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Conditions of Peasants and Women

2020-04-27 12:36 :04


  • 85-90% were lower classes like small peasants, soldiers, agri labourers, soldiers, artisans, craftsmen, shopkeepers, gov servants
  • Shudras were poor caste Hindus
  • Low standard of living, not much clothing needed
  • Woollen clothes were unkown, shoes not much in use
  • No scarcity of food except during droughts, famines,
  • No intermediary Jagirdar to deprive peasants of his rightful fruits of plough
  • Land rev remitted during floods, droughts
  • Takkavi loans given
  • Condition began deteriorating during Shah Jahan’s reign
  • Polygamy common among aristocracy, upper middle class
  • Hindus in gen practiced monogamy
  • Divorce Remarriage common among M, Hindus abhorred it
  • Child Marriage common
  • Ruling elites, upper middle class maintained large harems
  • Girls, eunuch were lucrative trade
  • Wo completely dependent on male mem, place within 4 walls of her house
  • Yasin - Purdah strictly observed, burqa in public, poor women went on foot, rich ones in palkies, houses built with high walls
    • Suffered from polygamy, female seclusion
  • M woman position of respect, dignity, honour of family,
  • Badauni - veiled carriage of females sacred all over the country no body dared challenge it
  • M Wo given religious education, learnt Quran by rote memory, lived devoted lives
  • #todo

Condition of peasants, condition of women

  1. Assess the condition of peasantry during 13th to 17th centuries CE. [2017, 15 Marks]