[Reader-list] Early Kashmiri Society—Status of Women

[Pawan Durani]

Early Kashmiri Society—Status of Women



By Dr. Shashishekar Toshkani

One of the most significant, and  surprising, features of the early
Kashmiri society was the freedom that women enjoyed. The picture one
gets of their life from various literary sources is not that of
servitude or deprivation but of happy participation in different
spheres of human activity. There was no attempt to marginalise them or
deculturise their personality, as was being done in other contemporary
societies elsewhere in the world. Though under the protective umbrella
of the family, they occupied a pivotal place in social life and moved
about with unfettered freedom. Undoubtedly, the society was
patriarchal, but there was no restriction on the movement of women,
nor were any irrational curbs imposed on their activity. In the age of
Nilamata and the centuries that followed, female seclusion was
something unknown in Kashmir till Islam made its advent. Participating
joyfully in the numerous festivals prescribed in the Nilamata, they
would go to the gardens in the company of their menfolk without any
inhibition or fear of approbation. For instance, during the
Iramanjari- utsava, they would freely sport with men under the
flower-laden boughs of the Iramanjari shrubs, exchanging garlands of
flowers with men in a spirit of gay abandon Or go to the fruit gardens
on the Ashokikash tami day to worship fruit-bearing trees”’. Such was
the spirit of the times that during the Shravani Utsava. young maidens
were enjoined to go and enjoy water sports. Yet another
seasonal-festival was Krishyarambha when peasant women would accompany
their menfolk to the “open fields of nature for ceremonial ploughing
of the soil and sowing of seeds”. It was a month long festival
celebrated amidst much singing and dancing While these outdoor
festivals showed that women in these times were in no way confined to
the four walls of their homes, there were numerous indoor festivals
too. For instance, during the Kaumudi Mahotsava or the festival of the
Full Moon, women would sit beside the sacred fire with their husbands
and children, watching the beauty of the moonlit night.  Even servants
were allowed to participate in such festivals.

There was Madana Trayodashai, festival dedicated to the god of love.
On this occasion a husband would demonstrate his love for his wife by
personally giving her a bath with sacred water scented by herbs.
Similarly, at the end of the three-day Mahimana celebrations,
well-adorned ladies would freely and joyfully play with men. On Sukha
Suptika or Deepawali night, the well-adorned wife, could display her
charms to her husband in the exciting privacy of the specially
decorated bedroom and savour his compliments.

That is not all. There were special occasions when men were to make
ladies of the house happy by giving them new clothes as presents. One
such occasion was on the Navahimapata-utsava or the New Snowfall Day—
a festival that was celebrated by the Kashmiri Pandits till they were
exiled from their native land. On the full moon day of Margashirsha
(January-February), the householder is enjoined by the Nilamata to
invite his sister, paternal aunt and friend’s wife, besides a Brahmana
lady, and honour them with gifts of new clothes. Presentation of gifts
to a friend’s wife! That could happen only in a free society.

An enlivening feature of these beautiful festivals was, music, dance
and dramatic shows. These were an essential part of the festivals that
the early Hindus of Kashmir celebrated, and the ladies watched these
shows with great joy. Not only watched them but must have participated
in them. And the ladies were attractively attired, well decorated and
well perfumed during these festivities. Surely, this must have added
great charm and beauty to their life. Another thing even more
important to be noted is that these ancient social festivals have a
religious setting.

Coming to religious life, the presence of women in the performance of
various rites. rituals and ceremonies was regarded as essential. And
that is how things should have been in a society where people regarded
Kashmir, their native land an embodiment of goddess Uma. This is very
significant, for it shows that the Mother Goddess cult has occupied a
central place in the religious beliefs of Kashmiri Hindus from the
earliest times, a cult that explains respect for women as an aspect of
reverence for the divine feminine. A host of goddesses began to be
worshipped in Kashmir from Uma and Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and
Mahakali to the very popular and very local deities like Sharika,
Ragya, Tripura and Jwala. Shaiva and Shakta Tantricism, which became
very popular in Kashmir from the 7th century, identifies Shakti with
Supreme Reality, which, it says is “female in essence”. That makes us
understand why an aspirant taking to the Kulachara mode of worship is
asked to look upon women with extreme reverence.

One of the most noteworthy features of early Kashmir society was that
women had access to good and liberal education. They were taught among
other things, literature and fine arts and given practical training in
music, dance and drama, which were considered as accomplishments fit
for them. There is ample evidence for this in Kaihana’s Rajatarangini,
Somadeva’s Katha-sarit-sagara, Damodargupta’s KuttanimataKavya,
Bilhana’s Vikramankadeva Charit and several other works. The great
Sanskrit grammarian Pamni gives the formation  Kathi, for a female
student to Kathaka school of Black Yajurveda to which the Kashmiri
Pandits belong. An idea of the curriculum can be had from the
Kuttanimata Kavya. A girl was taught variety of subjects, we learn,
including literature, Bharata’s Natyashastra. paintings, aboriculture,
cookery, cut—work in leaves (patra-chcheda), vocal and instrumental
music etc. In a nostalgic mood Bilhana remembers towards the end of
Vikramakadeva Charit the accomplished women of Kashmir who not only
spoke Sanskrit and Prakrit as fluently as their mother tongue, but,
also composed poetry in it. In theatrical performance and dancing they
excelled the celestial maidens.

Several women have played a significant role in shaping the political
history of Kashmir. Yashovati became the first queen in Kashmir to be
enthroned as a ruler — even though as a regent. Queens like Sugandha
and Didda gave very impressive account of their. administrative
acumen. Many others, like Khadana. Amritprabha, Chakramardika,
Kalyandevi, Ratnadevi and Kamla Devi built shrines and marketplaces
and towns. Chandrapida’s queen Kalyanadevi was exalted by the King as
“Mahapratiharapala, something like the Chief Chamberlain. Suryamati,
the queen of King Ananta helped her husband to overcome his initial
difficulties in administering the State. Queen Kalhanika, was sent on
a delicate diplomatic mission of bringing about a rappochement between
Jayasimha and Bhoja. This presupposes that these queens must have
received some training in the art of administration and diplomacy
previously.

As for the common woman, we do not know what occupations, if any, were
open to her besides that of a housewife. We have a water carrier
sculpted on a tile from Harvwan. Perhaps some women worked as
flower-sellers too. Most of them, however. took care of their family
and children, acting as wife and mother. There is evidence to show
that pre-puberty marriages of girls did not take place. In fact, works
like Kshemendra’s Deshopadesha indicate that girls were married at a
mature age. Though fidelity in marriage was regarded as an ideal,
polygamy seems to have been quite prevalent among the rich and the
well-to-do men. The kings had “seraglios full of queens and
concubines”. Widows; were supposed to live an austere and highly moral
life. Prevalence of sati among the rich and aristocratic families
points to some of the blemishes which ancient Kashmiri society
suffered from.

Though we do not come across any example of polyandry, prostitution
seems to have been quite common. “Although prostitution was tolerated
as an inescapable evil,’ writes Ajay Mitra Shastri. .‘ the society
looked down upon prostitutes and condemned men indulgent to them in
unmistakable terms”. Authors like Damodaragupta and Kshemendra were
closely acquainted with the trade. Damodargupta’s Kuttanimata gives us
an insight into .the prostitutes’ mode of behaviour, their proficiency
in literature and fine arts, their greed for money and customs
connected with their craft. Kshemendra too in his Narmamala, Samaya
Matrika and Deshopadesha draws detailed and graphic pictures of
prostitutes’ life and exposes the moral laxity that had crept in his
contemporary society. Kalhana and Somadeva also make references to the
system of ‘devadasi’ (dedicating girls to a temple for dancing and
singing) that seems to have prevailed in Kashmir from quite early
times, and could be described as a form of prostitution.

On the whole, however, it is a happy picture of Kashmiri women that
emerges from literary sources. Dr. S.C.Ray has drawn our attention to
very significant fact in this context. To put it in his own words
“Women in Kashmir probably had some property rights and independent
legal status. Kalhana in his Rajatarangini and Kshemendra in his
Samaya Matrika seem to indicate that a widow inherited her husbands’
immovable property after his death, rather than his sons”. This is
something really very significant, and needs further research.

This discussion about social organization in ancient and early Kashmir
is by no means complete and conclusive, but we can safely draw certain
inferences. The first and the that must be noted is that though there
was an awareness of the four traditional castes, Brahmana, Kshatriya,
Vaishya and Shudra, the early Kashmiri society was not rigid about the
caste system. In fact, it was divided more along occupational lines
than caste lines. The Brahmanas were no doubt highly respected, but
because they valued learning above everything else and formed the
intellectual class. The religious rituals and ceremonies were
performed by the priestly class among the Brahmanas, and not all
Brahmanas were priests. Second the most important occupational class
in the society was that of the agriculturists, followed by the rich
and prosperous merchants and traders and the various upward mobile
artisan classes. It were the Damaras among the agriculturists who
became very powerful and influential as feudal landlords and
interfered with the affairs of the State, holding at times the entire
administration to ransom. There was also the administrative class.
which was comprised of the nobility and the bureaucracy. The latter
was referred to by the cover name of Kayastha or the king’s officers
engaged in collecting revenue and taxes, but they did not belong to
any specific caste. Their oppressive and exploitative methods and
their greed and corruption have been severely criticized by writers
like Kshemendra and Kalhana. Thirdly, and lastly, women occupied a
high position in the society and enjoyed freedom unknown in
contemporary societies elsewhere in the world. Tantracism of the
Shaiva and Shakta variety which led to the spread of the mother
goddess cult in Kashmir regards Supreme Reality to be feminine in
essence and calls for revering women as manifestations of the eternal
feminine or Shakti.

--To be continued

Source: Kashmir Sentinel