The essentials
Women and men worked side by side in agriculture. Men tilled and ploughed, while women sowed, weeded, threshed and winnowed the harvest. Women also did tasks such as spinning yarn, sifting and kneading clay for pottery, and embroidery. Yet biases related to women's biological functions continued; for example, menstruating women were not allowed to touch the plough or the potter's wheel in western India.
Because women were valued as workers and as child-bearers, bride-price rather than dowry was common in many rural communities. Divorce and remarriage were considered legitimate among both peasant and artisan communities. However, men controlled the household and family, and women could be punished for infidelity. Among the landed gentry, women had the right to inherit property; in Bengal some women became zamindars.
Key points
- Large parts of the empire were covered by forests and scrubland (jangal). Forest dwellers were described in contemporary texts as jangli, a term that described a way of life based on gathering forest produce, hunting and shifting agriculture, not "lack of civilisation".
- For the state, the forest was a refuge for rebels and troublemakers.
- Forest products such as honey, beeswax and gum lac were in great demand; elephants were captured and sold, and some forest people supplied them to the state as part of tribute (peshkash).
- Hunting expeditions allowed the emperor to travel across his empire and hear grievances.
- Commercial agriculture and trade drew forest people into wider networks; some, like the Ahoms, established states, and many tribal chiefs became zamindars.
Common mistakes
- Do not assume dowry was universal; bride-price was common among many rural groups.