Write short notes on
1. The life of women's during Peshwa Period.
history
Answers
Explanation:
The Maratha Empire began with the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji in 1645 and ended with the defeat of Peshwa Bajirao II in 1818. The kingdom extended from Tamil Nadu in the South, Peshawar (present day Pakistan) in the North and Bengal Subah in the East.
Although the role of women in ancient times is glorified and gushed over by many scholars, their life in the Maratha period seems to be darkened by the strictness and conservativeness forced upon them in the name of religion. The claims of people that women were treated equally in the Satvahan period and had as much freedom as men is met with no evidence. Only the women who were born in royal families were given the freedom whereas the peasantry had to follow the rules laid down, and had no decision making power in their family affairs. Dowry was another problem under the Maratha Empire. Eighty per cent of the Marathas were farmers, who struggled to get their daughters married, even selling their land to cover the dowry that would range from three to seven lakh rupees.
Contrary to popular opinion, Marathas were callous towards their women, and widows had to go stay in an ashram or burn themselves on their husband’s pyres– something absent from other Hindu castes at this time. Morever, Marathi women, being Shudras, were always looked down upon and had no social standing. The women didn’t even have freedom of worship and were not allowed to enter temples. Under Maratha rule, the legal age of marriage had been reduced 10 years, and women had to marry before attaining puberty.
But with the fall of the Yadavas, Muslim rulers rose to power and attempted to create a sense of equality for men and women. This worked hand in hand with the Bhakti Cult which taught equality before God saw all people as equal. While these attempted to change the status of women in Maharashtra, they failed to change the redundant mindset of people.Even though these movements inspired women like Mirabai, Muktabai, and Janabai, to fight for equality, opposing the beliefs of an entire society proved too difficult especially as the leaders of these movements themselves openly opposed women being a part of social affairs. This meant that until the Western influence encompassed Indian society, there would be no hope of improvement. Women were deprived of free will, and were under a man’s eye for all their life, be their fathers, husbands, or sons.
With the advent of the British rule in India, the social status and condition of living for women in Maharashtra worsened with no hope of any change, and was described as ‘torturous and inhuman’ by K. Bhave. Gopal Hari Deshmukhhad has also given an overview of the shameful condition of women in the early British rule in Maharashtra. This was also the period when with the increase in wars, the practice of ‘sati’ reached its height, as it was seen as a way to protect the women from captivity, and thus protect the honour of the Marathas.
All the Peshwas during the rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji, Sambhaji and Rajaram belonged to Deshastha Brahmin community.[2][3] The first Peshwa was Moropant Pingle, who was appointed as the head of the Ashta Pradhan (council of eight ministers) by Chhatrapati Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. The initial Peshwas were all ministers who served as the chief executives to the king. The later Peshwas held the highest administrative office and also controlled the Maratha confederacy. Under the Chitpavan Brahmin Bhat family, the Peshwas became the de facto hereditary administrators of the Confederacy. The Peshwa's office was most powerful under Baji Rao I (r. 1720-1740). Under Peshwa administration and with the support of several key generals and diplomats, the Maratha Empire reached its zenith, ruling major areas of India. The subsequent Peshwas brought in autonomy and as a result later on many provinces were controlled and administered by the Maratha nobles such as Scindias and Gaekwads.