Women in Mughal agrarian society
Topic: Mughal Agrarian Society and Economy · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Peasants, Zamindars and the State"
Meaning
In 16th–17th-century Mughal villages, farming depended on the labour of the whole household, so home and field could not be kept apart. Men tilled and ploughed. Women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed (separated grain from husk). They also spun yarn, prepared clay for pottery and did embroidery. The more a product was sold in markets, the more women's labour it needed. Women also faced taboos and strict male control. Peasant and artisan customs about marriage were different from those of the elite.
Example
In western India, women who were menstruating were not allowed to touch the plough or the potter's wheel. In Bengal they were kept out of paan (betel-leaf) groves. Yet women in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra sent petitions to village panchayats, the councils of village elders, against husbands who neglected the family. Among landed families, Hindu and Muslim women inherited zamindaris (rights over land and its revenue). The great 18th-century Rajshahi zamindari in Bengal was headed by a woman.
Don't confuse with
- Dowry (elite custom): Many women died young from poor food, frequent pregnancies and childbirth, so wives were in short supply. Because of this, peasant and artisan families paid a bride-price to the bride's family instead of a dowry. Divorced women and widows could also remarry lawfully.