page_title: History of women in the Indian subcontinent
section_title: Ancient and Early Medieval periods
hierarchical_section_title: History of women in the Indian subcontinent / Ancient and Early Medieval periods
caption_attribution_description: English: Roundel 36: Amrapali, the courtesan, greets the Buddha. Carving on ivory. Exhibit at the National Museum in New Delhi, India.
context_page_description: The study of women's history in the Indian subcontinent has been a major scholarly and popular field, with many scholarly books and articles, museum exhibits, and courses in schools and universities.
context_section_description: Women during the Vedic period enjoyed equal status with men in all aspects of life. Works by ancient Indian grammarians such as Patanjali and Katyayana suggest that women were educated in the early Vedic period. Rig Vedic verses suggest that women married at a mature age and were probably free to select their own husbands in a practice called swayamvar or live-in relationship called Gandharva marriage. The Rig Veda and Upanishads mention several women sages and seers, notably Gargi Vachaknavi and Maitreyi (c. 7th century BCE).
  Originally, women were allowed to undergo initiation and study the Vedas. In the Dharmasutra of Harita, it is mentioned that:
  In Mahabharata, the story of Draupadi's marriage to 5 men is a case in point. This pointed to the fact that polygamy was matched with polyandry during the Vedic era. Women could select their husbands in an assembly called swayamwar. In this practice, the father of the woman would invite all the men and the woman would select one, and marry him while the court watched. This clearly showed how women's rights were taken seriously during the Vedic era. This practice was prevalent till the 10th century A.D.
  Also, in the Puranas, every God was shown in consort of their wives (Brahma with Saraswathi, Vishnu with Lakshmi and Shiva with Parvati). Idols of god and goddesses were depicted with equal importance to both genders. Separate temples were set up for goddesses, and within each temple, goddesses were treated and worshipped with as much care and devotion as the gods were. There are also specific practices that endure to this day, in terms of preference of worship.
  The book "Hindu Female Deities as a resource for contemporary rediscovery of the Goddess" by Gross Rita.M, 1989, says: 
  "According to some scholars the positive constructions of femininity found in goddess imagery and in the related imagery of the virangana or heroic woman have created a cognitive framework, for Hindus to accept and accommodate powerful female figures like "Indira Gandhi and Phoolan Devi, The same would not have been possible in Western religious traditions "
  
  Even in the practice of Homa (ritual involving fire, and offerings to fire), every mantra or Shloka is addressed to Swaha, the wife of Agni, instead of Agni himself. Devi Bhagavata Purana: 9.43, says that all requests to Agni had to be made through his wife only:
  "O Goddess, Let yourself become the burning power of fire; who is not able to burn anything without thee. At the conclusion of any mantra, whoever taking thy name (Svaha), will pour oblations in the fire, he will cause those offerings to go directly to the gods. Mother, let yourself, the repository of all prosperity, reign over as the lady of his (fire's) house."
  This aspect of Swaha as Agni's wife is mentioned in Mahabharata, Brahmavantara Purana, Bhagavatha Purana as various hymns.
  In the 6th or 5th century BCE, Queen Mṛgāvatī (in Sanskrit), or Migāvatī (in Prakrit) of the Vatsa mahajanapada ruled as regent while her son Udayana was either a minor or held captive by a rival king, and she earned "the admiration of even experienced ministers."
  Apastamba sutra (c. 4th century BCE) captures some prevalent ideas of the role of women during the post Vedic ages. The Apastamba Sutra shows the elevated position of women that existed during the 4th century BCE:
  A man is not allowed to abandon his wife (A 1.28.19).
  He permits daughters to inherit (A 2.14.4).There can be no division of property between a husband and a wife, because they are linked inextricably together and have joint custody of the property (A 2.29.3).Thus, a wife may make gifts and use the family wealth on her own when her husband is away (A 2.12.16–20).
  Women are upholders of traditional lore, and Āpastamba tells his audience that they should learn some customs from women (A 2.15.9; 2.29.11).
  In the Gupta period instances are not rare of women participating in an administrative job. Chandragupta I, founder of the Gupta Empire, ruled the kingdom jointly with his queen Kumara Devi. Prabhavatigupta was the daughter of Chandra Gupta
caption: "Amrapali greets Buddha", ivory carving, National Museum, New Delhi. Amrapali was a celebrated nagarvadhu (royal courtesan) of the republic of Vaishali in ancient India.
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