Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T04:56:12.573Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

PERSPECTIVES ON WOMEN AND WORK IN PRE-COLONIAL SOUTH INDIA*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2010

Vijaya Ramaswamy
Vijaya Ramaswamy
Affiliation:
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi E-mail vijukrishnan@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Until a few decades ago, most labour histories did not bother to address women as workers in the domestic or public domain who contributed to a household income or the overall economy. Patriarchal spaces of historical discourse rendered women invisible (or effected distortions) that can only be contested by a rigorous study of women's unrecorded presence in the economy of the household and the broader domain of production. This article is an effort to understand the “being” and “doing” of women, and to map the interrelations of women and work over a vast historical span of time, beginning with women's writings on the theme of women and work and going on to plot women's agency historically in labour processes. In order to make the historical evidence more cohesive, it has been written with special reference to Peninsular India, while also drawing comparisons from the regions to the north of the Vindhya mountains that geographically and culturally mark the north–south divide.

Type
State of the field
Information
International Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 51 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Original texts (in Sanskrit, Tamil, Kannada or Telugu)

Tamil works: Sangam texts (The Sangam texts referred to in this article can be dated roughly between the third century BCE and third century CE.)

Ahananuru ed. with commentary by Venkataswami Nattar, N. M. and Venkatachalam Pillai, R.. Madras: Saiva Siddhanta Kazhagam, 1943.Google Scholar
Aingurunuru ed. Swaminathaiyyar, U. V. and Kalyana Sundaranar, S.. Madras: Kapir Achchukootam, 1957.Google Scholar
Kurunthogai ed. Swaminathaiyyar, U. V.Madras: Kapir Achukootam, 1962.Google Scholar
Kalittogai, fourteenth-century commentator Nachchinarkiniyar's commentary, ed. Anantharaman, E. V.Madras: Saiva Siddhanta Kazhagam, 1967.Google Scholar
Malaippadukadam from the Pathupattu Anthology, ed. Swaminathaiyyar, U. V.Madras: Kapir Achukootam, 1965.Google Scholar
Natrinai Nanuru ed. Narayanaswami, A.. Madras: Saiva Siddhanta Kazhagam, 1962.Google Scholar
Perumpanatruppadai in the Pattupattu Anthology, ed. Swaminathaiyyar, U. V.Madras: Kapir Achukootam, 1965.Google Scholar
Perunkadai, ed. Swaminathaiyyar, U. V.Madras: n.p., 1924.Google Scholar
Porunaratruppadai in the Pathupattu Anthology, ed. Swaminathayyar, U. V.Madras: n.p., 1937.Google Scholar
Purananuru, ed. Swaminathayyar, U. V.Madras: Kapir Achukootam, 1963.Google Scholar
Silappadikaram of Ilango Adigal (a post-Sangam text) ed. Dikshitar, Ramachandra, V. R.. New York: New York University Press, 1954 (originally published in 1939).Google Scholar

Sanskrit texts

Arthashastra of Kautilya (third century to second century CE) ed. and trans. in three parts by Kangle, R. P.Bombay: University of Bombay, 1965.Google Scholar
Manasollasa (twelfth-century Sanskrit text) of Somesvara III, ed. Shrigondekar. Baroda: 1939, verses 1817–18.Google Scholar
Manusmriti as Manu's Code of Law: a Critical Edition and Translation of the Manava-Dharmasastra, ed. Olivelle, Patrick with the editorial assistance of Suman Olivelle. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006, ch. 9, verses 10–12.Google Scholar
Manusmriti (commentary by Kulluka), ed. Kavitirtha, Narayan Ram Acharya. 10th edn.Bombay Nirmaya Press, 1946, ch. 9: verses 10–12.Google Scholar

Medieval texts

Andal's Tiruppavai (Tamil Poetry, written in the seventh century CE by the Vaishnava woman saint Andal) songs 7, 8, 12, etc. Tamil text in Nachchiyar Tirumozhi and Tiruppavai in Sri Andal: Her Contribution to Literature, Philosophy, Religion and Art – All India Seminar on Andal, published by the Sri Ramanuja Vedanta Centre, Chennai, 1985.Google Scholar
Kreedabhiramamu of Vinukonda Vallabharaya (a Telugu text written in the fifteenth century), ed. and trans. Rao, Velcheru Narayana and Shulman, David, as Kreedabhiramamu: a Lover's Guide to Warangal. New Delhi: Permanent Black, 2002.Google Scholar
Kreedabhiramamu of Vinukonda Vallabharaya (a Telugu text written in the fifteenth century), ed. Sastry, Veturi Prabhakara. Muktiyala (Hyderabad): Manimanjari, 1960.Google Scholar
Futuhat-us-Salatin of Abd Malik Isami (a 14th century Persian text), ed. Usha, A. S. and trans. Hasan, Agha Mehdi. 3 vols. Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University, 1976–1977.Google Scholar

Epigraphical records (inscriptions on rocks and copper plates)

Annual Report of Epigraphy, Southern Circle (abbreviated as A.R.E. in the footnotes), 1887, Madras: Govt. of Tamil Nadu.Google Scholar
Inscriptions of the Pudukkottai State trans. and ed. Srinivasa Aiyar, K. R.Pudukkottai. Pudukkottai State Press, 1941–1946 (originally published in 1929 by the Sri Brihadamba State Press of Pudukkottai).Google Scholar
South Indian Inscriptions (abbreviated as S.I.I. in the footnotes) published 1890–2004, Madras: Govt. of Tamil Nadu.Google Scholar
Tirumalai-Tirupati Devasthanam Inscriptions (abbreviated as T.T.D.I. in the footnotes) ed. Sastri, Subramanya, S. and Viraraghavacharya, V.. 6 vols. Madras: 1931–1938.Google Scholar
Subramanian, T. N. ed. South Indian Temple Inscriptions. Madras: Madras University, 1957.Google Scholar

Secondary works (in Tamil)

*(Note that Chennai and Madras refer to the same place but most Tamil publishers prefer to use the term “Chennai” rather than the anglicized “Madras”.)

Rajamanikkanar 1970 Rajamanikkanar, M. Pattupattu Araichi. Chennai: Tamil Nadu Text Book Society, 1970.Google Scholar
Tamizhannal 1956 Tamizhannal, S. Taalattu. Karaikkudi in Tamil Nadu: Mathili Pathippagam, 1956.Google Scholar
Vanamamalai 1964 Vanamamalai, N. Tamizhar Nattu Padalgal. Madras: Madras University, 1964.Google Scholar
Vidyanandan 1954 Vidyanandan, S. Tamizhar Salbu. Chennai: Pari Publications, 1954.Google Scholar

Secondary works (in English)

Appadorai 1990 Appadorai, A. Economic Conditions in Southern India, 1000–1500 AD. Madras: University of Madras, reprint 1990 (originally published in 1936).Google Scholar
Bachelard 1964 Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of Space: the Classic Look at How We Experience Intimate Places, trans. Jolas, Maria from French. Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 1964 (French original published in 1958).Google Scholar
Bader 1964 Bader, Clarisse. Women in Ancient India: Moral and Literary Studies, trans. Martin, Mary E. R., reprinted under the Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series, vol. 44. Varanasi: Chowkhamba Publishers, 1964 (originally published in French 1867; English translation in 1925).Google Scholar
Balambal 1998 Balambal, V. Studies in the History of the Sangam Age. Delhi: Kalinga publications, 1998.Google Scholar
Bennett 1996 Bennett, Judith. Ale, Beer and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Billington 1973 Billington, Mary Francis. Women in India. New Delhi: Amarko Book Agency. Reprint, 1973 (originally published in 1895).Google Scholar
Boserup 2007 Boserup, Ester. Women's Role in Economic Development. Earthscan. London: Sterling, 2007 (first published in 1970).Google Scholar
Chakaravarti 1989 Chakaravarti, Uma. “Whatever Happened to the Vedic Dasi?” In Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History, ed. Sangari, Kumkum and Vaid, Sudesh. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1989.Google Scholar
Chakravarti 2006 Chakravarti, Uma. Everyday Lives, Everyday Histories: Beyond the Kings and Brahmanas of “Ancient” India. New Delhi: Tulika Books, 2006.Google Scholar
Chattopadhyay 1985 Chattopadhyay, Kamaladevi. Handicrafts of India. Reprint. New Delhi: Indian Council of Cultural Relations, 1985.Google Scholar
Chicherov 1971 Chicherov, A. I. India: Economic Development in the 16th–18th centuries – Outline History of Crafts and Trade. Moscow: Nauka Publishing House, 1971.Google Scholar
Ekejiuba 1995 Ekejiuba, Felicia. “Down to Fundamentals: Women-Centred Hearthholds in Rural West Africa.” In Women Wielding the Hoe, ed. Bryceson, Deborah Fahy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.Google Scholar
Finley 1964 Finley, M. I. “Between Slavery and Freedom.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 6:3 (1964).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardiner 2000 Gardiner, Michael E. Critiques of Everyday Life. London and New York: Routledge, 2000.Google Scholar
Gupta 1972 Gupta, D. K. Society and Culture in the Time of Dandin. New Delhi: Meharchand Lachamandas, 1972.Google Scholar
Gururajachar 1974 Gururajachar, S. Some Aspects of Economic and Social Life in Karnataka – 1000–1300. Mysore: Prasaranga Publications, 1974.Google Scholar
Habib 2000 Habib, Irfan. “Exploring Medieval Gender History.” Calicut: Symposium on Gender History, Indian History Congress, 2000.Google Scholar
Hambley 1998 Hambley, , Gavin, R. G. Women in Medieval Islamic World: Power, Patronage and Piety. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998.Google Scholar
Hanumanthan 1979 Hanumanthan, K. R. Untouchablity: A Historical Study up to 1500 AD. Madurai: Koodal Publishers, 1979.Google Scholar
Hemlatha 1991 Hemlatha, B. Life in Medieval Northern Andhra. New Delhi: Navrang Publishers, 1991.Google Scholar
Hufton 1993 Hufton, Olwen. “A History of Women in the West.” In Renaissance and Enlightenment Paradoxes, general ed. Duby, Georges and Perrot, Michelle, vol. 3, ed. Natalie Zemon Davis and Arlette Farge. Cambridge, MA and London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1993, pp. 15–45.Google Scholar
Kamat 1980 Kamat, J. K. Social Life in Medieval Karnataka. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications, 1980.Google Scholar
Krishnan 2000 Krishnan, A. Tamil Culture: Religion, Culture & Literature. Delhi: Bharatiya Kala Prakashan, 2000.Google Scholar
Law 1981 Law, Bimla Churn. Women in Buddhist Literature. Varanasi: Indological Book House, 1981.Google Scholar
Mies 1998 Mies, Maria. Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of Labour. London and New York: Zed Books, 1998 (originally published 1986).Google Scholar
Moosvi 1994 Moosvi, Shireen. “Work and Gender in Pre-Colonial India.” In Socio-Economic Consequences of Sex-Ratios in Historical Perspective, 1500–1900, ed. Fauve-Chamoux, and Solvi, Sogner. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Economic History Congress. Milan: Universita Bocconi, 1994.Google Scholar
Mukherji 1952 Mukherji, Lily. “Social Life in Mathura and Vrindavan in the Medieval Ages.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Kurukshethra: 1982, pp. 325–31.Google Scholar
Narayanan 2006 Narayanan, Divya. M.Phil. dissertation (unpublished). A Culture of Food: Aspects of Dietary Habits and Consumption in the Urban Centres of North-West India Between the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries.New Delhi: Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2006.Google Scholar
Orr 2000 Orr, Leslie. Donors, Devotees and Daughters of God: Temple Women in Medieval Tamil Nadu. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Padma 2001 Padma, A. The Socio-Cultural World of Women in Medieval Andhra: from 11th to 13th Centuries. New Delhi: Bharatiya Kala Prakashan, 2001.Google Scholar
Padma 2005 Padma, A. “Women and Social Justice – a Study of the Kakatiya Period.” In Recent Trends in Historical Studies: Festschrift to Professor Ravula Soma Reddy, ed. Satyanarayana, A. and Reddy, P. Chenna. Delhi: S. K. Pathak for Research India Press, 2005.Google Scholar
Pandarattar 1974 Pandarattar, Sadasiva. Pirkala Cholargal (Tamil). Chidambaram: Annamalai University, 1974.Google Scholar
Raman 1959 Raman, K. V. The Early History of the Madras Region. Chennai: University of Madras, 1959.Google Scholar
Ramaswamy 1989 Vijaya, Ramaswamy. “Aspects of Women and Work in Early South India.” Indian Economic and Social History Review 23 (1989), pp. 81–99. Reprinted in Women in Early Indian Societies, ed. Kumkum Roy. New Delhi: Manohar, 1999, pp. 150–74.Google Scholar
Ramaswamy 1993 Ramaswamy, Vijaya. “Women and Farm Work in Tamil Folk Songs.” Social Scientist 21:9–11 (1993), pp. 113–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramaswamy 1996 Ramaswamy, Vijaya. Divinity and Deviance. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Ramaswamy 1997 Ramaswamy, Vijaya. “The Kudi in Early Tamilaham and Tamil Women from Tribe to Caste.” In From Tribe to Caste, ed. Nathan, Dev. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 1997, pp. 223–46.Google Scholar
Ramaswamy 1999 Ramaswamy, Vijaya. “Women and the ‘Domestic’ in Tamil Folk Songs.” Man in India 74:1 (1994), pp. 21–37, and reprinted in From Myths to Markets: Essays on Gender, ed. Kumkum Sangari and Uma Chakravarti, pp. 41–42. Shimla: Manohar and the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 1999, pp. 39–55.Google Scholar
Rau 1970 Rau, Wilhelm. Weben und Flechten in Vedischen Indien. Weisbaden: University of Wiesbaden, 1970.Google Scholar
Reddy 1991 Reddy, Nagolu Krishna. Social History of Andhra Pradesh: 7th–13th Centuries. New Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, 1991.Google Scholar
Sangari and Vaid 1989 Sangari, Kumkum and Vaid, Sudesh, eds. Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1989.Google Scholar
Sastri and Venkataramanayya 1946 Sastri, , Nilakanta, K. A. and Venkataramanayya, N., eds. Further Sources of Vijayanagar History. 3 vols. Madras: University of Madras, 1946.Google Scholar
Sastri 1975 Sastri, , Nilakanta, K. A. The Colas. Madras: University of Madras, 1975 (originally published in1935).Google Scholar
Sen 1993 Sen, Aloka Parashar. “Temple Girls and the Land Grant Economy.” In Social and Economic History of Early Deccan: Some Interpretations, ed. Sen, Aloka Parashar. New Delhi: Manohar, 1993, pp. 240–77.Google Scholar
Siddiqui 1996 Siddiqui, I. H. “Socio-Political Role of Women in the Sultanate of Delhi.” In Women in Indian History, ed. Pawar, Kiran. Patiala-New Delhi: Vision and Venture, 1996, pp. 87–101.Google Scholar
Smith 1987 Smith, Dorothy E. The Everyday World as Problematic: a Feminist Sociology. New England: North Eastern University Press, 1987.Google Scholar
Smith 1990 Smith, Dorothy E. The Conceptual Practices of Power: a Feminist Sociology of Knowledge. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990.Google Scholar
Tharu 1991 Tharu, Susie and Lalita, K., eds. Women Writing in India – 600 BC to the Present. Oxford University Press, 1991.Google Scholar
Tyagi 1994 Tyagi, Anil K. Women Workers in Ancient India. New Delhi: South Asia Books, 1994.Google Scholar
Venkataramanayya 1950 Venkataramanayya, N. The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi. Madras: Vedam Venkataraya Sastri and Bros., 1950.Google Scholar
Woolf 1974 Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. London: Hogarth Press, 1974 (first published in 1929).Google Scholar