BEYOND THE ALTEKARIAN PARADIGM

Beyond
the Altekarian
Paradigm:
73
Towards a New women. All the major reformers of the ume attacked the practice
Cender Relations in
of Understanding sati, child marriage andenforced
widowhood, and was a common
platform whether the reformers belonged to thethis
of
Early Indian History Bengal, the Prârthaná Samâj in Maharashtra or the
Brähmo Samaj in
northern India. The Arya Samaj in
at
preoccupation with these questions was derived,
least in part, from the dominance of Sanskritic
Uma Chakravarti models in the
nincteenth century, since the major thrust in the debate came from
within the upper sections of the Hindu
community. The above
mentioned characteristic has survived in the women's
in
question even
contemporary times where the study of the identity of women is
Discussion based almost
on the of women has a
status enürely on Sanskritic modelsand the myths conditioning
writing, teaching, and learning of early Indianunique position in thhe women.
of the conclusions of this history. Further, some Another feature which has significant consequences for the
discussion have actually found their
into the syllabi of schools and way general debate onthe status of women is that both the
undergraduate courses. For whatever of the reform proponents
it is
worth, therc is some inlormation aswell as the opponents of the reform looked back to
on women in almost
book on ancient India. This kind of every text the ancient texts as the source from which both
groups took their
any other course of
information does not occur in positions and invoked the sanctions of the Sästras in putting forward
history
since there has been no tradition
of a their
separate discussion the status of women. The
on arguments. This naturally necessitated a study of the position
situation made its point while I was uniqueness of the of women over the course of
history. The deciding factor in the
correcting
examinaion papers debate between the liberals or
sometimes ago. A
question on the main features of later Vedic was the relative
progressives, and the conservatives
civilization resulted in a spate of answers antiquity of the source from which theywere quoting.
of women. It was clear, that to most dealing with the position The older the source the more authentic and
authoritative it was
students, one of the important considered. Raja Rammohun Roy, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar and
indices of a civilization was the
This general
position that women in it.occupied R.G. Bhandarkar, all
quoted copiously from the Sanskrit sources in
understanding is based on
an informal debate that took order to attack the conservatives. There is thus a
over 150 years direct correlation
to
crystallize and percolate down toa large number of between the concerns of the Brähmo
people among the upper classes in India.
Prårthanä Samj and the writings on the
Samaj, Arya Samj, and the
The existing material on women in early India however has a civilization.
position of women
in Hindu
seriously limiting dimension it,
especially when we consider the
Lo
Since the traditional work on the status of women in
negaive effect that such work has had on a real India exists
women in
understanding of enirely within the context of Hinduism, it is heavily preoccupied
history. It might, therefore, be worthwhile to explain why with religious and legal questions such as the right to widow
the first historians undertook studies of the status
why of women, remarriage, the existence of the insitution of niyoga, the right to
they remained confined essenually to Ancient India, and also review
property for women, the origin and
of stridhana, the right of the childlessdevelopment
the state of the of the institution
existing literature so that one may be able to evaluate widow to adopt and so on. On
the worth of the available studies. This
will, in turn, help us oudine the religious front, there is an obsession
with the right of a woman
the kind of work that needs to be done in
the future. to
perform religious sacrifices either by herself or with her husband,
The women's
question
the national movement. The
took a central place in the
early stages of as also with her interest and
involvement with the pursuit of religious
the nineteenth
socio-religious reform movements of goals. The social position of women is usually concerned with the
century advocated a reform of Hindu society whose inclusion or exclusion of women in
win evils were seen as the
existence of caste and the low status of to education. On the
public assemblies and their right
whole, the perspective on women is contined
 ARTT

to
seeing them within the context of
the
BEYOND THE AL.TEKARIAN
PARADIGM
women within the family and family. It is the status of find
7
husbands with which the primarily in the relationship ofwives to this stage child
at
marriage firmly enforced. The death of
traditional writers were concerned. preferred to her
falling into evil hands. Hence a widow was

Another feature of the was

enjoined by the self-immolation of a widow
traditional law codes giving the
they were based entirely onwriting unfortunate victim the hope of
on thc
women is that position of heavenly bliss. Such and several other customs
ifthese sources are considered to be brahmanical sources. Even curbed the freedom ofwomen to a were
introduced which
very large extent. This was done
have reason to
doubt, they carry the reasonably authentic, whichI to save her from the
foreigners and to preserve the purity of the perhaps
of the
brähmanas, (b) problem of (a) an inherent bias race
rather than the actual reflecting
the precepts of the Similarly, R.C. Dutt. the well-known nationalist historian and
practice of the brähmanas to
present a coherent account of ancient Indian civilization
the first
themselves to the people, and (c) confining women, writes: and of
upper castes. At best, the
partial view from above. How existing
termed as a work can be
unsatisfactory
such un- Absolute seclusion and restraint
conditional reliance upon brahmanical were unknown in India tiil
(of women) were not Hindu customs. They
ciear further sources has been will be Mohammedan times. No
on in this their
. .

. ancient nation held

The paper. women in higher honour than the
Hindus.
analysis of the position of women in ancient India has also Such a
been coloured
by the fact that almost all the works have been sweeping viet is untenable if one looks at the past without the
Written by scholars who would fall tinted spectacles of tihe present. Even if one were to confine oneself
within the nationalist school of to brahmanical sources, there is enough evidence to
history. Wriüng at a ime when Hindu social institutions were of the upper castes did not have access to show that
subjected to fierce criticis1m by a generation that was beinng women
the public domain
Western education and Western imbibing by the early centuries of the Christian era, and that Manu and other
values, these scholars worked hard law-givers recommended early marriage for girls. Sati itself was
to show that the
posi tion of women had been high in the ancient associated with women of the ruling classes, as is evident from
The evils past. the
contemporary retlecung the low position of women were seventh century account of Harsa's early career. The structure of
responsible for the Hindu sense of
inferiority in relation to their institutions that ensured the subordination of women was
ruling masters. As a reacion, Hindu scholars complete
argued that the
evils in all essentials long before the Muslims as a
religious community
were only a temporary aberraion and could easily be eliminated. had come into being. The Muslim
bogey was a convenient peg to
The general thrust of the work
has, therefore, been to demonstrate explain the origin of all oppressive practices. It was particularly con-
that the status of
women was very high in the Vedic period; according venient for those who did not wish to see the structural framework
to this view, there was a
general decline afterwards, reaching rock of institutions that governed gender relations in early India, mainly
bottom with the coming of the invaders, because it was the same franmework that governed women even in
especially the Muslims, who
abducted Hindu women and violated them, and these circumstances
contemporary society. The term 'patriarchy' was hardly used and
resulted in the development of such evils as even when it did stray into an occasional historian's writüng, it was a
purdah, sati and female
infanticide. This view has become widely neutral term, completely divested of the power factor inherent in it:
prevalent since it appears
regularly in popular literature and vernacularjournals but we must successfully depoliticized, thus it lost its real import.
point out thatit is only an extension of traditional academic research. The cultural encounter between England and India in the
Here is a fairly nineteenth century, which was the context for the emergence
of
representative example from the pen of a woman naüonalist historiography, shaped the focus and the thrust of wriüng
scholar:
on women in early India. Theinjury to the Hindu sense ofsuperioriv
The tenth and the eleventh centuries saw the advent, and
later, the firm
establishment of Muhammandans in this country. When Hindu culture resulüngfrom the unfavourable comparison berween Hinduwome
the cultura
and Western women, which was common throughout
came into clash with a culture far
different from its own, the leaders of an inversion the of
encounter, was so marked that it led frequenuy
to
society began to frame rules and laws to safeguard their
the
interest-specially Vincent Smith syndrome. Vincent Smith's position
was a gener.

position of woinen. Rigorous restrictions were placed on them.... We

 IBEYOND TUE ALTEKARIAN PARADIC 77
contempt for everything Indian. If he faced with visual and in-
was
controvertible proof of something over in order
worthwhile in Indian culture, he
to
present a
picture of blissful, harmonious pursuit ot
would immediately:auribute itto Greek influcnce. philosophical truth.
on the
position of women in ancient India reversedHistorians writing
the argument by
The best known and most
internally coherent nationelist work
invariably uying point on women is Altekar's study on the
t0 out that nowhere else in the ancient
world position of women in Hindu
were women held in suclh civilization. His work is based primarily on brahmanical sources and
high regard as in the India of 3000
ago. They specially revelled in years outlines the position of women from earliest ümes
comparisons with Greece and Rome right up to the
as in the
passage below: mid-fifties of this century when the Hindu Code Bill was under
consideration. Altekar's work represents the best that is available to
The historian of India who has
studied the literature of the ancient us
by way of women's studies in history but it also shows up very
will have no hesitation in Hindus
asserting that never in the most polished days of sharply the limitations of the traditional approach. Although the
Greece and Rome were women held in
such high regard in those countries work unravels in detail the entire body of
as in India three
thousand years ago. opinion of the law makers
on such areas as the education
of women, marriage and divorce, the
Similarly, Altekar surveys the condition of women in ancient Greece, position of the widow, women in public life, proprietary rights of
Rome, and Palesine, and then reiterates that women, and the
the position which general position of women in society,
it is steeped
women
occupied the dawn of
at
civilization during the Vedic age was in the nationalist understanding of the women's
question. Further,
much better.
his overwhelming concern is with women in the contextof the family
The need of the nationalist and one almost gets the feeling that the status
historians to resurrect of women needs to be
lost glory of examples of the
Indian womanhood has led to a selective focus raised in order to ensure the healthy
on certain
aspects of the ancient texts. This has often resulted in a sanitized
development of the future race
of India. In this he was reflecting the
opinion of nationalist writers
interpretation of events, best illustrated by the nationalist renderinng from the second half of the nineteenth
century who placed tremen-
of the
Grgi-Yäjñavalkya
women's learning. The
debate, the most celebrated
example of
dous importance on the
physical regeneration of the Hindus.
highlight of the account in Shakuntala Rao A study Altekar's work will indicate the limitations inherent in
of
Shastri's book is the way the debate his approach. His theoretical framework is
concludes.
Grg+'s questions spelt out in the very first
to
Yajñavalkya have by this time become more subtle
and pointed. page of his work. According to him:
Yajñavalkya, however, clearly has no intention of
allowing Gargî to One of the best ways to understand the
win the prize of a thousand cows. spirit of a civilization and t-
At this stage of the debate he
arbitrarily threatens Gârgi with dire consequences if she appreciate its excellence and realize its limitations is to study the history of
the position and status
in
questioning him and so eliminates her from the contest. persists Despite
of women in it... . The marriage laws and custom=
enable us to realize whether men regarded women as market
this, Shakuntala Rao Shasri sums commoditie=
to the unfairness of
up the episode without pointing or war
prizes or whether they realized that the wife is after all her husband'
this clearly memorable valued partner whose
onfrontation between cooperation was
indispensable for happiness anc
two
philosophers, one a man and the other a woman. Instead she success in family life [italics mine]"
blithely states:
Altekar's own genuine commitument to
The persistent and obstinate him to sometimes making
reforming women's status lec
enquiry of a woman brought forth the finest quaint statements which he intended a=
definition of the Supreme
test
Reality. The motive of
Gärg+'s enquiry was not to positive and progressive. Thus he suggests that although
Yäjñavalkya but to learn from him [italics mine] about the nature of
Brahman." women have low
fighting value, they have potential military value. By givirm
birth to sons they contribute
Thus, Cargi's fearlessness, indirectlyto the fighting strength and efficien=
on awell established
independent mind, and her ability to take of their community.'

account, more
philosopher, is watered down in Rao Shastri's Further, Altekar's programme for
importanly the unfairness of the contest is glossed women, despite his
apparez
liberality and sympathy for them, was to view women
primarily
 EYOND THE ALTEKARIAN PARADICM
stock-breeders of astrong race. This view is 79
particularly noticeable in
his suggestions about women's education. In
Altckar's programme Aryans were gradually establishingtheir ule in foreign country surrounded
a
on all sides by an
of reform, women were to be educated indigenous hostile population that
enough but in doing so numbered them. Under such circumstances considerably out-
one had to ensure that no undue strain queens ruling in their
expressed his fears thus:
was
placed upon them. He rights or as regents were naturally unknown [italics
inine.
own

As things stand today, girls have

Similarly Altekar has a facile explanation for
why women did not own
to
pass the examinations as boys an
same
property. According to him:
to learn
house-keeping at home as well, all the while having less physical
strength than their brothers.
Thiscertainly puts too much strain upon them Landed property could be owned only by one who had the
and is power to defend
injurious
the future wrll-being of the race [italics mine]."
to it against actual or potential rivals and enemies. Wonen
unable to do this and so could hold no property.
were
obviously
Establishing the high satus of women was the means by which
Hindu' civilizauon could be vindicated. This was the finished In his inability to see women within specilic social organizaionand
a

version of the nationalist answer to recognizing patriarchal subordination of women Altekar was not
Hindu civilization published a
James Mill's denigration of
cenuryago; the locus of the barbarity unique. Like others he was reflecting a deeply internalized belief in
of Hindu civilizaion in biological determinism and therefore in the physical inferiority of
James Mill's work (A History of India) British
had lain in the abject condition of Hindu women. women.
By reversing the
picture, Altekar was attempting to lay Mill's ghost aside. But it was 7Very occasionally, however, Altekar shows flashes of insight ino
easier provide a general picture than to deal with a variety of
to the socio-economic context within which women's subordination
Customs oppressing women that still obtained in the early twenticth was achieved. For example, in his analysis of the causes for the 'fall
century. Altekar was thus forced to provide explanations for exist of the status of the Aryan women, Altekar suggests a connecuon with
ing biases against women. For example, he atempts to explain the the of the [üdras as a whole. He argues that the
Hindu preference for a son over a daughter
subjugation
conquest of the indigenous population and its loose incorporation
Aryan
by advancing a psy-
chological argument as in the passage bclow: as members of a
separate varna had given rise to a huge population
If a cruel fate inflicted widowhood
of semi-servile status. In such a situation Aryan women ceased to be
upon the daughter, the calamity would
producing members of society and thus lost the esteem of society.
break the parent's heart. Remarriage being no longer
possible, parents had But even as he makes this broadly contextual explanaion, Altekar is
to the heartrending pain
see of seeing their daughter wasting herself in
insensiive to the crucial disünction betwcen the parücipaion of
interminable widowhood.. parentshad often to pass through the terrible
ordeal of seeing their daughters burning themselves alive on the funeral women as producers and participation in terms of controllingproduct.
Pyre of their husbands. To become a daughter's parent thus became a ion. Thereafter Alte kar's semi-historical insight is unfortunately lost
source ofendlessworryand misery.. Asa natural consequence... passages and popular prejudice takes over. Like the ancient brahmanical law
about the undesirability of the birth of daughter become more numerous" givers he appears to b ave a horror of südrawomen, as in this passage:
Altekar is particularly weak in his attempts at relating the status of The introduction of the non-Aryan wife into the Aryan household is the key
women at a given
point of time with social organization as a whole. italics mine] to the gradual deterioration of the position of women...
Thus early Vedic society which did not as yet have noticeable The non-Aryan wife with her ignorance of Sanskrit language and Hindu
centration of power, or a well developed institution of kingship, is
con religion could obviously not enjoy the same veligious privuleges as the Aryan consort
italics mine]. Association with her mnust have tended to atfect of
the context for Altekar's unnecessary explanation for the absence of
speech ofthe Aryan co-wife as wel....This must have naturallyled w grave
thepurity
queens. Since Altekar is convinced about the high status of women
mistakes and anonalies in the performance of the ritual which must have
the Vedic period, he fcels he has to account for why we do not hear
in
of women as queens. Thus he is constrained to suggest that:
shocked the orthodox priests....Eventuallyit was felt that the objectcould
be gained by declaring the whole class of women to be ineligible for Vedic
studies and religious duties."
 80 UMA CHAKRAVARTI
BEYOND THE ALTEKARIAN PARADIGM
81
The facile argument was, in Altekar's view, the key factor in the 4. A.S. Altekar, The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, Delhi: Motilal
decline of the status ofwomen. Altekar is completcly obtuse to other Banarsidass, 1987 (rpt.). p.
5. Op. cit., p. 95.
337
historical explanations. The possibility that the [üdra woman, whom
6. Op. cit., p. 1.
he regards as a threat, could have conuributed to a more dynamic and
7. Ibid., p. 3.
active kind of wonanhood for Hindu society would not even occur
8. Ibid., p. 28.
to Altekar because his focus is on Aryan women (regarded then as 9. Ibid., p. 5.
the progenitors of the upper caste women of Hindu society) and in
his racist vicw [üdra women counted for nothing. The most import
10. Ibid., p.
11. Ibid.
339
ant consequence of Altckar's limited repertoire of
biological and
psychological explanations was that the logic of the distorted social
12. Ibid., p. 345.
relations between men and women is completelyobscured. The kind
of explanations offered by Altekar might appear to be astoundingly
rivial to us today but it is important to remember that, by and large,
nationalist historians were content to restrict historical explanations
to cultural factors while writing about ancient India. This was in
contrast to their focus on economic and social factorswhile discussing
British rule in India.
in early
In sumrning up naionalist historiography on women

fact that the Altekarian para-

India, might draw attention t o the
we
continues to, nevertheless,
digm, though limiting and biased,
In e s e n c e what
influence and even dominate historical writing.
from the mass of detail he accumulated
is the construction
emerges
w o m e n in the Vedic age. It
is
of a picture of the idyllic condiion of
a picture which n o w pervades
the collective consciousness of the
ofa
India and has virtually crippled the emergence
upper castes in
relations in ancient India.
analytically rigorous study of gender
more
forward and rewrite history,
There is, thus, a n urgent need to m o v e social processes,
justice to w o m e n by examining
a history that does and conditioning
and the s t r u c t u r e s they create, thus crucially shaping
as Altekar displaced Mill
the relations between m e n and women.Just
Altekar's substantial
in his work, it is time we realized that despite
and begin afresh.
conribution, we m u s t lay his ghost aside

NOTES
Shakuntala Rao Shastri, Women in the Sacred Laws, Bombay: Bharatiya
1.
79-3 189.