Pratibha Patil apparently used the term Mughal rule to include
all "Turkish" rulers. I have see other people use the term Mughal
incorrectly in a broader sense.

Yashwant


--- In IndiaArchaeology@yahoogroups.com, JK <tiptronicus@...> wrote:
>
> Experts lift veil off purdah origin -India-The Times of
> India<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/rssarticleshow/msid-
2132555,prtpage-1.cms>
>
> Printed from
> <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/> The Times of India -Breaking
news,
> views. reviews, cricket from across India
> Experts lift veil off *purdah* origin
> 19 Jun, 2007 l 0149 hrs IST lTIMES NEWS NETWORK
>
> SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
> NEW DELHI: When UPA's Presidential candidate Pratibha Patil on
Sunday said
> that the purdah was introduced in India during the Mughal rule "to
save
> women from Mughal invaders," she seemed to be going against what
historians
> and NCERT books suggest.
>
> Historians say that purdah in India started much before Babur
heralded the
> Mughal rule in 1526 AD. According to them, the UPA candidate's
reasoning as
> to why the social custom emerged - to protect women from
aggressors' eye -
> also doesn't fully explain the causes leading to the emergence of
purdah .
> They say that the purdah was also a status symbol of the higher
classes in
> medieval India.
>
> In his well-known book, 'Mediaeval India', renowned historian
Satish Chandra
> writes that during the Delhi Sultanate period, beginning in 1206,
the
> practice of keeping women in seclusion and asking them to veil
their faces
> in the presence of outsiders became widespread among the upper
class women.
> He says that the Arabs and the Turks brought the custom to India,
and
> consequently, it became widespread in north India.
>
> In the chapter, 'Government and economic and social life during
Sultanate
> period', Chandra writes that, "the growth of purdah has been
attributed to
> the fear of the Hindu women being captured by the invaders. In an
age of
> violence, women were liable to be treated as prizes of war.
>
> Perhaps the most important factor for the growth of purdah was
social - it
> became a symbol of the higher classes in society. And all those who
wanted
> to be considered respectable tried to copy it. Also, religious
justification
> was found for it."
>
> Nandita Prasad Sahai, who teaches a course on the gender history of
> mediaeval India in JNU, says that there is
> no consensus amongst historians about the precise period when
purdah originated
> in Indian society.
>
> "Historian Kegan Paul traces the practice of the custom back to the
Vedic
> period. And anthropologist Patricia Jeffrey says that seclusion and
veiling
> of women was not unknown before the Muslim invasion. It appears
that a
> social ideal recommending women to remain in seclusion to mark their
> complete loyalty towards their husband already existed," she says.
>
> This is further evident in the layout of the mediaeval Chittorgarh
fort that
> has separate quarters for women called the jenani deorhi .
According to
> Sahai, this indicates that patriarchal values had already emerged in
> pre-mediaeval times. And, that a family's honour had already come
to reside
> in the bodies of their women.
>
> "Most historians consider the Muslim invasion as a watershed when
purdah is
> said to have become more widespread as a defensive reaction in
troubled
> times among the Rajput royalty trying to protect their women. In
fact, the
> case is unproven in the absence of statistical material that could
establish
> a change in the extent of the practice of purdah . It seems
plausible,
> however, that the practice became more widespread amongst the
Rajput royalty
> in trying to imitate the custom of the new ruling classes," says
Sahai.
>
> Interestingly, the peasant and working class women did not observe
purdah .
> It was a feature primarily among upper classes.
>
> "Over time, seclusion came to be combined with purdah/ghoonghat and
became a
> signifier of female respectability amongst the higher classes, and
part of
> the feminine code of modesty. That is why it was also observed
among elderly
> female relatives," says the JNU historian.
>
> By the 15th century, purdah became integral to the feudal etiquette
of
> Rajasthan and was observed vis-a-vis both outsiders, as well as
insiders.
>
> Patil's statement on the origins of purdah may have been off the
mark,
> historically. However, few will disagree with her advocacy to end
the
> custom.
>
>
>
>
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