Women in Vedic Society contd

Throughout the Medieval period in Europe women were treated as economic commodity. This treatment continued till the 19^th century and till early 20^th century in North America. They believed that women had to endure the pain during child birth to pay for the sins committed by Eve.  In contrast, the Vedic Society believed that women are the embodiment of everything that is good in the universe. Women are respected for their patience and forgiving nature. Their good qualities are the only reason why they are mothers and they endure pain because they have patience; hence, women are often compared with Mother Earth

The Vedic culture revolves around the worship of Goddesses.  Even today people worship Goddess Lakshmi for wealth, Goddess Durga for courage & Goddess Saraswati for  knowledge. The perfect woman is considered to be an embodiment of all three Goddesses. Women are raised to be brave and courageous so that they can face any emergencies in life. Throughout the Vedic history there are many examples of great women. Vishpala  is a warrior queen mentioned in the Rig Veda. She lost her leg in battle and continued fighting after wearing a prosthetic leg. In recent history we have, Rani Durgavati who was a Rajput Queen; she fought bravely against the Mughals when her kingdom was invaded and died bravely in the battle field.Rani Lakshmibhai also known as the Rani of Jhansi. was known for her bravery. She fought bravely along with her troops when the British laid siege to Jhansi . Rani.Kittur  Chennamma (1778–1829) was the queen of Kittur in Karnataka. She fought bravely against the British..Keladi Chennamma  was the queen of Keladi and she belonged to the Nayaka dynasty. She fought against the Mughal Army of Aurangzeb and her regime lasted for 25 years. It can  be seen that there have been many queens who inherited their kingdom ; they not only ruled their kingdom but were the military commander-in-chief as well.  It was the British with their “Doctrine of Lapse” policy who prevented the ascension of the queens. The doctrine clearly stated that if a king was deceased and had no progeny, the kingdom cannot be inherited by the queen but that it would pass under British Rule. It can be seen that none of the Rajput kingdoms or the kingdom of Keladi prevented their queen from ascending the throne but it was the British who tried to prevent the queens from ascending to power by using the “Doctrine of Lapse” so that the British could easily lay claim to the kingdoms. The “Doctrine of Lapse” further stated that a king may consider only his male children as heirs, female children did not have the right to inherit the kingdom from their father.In the 13^th century, Rani Rudramba of the Kakatiya dynasty was chosen by her father King Ganapathi Deva to rule the kingdom. She was an able ruler and managed to suppress internal uprisings. If the “Doctrine of Lapse” had existed during the 13^th century Queen Rudramba’s raise to power would have been prevented by the British. (The so called modern day thinkers with broad outlook, the British have passed the law to give both male and female children equal rights to succeed to power only now in the 21^st century). The fact that these queens successfully  ruled their kingdom, commanded their army to fight against the British and other invading forces shows that they must have underwent rigorous training; not only in military, but also in economics, politics and law.  The queens fought bravely in the battle field and some even won the war and continued to rule their kingdom successfully. This could not have been achieved without proper training and education.