WOMEN AND AUTHORITY IN MEDIEVAL INDIA

Although the early rulers were quite patriarchal, they kept matriarchal values or emphasized matrilineal descent. The ancestors of the Turkish (Delhi sultanate – 1192–1526) and Timurid (Mughal sultanate – 1526-1857) rulers of India held ideals where gender roles were not well defined. These notions were carried forward through generations. Despite these vestiges of early notions of gender parity, patriarchy functioned at various levels in the medieval period of Indian history. In ideology, the man was fashioned as the protector and caretaker of his own self, the household, and the kingdom. This conditioning relegated women outright to a lower social status. Therefore, violence, both physical and psychological, would have been a component that ensured that this status quo was maintained. The patriarchal oppression of the time, however, was contrasted with the experience…