Powerful matriarchs in the land of the five rivers - Dr. Majur Ejaz

History of the Punjab :Powerful matriarchs in the land of the five rivers
by Dr. Manzur Ejaz

Every historical change affects women in more profound ways than other segments of society. However, it is amazing that little has been recorded by historians in this regard. The Muslim invasion of the Punjab led by Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi in the 10th century, also resulted in fundamental changes in the status of women, but one does not find much material about this
shift in women’s status in historical chronicles of that period. Probably, most of the history books of that time were written by those Northern and Central Asian men who were attached to the Slave Dynasty and had little regard for women. The only exception is Abu Rehan Al Beruni (973-1048) who wrote about the status of women and other social aspects of the Punjab .

Al Beruni’s account of India is largely based upon his observations about the Punjabi society to which he came with Mahmud Ghaznavi, and later on lived in for a long time. Therefore, for all practical purposes Al Beruni viewed India through his knowledge of the Punjab . One can trace back Al Beruni’s characterization of Punjabi women as being part of the decision-making process in all important matters, from the customs of the ancient Vedic period. We can see a similar depiction of Punjabi women in the work of the intellectuals who came after him. For example, one can find metaphorical descriptions of the status of women in the poetry of Hazrat Fariduddin Masud Ganj-e-Shakar aka Baba Farid (1173-1265) and through the memoirs of his intellectual heir Nizam-ud-Din Aulia (1238-1325). In addition, folk tales can be utilized as an indirect source of our information, though their authenticity will remain suspect.

Al Beruni notes that Indian men are different from those in Central Asia because, “in all consultations and emergencies they take the advice of their womenfolk”. Contrary to many other Muslim historians of medieval India , Al Beruni notes that the custom of sati (self-immolation) is optional for the common people, though mandatory for kings’ wives. Al Beruni’s characterization indicates that in the Punjab the status of women was not diminished very much during the thousands of years following the Vedic period.

The oldest Vedic scripture, Rig Veda, was written in the Punjabi plains that are called Sapat Sindhu or land of the seven rivers. The hymns of the Rig Veda show that women had complete and absolute freedom. As a matter of fact, from some hymns it appears that women were dominant over men. For example in the marriage hymns the wife addresses the assembly as a conquering commander. See the following verses from Rig Veda’s book ten entitled Saci Paulomi:

1. Yon sun hath mounted up, and this my happy fate hath mounted high. I knowing this, as conqueror have won my husband for mine own.

2. I am the banner and the head, a mighty arbitress am I: I am victorious, and my Lord shall be submissive to my will.

3. My Sons are slayers of the foe, my Daughter is a ruling Queen: I am victorious: o’er my Lord my song of triumph is supreme.

4. That which Indira gave and thus grew glorious and most high,– This have I offered, O ye Gods, and rid me of each rival wife.

5. Destroyer of the rival wife, Sole Spouse, victorious, conqueror, The others’ glory have I seized as ’twere the wealth of weaker Dames.

6. I have subdued as conqueror these rivals, these my fellow-wives, That I may hold imperial sway over this Hero and the folk.

These verses give an impression that in earlier periods it was the women who would compete with each other to win the husband, just as in the later periods princes of different states used to fight duels with each other to win the hand of a princess through the custom of Soembar. It is also well-established that many of Rig Veda’s hymns were revealed to women like Romasa, Lopamudra, Apata, Kadru, Vishvavara, Ghosha, Juhu, Vagambhrini, Paulomi, Jarita, Shraddha-Kamayani, Urvashi, Sharnga, Yami, Indrani, Savitri and Devayani. The Sama Veda mentions another four: Nodha (or Purvarchchika), Akrishtabhasha, Shikatanivavari (or Utararchchika) and Ganpayana. A woman could also be a guru, and in Sanskrit there is a separate word for a female spiritual leader.

The epic war of the Mahabharata was also fought in the Punjab: Its location is identified as Kurukshetra, a town in Haryana which was part of the Punjab until not very long ago. In the Mahabharata, Kunti, the wife of the deceased King Pandu, does not go to the funeral pyre with him, and stays with his sons who are all known as Kunti Puttar (Kunti Puttar Arjan etc). All Kunti sons are fathered by different deities and that means she was free to choose the father of each of her children. Kunti had a son, Kiran, who was born out of wedlock before her marriage to king Pandu. Continuing the tradition, Kunti’s five sons shared one wife named Dhropadi, following their mother’s advice. Beside Kunti Putters, most of the males in the epic story are know by their mother’s names. This shows that women were not subjugated, unlike the custom that prevailed in later periods.

Of course the situation changed profoundly after the Vedic period. Male domination became the law of the land in the Punjab as well. However, since the Punjab developed as an agrarian society requiring the joint labour of man and woman in the production process, the female retained a certain level of importance in society, as was noted by Al Beruni in the 11th century. He was also well aware of the very low status of women in those Northern and Central Asian societies which depended on trade. Female labour is not as important in the day-to-day activities of trade, although it is in agriculture.

The significance of the status of females in the Punjab also indicates that within a village community – classified as the Asiatic Mode of Production by Marx – the differentiation of sizes of property holdings varied, and small-sized parcels of land may have been the norm rather than the exception. If most of the land-holding was concentrated in a few hands, the female status would have been totally diminished, as we see in all other medieval feudalistic societies. As a matter of fact in small-sized farming communities, the females have or had an equal or bigger say in important family matters than their male counterparts. This is why urbanites viewing rural Punjab through television and films on rural life are always shocked to see the power of women in families in central Punjab .

Another socio-historical trend points towards the structure of Punjabi society as characterized above: the Punjab has been open to progressive movements more than other areas of the region because of a relatively less encumbered population. The spread of Buddhism, Islam and Sikhism indicate that whenever oppression increases to a certain level, a resistance movement in the form of religion changes the whole set-up in the Punjab . Such large shifts assume a vibrant, less burdened society, and by extension females have a better status in such set-ups, as described by Al Beruni. Furthermore, women always benefit and enhance their status during progressive changes in society.

Even in our own times, the movement for economic and social justice led by Zulifqar Ali Bhutto in the late 1960s and 70s found its early firm traction in the Punjabi heartland. Interestingly, women voters were much more attracted to Bhutto than men. The women in the Punjab heartland could generally go against the wishes of their men folk because they enjoyed the liberty to do so: it was a continuation of established social tradition in the Punjab over the centuries. On the contrary, the oppressed women of the tribal belt have not been able to follow their Punjabi sisters because of their centuries’ long subjugation under their men folk who are products of a Northern and Central Asian male chauvinist society.

Punjabi literature and folk tales also elucidate a positive female status in society. In the folk tale of Puran Bhaghat, Raja Salvahan of Sialkot marries a young girl from a very low caste, who manipulates him. Though in many such folk tales the women do not dominate the men, yet nevertheless they take part in decision-making processes. In another set of folk tales of the Punjab , the women, sometimes represented metaphorically as birds, are shown equal to their male counterparts and are even sometimes wiser.

When we come to Punjabi literature, Baba Farid was the first Punjabi poet to be born 125 years after Al Beruni’s death. During this period the Punjab had experienced immense devastation caused by later Ghaznavid rulers and the invasion of Muhammad Ghauri and other warlords of the Slave Dynasty. Punjabi women were subjected to slavery on a large scale, and Lahore emerged as the largest slave market in India . And yet, the Punjab-born second generation immigrant from the North, Fariduddin Masood Ganj-e-Shakar expressed his deepest thoughts while adopting female pronouns. In many dohas (couplets), Baba Farid expresses himself as a woman contemplating the world. In some dohas life is depicted as feminine, while death is masculine. Baba Farid’s poetry requires a separate detailed expose in this regard, which we may attempt at some later time.

Dr Manzur Ejaz taught at the Punjab University, Lahore, for many years and now lives in Virginia