The Role of Women in the Mauryan Dynasty

Sabah Moghul
History 134
Schoolcraft
12/2/16

The Role of Women in the Mauryan Dynasty

Throughout the past couple months, we have been learning about all the different
societies and how they functioned in the ancient world. All over the world, women have had
many different roles in society, whether it was a woman living in Sparta, to a party girl living in
early Etruria. A woman in the time of the Mauryan Empire unfortunately lived subordinate to the
men in the society, but treated with some respect. Women's roles depended on what caste they
were a part of, the highest the Brahmins, then the Kshatriyas, then the Vaisyas, and lastly the
Shudras.
The main role that women had in the empire was marriage. Marriage was the top priority
for the women in the Mauryan times, especially in the lower classes. Although women were
idealized in literature and art, in practice they had a distinctly subordinate position (Tharpar 68).
Women were mainly there to create children, take care of the house and children, and take care
of their husbands. Women couldn't own property before she was married but if that was
something that was offered in the marriage contract, it was allowed after marriage only through
her husband. Women in the lower classes were encouraged to marry very early, sometimes even
before puberty. The lower class women in these times were also told to marry men in high
classes so that they could achieve a higher social status. Social status seemed to be a big factor
when it came to choosing a husband, finding someone that would help them achieve their goal of
being in a higher class. Women in the lowest classes are belittled, caricatured, left behind,
disgraced, and dishonored (Syed 74).i
Marriage was so important that in the Mauryan Empire that they created laws about it, what was
allowed, and what was enforced. The different types of marriages that were allowed ranged
from the most prestigious involving the gift of a virgin daughter by her father to another male, to
the least honorable, while the woman was incapacitated through sleep or intoxication (Ramusack

24). Widows were allowed to remarry in the Mauryan Empire but only under the condition that
she give back any property or money that she received from her late husband or family. ii
There were very few women who didn't go through the laws of marriage, struggle of being
subordinate to their husbands, and having no freedom. These women followed different paths by
becoming a Buddhist nun, joining in theatre, or being a prostitute. By becoming a Buddhist nun,
a woman had no bounds to any man. Although she may still be subordinate to men in society, she
was held with a higher respect and not identified by her class she was once in. Joining in the
theatre was an escape for women because they were allowed to act in roles that they don't exactly
live in, especially those that came from a lower class. Becoming a prostitute in the Mauryan
Empire was an option for some women, but not an option that was looked that highly at. The
women that became prostitutes had more freedom than most of the women but didn't lead the
best lives. iii
The women from the higher classes such as the Brahmins, were more educated than the lower
class. For the higher classes education was more important than finding a husband at an early
age. The women of the higher class didn't need to find an escape by marrying up because they
were already in the highest class. Because these women were more educated, marriage criteria
such as how much dowry they would receive or what property they might get through the
marriage weren't a priority for them. What was more important to the women of this class was
education and marrying someone from the same class or the same level as them. A freedom
that these women had that the ones in the lower class didn't was the option of choosing who they
wanted to marry rather than it being something they had no choice with.iv
Women in the higher classes were allowed to have some jobs, but not treated fully equal to the
men. There weren't as many job options for women as there were for the men, but some of them

included jobs in the textile industry, in education, and sometimes in court. Women in this class
were allowed to participate in the arts, watching them, creating their own, or learning about
them. They were also allowed to participate in some activities that the men were such as
watching sports. v
Throughout all the Ancient Empires that we have learned about, the role of women has never
been the same. They all have different freedoms in different societies but when it comes down to
it they mostly are about marriage and family. The most important factor in a womans life in
Imperial India was marriage. Whether she was from the higher or lower class, the end goal of
what a woman should do is get married and create a family. Of all the Empires we have
studied, Imperial India has been the most focused on marriage, with little freedoms to do what
they please.

Bibliography
Ramusack, Barbara N., and Sharon L. Sievers. Women in Asia: restoring women to history.
Indiana University Press, 1999.
-This source discussed women in Asia and the roles that they played in day to day life.

Thapar, R. (2006), The Mauryan empire in early India*. Historical Research, 79: 287305.
doi:10.1111/j.1468-2281.2006.00394.x
-This source discussed the Mauryan Empire as a whole, with some chapters discussing
the day to day life of the women.
Syed, Sikander Mehdi. "Rediscovering the Culture of Peace in South Asia." Peace Review 10.1
(1998): 71-7. ProQuest. Web. 4 Dec. 2016.
-This source discussed the culture in south Asia and the history of where it came from
and how the womens roles came to be today.

i Syed and Tharpar. The information from this paragraph was gathered from these sources.

ii Ramusack. The information from this paragraph was gathered from this source.

iii Syed and Ramusack. The information from this paragraph was gathered from these sources.

iv Tharpar and Ramusack. The information from this paragraph was gathered from these sources.

v Tharpar. The information from this paragraph was gathered from this source.