Position of Women during Mughal Period

Read this article to learn about the position of women during Mughal period:

The Hindu women enjoyed respect in their family, participated in religious ceremonies, were educated and many of them acquired scholarly fame as well.

Yet, in general, their status had deteriorated in the society and they suffered from many social evils.

Normally, monogamy was prevalent in the society but, among the rich a man could keep many wives. The widows could not marry again. They either became sati at the pyre of their husbands or passed their lives as women-hermits. The Muslims were always prepared either to molest or to capture Hindu-women which resulted in child-marriages and Purdah system.

It also adversely affected their education and movements in the society. Therefore, education could be provided to them only at homes which could be afforded only by the rich. The birth of a daughter was regarded as a bad omen and that resulted in the practice of female-infanticide.

However, the lower castes remained free from many of these social evils. There was no purdah system in them and their women were free to divorce and remarry. Even widow-marriages were permitted among them.

Devadasi system was another social evil which was prevalent among the Hindus. Beautiful unmarried girls were offered to images of God sin temples where they passed their lives as maid­servants of gods. It was not only serious injustice to their lives but also resulted in corruption in temples.

There were certain other changes which the Hindus accepted because of their contact with the Muslims. The Hindus started to accept the converts back to the Hindu-fold. There were changes, in their clothing’s, food-habits, social habits and certain customs as well.

Muslim women also did not enjoy a respectable status in the society. Polygamy was widely prevalent among the Muslims. Every Muslim had a right to keep at least four wives or slaves. Purdha- system was strictly observed among Muslim-women.

They were devoid of education because of this social-custom. However, they were better placed in certain respects as compared to Hindu women. They could divorce their husbands, remarry and could claim their share in the property of their parents. There was no practice of sati among Muslim women.

Thus, it can be concluded that the position of women in India was much inferior to men during the period of the Sultanate and they suffered from many social evils and other handicaps. Primarily, the women were regarded as articles of pleasure.