Status of Women in Medieval and Early Modern Society in Mysore State

The struggle for women's emancipation in medieval and early modern Mysore

Abstract

Women occupied a very low status in medieval and early modern society in the State of My sore. Child marriage, prohibition of widow remarriages, prevalence of Devadasi system were some of the social factors responsible for the low status and misery of women who were reduced to the position of glorified slaves. The women of weaker section and lower strata of society enjoyed comparatively more freedom since both husband and wife had to work to earn their livelihood, but their general condition was intolerable. Therefore, the crusade for the emancipation of women became the first objective of the social reform movement in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.