the land fallow for some seasons to regain the soil nutrients (long fallow for 2-5 years; short fallow for a year), erecting fences around fields during summer to trap the suspended silt that blows in from the fertile plains during sandstorms (aandhi) or to prevent the soil from blowing away, lopping of trees (rather than felling) for fuel and fodder, management of permanent pastures for grazing, rotational grazing practices etc.
Unfortunately, the situation has started changing with population growth and modernisation. As the rate of change became faster, the first casualty was the system of land fallowing. Permanent pastures have become almost bereft of ground flora, and browse-worthy shrubs have become fewer, which has encouraged the non-browsable plant species to invade. Sparse natural woody vegetation on the sand dunes and low sandy hummocks has gradually become the target of fuel wood collectors, the loss of which has loosened the structure of sand, making the dunes more vulnerable to wind during the dry summer months.
In the wake of the Green Revolution major changes started to happen in the neighbouring fertile plains of Punjab and Haryana, where science mediated crop production technologies showed the road to self sufficiency in agriculture, especially through the use of improved seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, mechanisation of tillage and harvest and irrigation facilities.
Soon, the echo of the Green Revolution started sounding in the arid western districts of Rajasthan as well. Farmers first opted for diesel pump sets for energising their wells, especially for winter cropping. With time, as rural electrification progressed and the state ground water department moved in to sink tube wells for drinking purposes, the farmers followed suit and started sinking their own wells for irrigation. The total sown area increased from 7.8 million hectares in 1950-51 to 10.09 in 1980 and to 10.94 by 2005. At the same time, irrigated land increased from 0.363 million hectares in 1950-51 to 1.39 in 1980 and to 2.77 in 2005, where canal networks (essentially the Indira Gandhi Canal system) accounted for 43 per cent of the irrigated area, and electrified wells the remaining 57 per cent.
Tractors followed soon after electrification and their numbers swelled from 14.5 thousand in 1980 to 200 thousand by 2005. This increase is justified by the need for quick tillage and sowing operations after rains in a sandy terrain, which have to be completed within 2 days of a 30 mm rainfall event at the break of monsoon (usually early July). Otherwise, the strong sun evaporates the soil moisture and the opportunity is lost. Tractor operation, however, is antagonistic to the random distribution of trees and shrubs in a field. The easiest choice was, therefore, to uproot the trees and shrubs in the fields. The fields thus lost their uniqueness as models of traditional agroforestry. With improved irrigation, the demand for cropland increased and the tractors gradually began to climb the sand dunes, which earlier served mostly as natural rangelands and used to be brought under cropping only during good rains. Gradually, almost the whole of the sandy tract in the desert became deep ploughed by tractors, which meant destabilisation of sand over a large area. Today many sand dunes in the eastern half of the desert are under crops where tractors plough the land and sprinkler irrigation helps grow winter crops for cash.
Irrigation led to an enormous increase in crop production, especially in the winter crops that fetched large income for the farmers. Groundwater was a free commodity and the farmers were enthused by the success of irrigation, as a consequence over irrigation of the fields became common. In the canal command areas misuse of water led to water logging and salinity in many parts of Ganganagar, Hanumangarh and Bikaner districts.
At the same time, government efforts to provide drinking water to all the villages continued. The pipeline grids for drinking water helped people to avoid the drudgery of fetching water from long distances, but this also led to a neglect of the traditional water harvesting structures, many of which silted up and their catchments became disturbed and encroached upon. The examples of worst neglect can be found in the Sekhawati tract, especially in the districts of Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu.
The major use of groundwater is not for drinking (<15 per cent), but for irrigation (>80 per cent). As pumping of groundwater increased, the discharge from many wells began to dwindle, and the aquifers began to dry up. The affected farmers started going deeper for water, which not only escalated the cost of lifting water, but in many cases the lifted water was also found to be of poor quality. The soils were affected and the yields were reduced. Irrigated farming then became either unremunerative or difficult to pursue due to the dried up aquifers. This forced many farmers to shift back from the irrigated winter cropping to the rain fed subsistence farming in monsoon, which led to new socio cultural problems for the affected families.
Meanwhile, the sandy soil, bereft of a minimum vegetation cover and loosened by years of tractor ploughing, became more vulnerable to strong summer winds of March to June. Fortunately, the average wind speed has fallen in much of the 1990s and the 2000s from its last peak in the mid 1980s. Despite this, the atmospheric dust load has shown signs of some increase in the recent years, due mainly to the critical changes in land uses and land cover.
The ferocity of the wind and the attendant sand mobility during the early 1950s and 60s are still remembered as extraordinary by the local inhabitants. The sand mobilisation was so strong that it compelled the Indian Parliament to create a Desert Afforestation Station at Jodhpur, to understand the phenomenon and to stabilise the sand dunes so that the fertile lands to the east of the desert did not get encroached upon.
This Station was further developed in 1959 by the Government of India with the guidance of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI). It is now a major international institute for all encompassing research on the desert and has not only developed technologies for sand dune stabilisation and shelterbelt plantation, but has also stabilised many dunes across the desert to demonstrate the technology. Systematic research by CAZRI over the last five decades has produced several need based and cost effective technologies for sustainable land management and agricultural development.
Unfortunately, the adoption rates of the technologies are not as desired, because of socio economic considerations like inadequate finances, illiteracy, slow land reforms, lack of trained personnel, lack of market facilities, etc., as well as due to the lure of easy money from the almost free use of water. Meanwhile, the land condition is deteriorating due to human pressure, leading to desertification, especially through wind and water erosion, water logging, salinisation and vegetation degradation, which in turn is impacting the society. Industrial pollution is gradually becoming another major threat near the urban centres.
In the present, the top three environmental issues in the desert are water availability, land quality and dust emission. While dwindling water reserves call for urgent attention to water management, threats of global warming and population pressure are not only deteriorating the land condition, but also increasing the sand mobility and atmospheric dust load. In fact, there is now the threat of double vulnerability – to natural process acceleration and resource usurpation by humans – that might reflect sharply on soil quality deterioration and performance of the existing plant species, including crops.
Yields of some crops may decline by 20-30 per cent unless remedial interventions are made. As winter temperature increases, some high value crops like cumin and wheat are already getting affected. Growing summer crops (kharif) is becoming more speculative due to shifts in rainy days and rainfall intensity. Earlier the rainfall distribution during June-September was almost like a bell shape, where the maximum concentration was during July-August. This pattern is gradually showing signs of a shift towards a double peak, one in May-June and another in August-September, which compels farmers either to speculate for a July rain or to rush for out of season purchase of inputs like seeds and fertilizer, and then gamble for a good distribution of rain during the crop growth stages.
There is every possibility that the summer wind strength will also gradually increase over the next few decades. When seen in the context of changes made in land tillage and the impact of empty aquifers, this may lead to a much higher potential for sand mobilisation than experienced during the last fifty years.
If that happens, there is a fair chance that wind blown sand will start spreading beyond the eastern border of the Thar. This process may be assisted by reactivation of the presently stable sandy landscape to the east and north of the Thar that formed parts of a Mega-Thar some 10-20 thousand years ago. These eastern sandy areas became naturally stabilised when the rainfall increased 5-8 thousand years ago, and the desert area shrank to the west of the Aravalli Hills. Since population pressure is now very high in this sandy terrain, the aquifers have become almost dry and the land surface temperature is increasing, a suitable trigger could remobilise the thick sandy areas.
To save the Thar and the land beyond from a disastrous situation, steps need to be taken urgently. These should include: increasing the green cover in the sandy terrain to minimise wind erosion and soil nutrient loss; improving water use efficiency of crops and developing heat and drought tolerance in them; management strategies to meet the challenges of increased drought and flood frequencies; improving the livestock production system as a strong alternative to crop based economy; a proper understanding and close monitoring of land surface processes; and above all water storage and conservation, mainly through artificial recharge.
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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.