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Are Indian women powerful mother goddesses, or domestic handmaidens trailing behind men in literacy, wages, opportunities, and rights? Have they been agents of their own destinies, or voiceless victims of patriarchy? Behind these colorful over-simplifications lies the reality of many feminine personas belonging to various classes, ethnicities, religions, and castes. This two-volume set looks at Indian history from ancient to modern times, revealing precisely why ideas of gender rights were not static across eras or regions. Raman's work is a reflection on the various ways in which women in a

Introduction -- Antecedents and Preview -- Early Vedic Era -- Vedic Scriptures, Janapadas, and Women -- Jaina and Buddhist Canon and Women -- Dharma Sūtras -- Mauryan Empire and Arthaśāstra -- Early Classical Era -- Arthaśāstra and Manu Smŗiti -- Pre-Guptan and Guptan Monarchs -- Yājňavalkya Smŗiti and Nārada Smŗiti.

This book looks at the first eight Sanskrit law codes written in India, between 600 BCE and 570 ACE. It focuses on the legal, religious and ethical customs which were codified in this period and their impact on the social and political life of women. The volume analyzes texts such as the Dharma Sūtras, the Arthaśāstra, the Manu Smŗiti, the Yājňyavalkya Smŗiti, and Nārada Smŗiti, amongst others. It studies discourses on justice, conduct, virtues and duties, and how early laws were used to systematize patriarchy and the varna caste system in South Asia. It examines how patrimonial laws and male property rights highlighted social anxieties about female chastity and varna lineage, which led to the subordination of women and the lower varnas. These anxieties are most evident in codes from the late Vedic and early classical eras when diverse new settlers arrived upon the subcontinent. At this time, kings decentralized governance and allowed local groups to practice communal laws, while they meted out court justice with a specific law code. As the state became prosperous from trade conducted by merchants of diverse castes, sects, and classes, and social peace was ensured by officials from disparate backgrounds, kings began to rely upon a law code that aspired for equity above intolerance. These chapters examine heterodox Therāvada Buddhism and Jainism, their origins in the oligarchic state, their impact on the royal Sanskritic state, as seen in canonical literature. They especially focus on women's roles in heterodox sects, and the emergence of new spaces for women, as such changes were adopted in disparate ways and degrees by other South Asian communities. The volume will be a useful resource for students and researchers of history, women and gender studies, social anthropology, sociology, and law. It will also serve as an information guide for readers who are interested in the political, and social life of women in early India. ; https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1528/thumbnail.jpg

This article concerns four Tamil novels, which upper-caste men who used
the Western novel to publicize contemporary problems concerning women's
education and sexuality, composed between 1879 and 1924. The author
demonstrates connections among reform for women, the Dravidian ethnic
and literary revival, and the overarching national awakening during
colonial rule in Madras, India. The male authors drew moral and literary
validation from contemporary recompilations of classical Tamil texts
when they articulated their views on improving modern women's lives,
but they also reaffirmed patriarchal notions of female chastity
and domesticity. Bourgeois Victorian ideas on women's domesticity and
sexual restraint reinforced traditional Indian views. Thus, while these
male novelists successfully challenged unjust customs, such as girls'
illiteracy, child marriages, and widow abuse, their paradigms on modern
womanhood inhibited the full development of gender equality. Their
heroines irrevocably shaped public perceptions of the female persona,
and they became blueprints for modern Tamil fictional characters.