Position of Women in Post Mauryan Period

Linked to the need for the maintenance and perpetuation of the caste and class structure was the strengthening of patriarchy in this period. It took the form of subordinating women and controlling their reproductive potential. The preference for sons over daughters continued. Women’s access to knowledge, secular and scriptural, was diminished. Women of affluent classes were increasingly confined to the domestic sphere, making them economically dependent on their male kinsmen. Great emphasis was put on the chastity of women which was sought to be preserved by early (Pre-puberty) marriages, on the one hand, and severe strictures on widows, on the other.

The texts also suggest that women were treated as property and akin to shudras. At the same time they were denied rights to inherit property which was patrilinealy passed on (passed on from father to son). The lawgivers of this period, however, do allow a married woman some control over the gifts made to her as a bride which was known as stridhana. It should be noted that the occurrence of number of women as donors of Buddhist sites indicates that certain women had some degree of access to economic resources of their households.