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Social Structure and Social Change

Notes Women in the Buddhist Period
The origin of Buddhism has been treated as reaction to Hinduism. Many unjustifiable social rigours,
like introducing the practice of pre-puberty marriages and denying right to education, right to mate
selection, right to participate in the religious discourses, etc., were imposed on women during the
periods of Brahmanas and Puranas. In the Buddhist period, the status of women improved a little,
though there was no tremendous change. In the religious field, women came to occupy a distinctly
superior place. They had their own sangha, called Bhikshuni Sangh, which was guided by the same
rules and regulations as those of the monks. The sangh opened to them avenues of cultural activities
and social service and ample opportunities for public life. In the social field, they had an honoured
place according to the traditions of Brahmanical religion. Their political and economic status, however,
remained unchanged.
Women in the Medieval Period

The first invasion of India by the Muslims took place in the eighth century—the period in which
Sankracharya lived. The Hindu society was engaged in evolving, under the leadership of Sankracharya,
a technique to face the expanding Buddhism. Sankracharya re-emphasized the supremacy of Vedas
to counter the spread of Buddhism, and the Vedas had given a status of equality to women. India
experienced a second Muslim invasion in the eleventh century when Mohmmad Ghazni conquered
India. From this period onwards till the middle of the eighteenth century, when the British authority
was established in the country, that is, during nearly 700 years, the breakdown of social institutions,
the upsetting of traditional political structures, the vast migration of people, and the economic
depression in the country—all these contributed to a general depression of social life, specially among
women. The purdah system came to be followed to such an extent that rigorous seclusion of women
became the rule. The facilities of education totally vanished. However, during the fifteenth century,
the situation had undergone some change. Ramanujacharya organized the first Bhakti movement
during this period, which introduced new trends in the social and the religious life of women in
India. The bhaktas (saints) like Chaitanya, Nanak, Meera, Kabir, Ramdas, Tulsi and Turkaram, stood
for the right of women to religious worship. Though their (bhaktas) total conception of women’s
status was not quite free from the then prevailing attitude to womanhood, yet this movement unlocked
the gate of religious freedom to women. As a result of this freedom, they secured certain social freedom
also. The purdah system was abolished. Attending kathas and kirtans (religious prayers) freed women
from the circumscribed domestic life. The ‘Grihastashram’ emphasized upon in the Bhakti movement,
did not permit saints to take to sanyas without the consent of wife. This implied giving an important
right to women. This (Bhakti) movement had other effect also. Since the time of Manu, women were
debarred from education. The saints encouraged women to read religious books and to educate
themselves. Thus, the Bhakti movement gave a new life to women. However, since this movement
did not bring any change in the economic structure, so women continued to hold low status in the
society. Their status later on improved due to the effects of the British rule.
Changes in the British Period Affecting Women’s Status
The British remained the rulers of India in the eighteenth, the nineteenth and the first half of the
twentieth centuries. During the British rule, a number of changes were made in the economic and the
social structures of our society. While progress in improving the quality of life of women during the
British rule of 200 years appeared to have invisibility, yet some substantial progress was achieved in
eliminating inequalities between men and women in education, employment, social rights, and so
forth. We will refer here only to those aspects of change which affected the status of women. Six such
important aspects were: (i) industrialization, (ii) spread of education, (iii) weakening of the caste
system, (iv) social movements initiated by some enlightened leaders, (v) growth of women’s
organizations, and (vi) enactment of social legislation.

Industrialization
The economic changes during the British period were perhaps the most decisive. The growth of machine
industries and the destruction of hand industries struck the deadliest blow to the means of livelihood both
for women and men. The economic structure established by the British was not devised for the love of the

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