ROLE OF WOMAN IN PANCHAYTI RAJ INSTITUTIONS : PROBLMES AND SUGGESTIONS TO STRENGTHEN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Abstract

The Muslim conquest in the India subcontinent brought the purdah practice in the Indian society. Among the Rajputs of Rajasthan, the Jauhar was practised. The Indian womans position in the society further deteriorated during the medieval period when Sati among some communities, child marriages and a ban on widow remarriages became part of social life among some communities in India.  In some part of India, the Devadasis or the temple women were sexually exploited. Polygamy was widely practised especailly among Hindu Kshatriya rulers. In many Muslim families, women were restricted to Zenana areas.