From Obscurity to Light: Women in Early Medieval Orissa (Seventh to Twelfth Centuries AD) 9780367501273, 9781003049197

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FROM OBSCURITY TO LIGHT

This book attempts to reintegrate women into the socio-political milieu of early medieval Orissa. Its sources are inscriptions, mostly Sanskrit, that date from the seventh century to the end of the reign of the Imperial Ganga ruler, Anantavarman Codagangadeva (CE 1078-1147). The evidence indicates that royal and non-royal women had varying but undeniably important roles to play in the socio-political fabric of this prominent regional entity. The Bhauma­ Kara dynasty (c. mid-eighth/ninth-Iate tenth century) that witnessed the rule of six women, four of them in succession, is a case in point. In addition, the palpable presence of several other royal and non­ royal women is consistently documented in the epigraphic record. This is an aspect that has received very little attention in secondary works, thereby rendering this study a pioneering one. The work follows on from Rangachari's earlier Invisible Women, Visible Histories: Gender, Polity and Society in North India (7th to 12th Century AD), which had focused on important gendered aspects of early medieval north India through an analysis of literary and epigraphic sources of Kashmir, Kanauj, Bengal and Bihar. The invisibilization of women, whereby their presence is routinely ignored or trivialized, was, similarly, its underlying essence.

Devika Rangachari is an independent historian whose doctoral research was published under the title Invisible Women, Visible Histories: Gender, Society and Polity in North India (2009). She has been the recipient of several prestigious academic fellowships and is, additionally, an award-winning writer of gender-based historical fiction.

FROM OBSCURITY TO LIGHT

Women in Early Medieval Orissa (Seventh to Twelfth Centuries AD)

DEVIKA RANGACHARI

First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint

of the

Taylor & Franas Group, an informa business

© 2020 Devika Rangachari and Manohar Publishers & Distributors The right of Devika Rangachari to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any fonn or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any infonnation storage or retrieval system, without pennission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-50127-3 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-04919-7 (ebk) Typeset in Cardo 11113.5 by Ravi Shanker, Delhi 110 095

Contents

Preface

7

1. Introduction

9

2. The Political Framework of Orissa

56

3. A Gendered Perspective (The Bhaumakaras,

Bhaiijas, Sailodbhavas, Sarabhapuriyas and

Pa1f9UVamsis)

106

4. A Gendered Perspective (The Somavamsis,

Early Gangas and Imperial Gangas)

173

5. Conclusion

235

Bibliography

249

Index

265

Preface

This work is an attempt to reintegrate women into the socio-political milieu of early medieval Orissa, indicating the problems and possibilities inherent in such an exercise, and contesting the stereotypical imaging of women in history. By extension, the insensitivity to gender issues in most secondary works on this period is continually highlighted to show the insidious manner in which the presence and agency ofwomen is consistently trivialized or ignored. I am extremely grateful to Prof. Nayanjot Lahiri and Prof. Bhairabi Prasad Sahu who have guided me through this work and supported me in my endeavours through the many years of our association. This book owes everything to both of them. I am also grateful to the University Grants Commission (UGc) for granting me a post-doctoral fellowship to pursue my research. I am equally grateful to the Charles Wallace India Trust (CWIT) for awarding me a post-doctoral research grant to conduct research at the British Library in London and to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) for awarding me a travel grant for the same. I am particularly grateful and obliged to my family, especially Uttara; and to my friends, Alka, Deeksha and Kanika. Thanks are also due to Siddharth Chowdhury of Manohar for our cheerful conversations on books and writing, and for being an excellent editor. My gratitude, as always, goes out to the staff of the ICHR and Sahitya Akademi libraries.

8

Priface

Last, but definitely not the least, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of all those historians who have viewed women as relevant historical figures and integrated them into narratives of the past. This book is an attempt to add to their work and to underline the importance of gender analyses in any historical reconstruction. DEVIKA RANGACHARI

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

At the outset, it should be noted that this work is based on my post-doctoral dissertation, entitled 'Imaging Women in Early Medieval India: Up to the 12th Century AD', which, in turn, was an extension of my doctoral research, published as Invisible Women, Visible Histories: Gender, Polity and Society in North India {Seventh to Twelfth Century AD). 1 While I will provide more

information, at a later juncture, on the latter work, it should suffice to note here that it examined important gendered aspects ofthe society and polity of early medieval north India between the seventh and twelfth centuries AD through an analysis of the available literary and epigraphic sources ofmajor kingdoms located in Kashmir, Kanauj, and across Bengal and Bihar. Extending my inquiry into early medieval Orissa for my post-doctoral research is, therefore, a logical follow-up to my doctoral study. Accordingly, I propose to undertake a gender study of the kingdoms of Orissa between the seventh and twelfth centuries AD notjust because it was a prominent regional polity at the time but also because it had a fairly consistent interaction with the other polities of my doctoral research­ Kashmir, Kanauj, Bengal and Bihar. This would then enable me to identifY convergences and divergences in their historical 1 Devika Rangachari, Invisible Women, Visible Histories: Gender, Polity and Society in North India (Seventh to Twelfth Century AD), New Delhi:

Manohar, 2009. It should be noted that all references to Kashmir, Kanauj, Bengal and Bihar are from this book.

10

From Obscurity to Light

narratives from the perspective of gender, highlighting the possibilities and problems thereof.2 Early medieval Orissa bears great potential for the study of gender for several reasons. The Bhaumakara dynasty (mid­ eighth to mid-tenth centuries), for instance, witnessed the rule of six women, four of them in succession-an aspect that strongly links it to Kashmir and its prominent women rulers (discussed below). In addition, the palpable presence of several other royal and non-royal women is consistently documented in epigraphic records. This is, however, an aspect that has barely received any attention in secondary works on Orissa, thereby underlining the pioneering nature of my research. Detailed epigraphic evidence forms the basis of this study. An overwhelming number of inscriptions that have been taken into consideration in this gender analysis of early medieval Orissa constitute an attempt by women, both royal and non­ royal, to document their own histories in this period, attesting to their public presence, in all cases, and to their power, in some.

I. Background to the Present Research Prior to embarking on a survey of the various aspects of my post-doctoral research, it is crucial to provide a comprehensive account ofmy doctoral research work that forms a background to it and that, simultaneously, underlines its relevance in the realm of contemporary gender studies. My selection of the three case studies ofKashmir, Kanauj, and the kingdoms across Bengal and Bihar between the seventh and twelfth centuries AD was impelled not just by their position as major regional polit­ ies in the early medieval context, but also because ofan element of mutuality in their histories. 3 2 It should be noted that this volume uses the name 'Orissa' throughout instead of the current 'Odisha'. 3 For instance B.D. Chattopadhyaya, The Making of Early Medieval

Introduction

11

The underlying essence of my research was the contention of Uma Chakravarti and Kumkum Roy that there has been a consistent attempt to 'invisibilize' women in history, so that their contribution is met by a vast silence. 4 This invisibility varies over time and space, social and cultural practices such that even if space is conceded to women, it exists only 'within clearly defined parameters'. Thus, the depiction of women as passive beings or as playing insignificant roles, an overemphasis on the management of their sexuality and on their roles as mothers/wives, and an underestimation of their contribution as decision-makers are all aspects of this 'distorted visibility'.5 India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp. 18, 28, says that not only is the time span of sixth-seventh century to twelfth-thirteenth century AD crucial for the evolution of regional agrarian structures, it is very significant in the history of regional political structures. The selected regional entities are exemplars not only of their time, but also of the 'interactive' and 'interlocking' polities that characterized this period. See also B.D. Chattopadhyaya, 'Political Processes and Structure ofPolity in Early Medieval India: Problems of Perspective', Presidential Address, Indian History Congress Proceedings, 44th session, Burdwan, 1983, p. 39. 4 Uma Chakravarti and Kumkum Roy, 'In Search of Our Past: A Review of the Limitations and possibilities of the Historiography of Women in Early India', Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 23, no. 18, 30 April 1988, p. 2. Women have been excluded both as actors and as authors from featuring in history as they should, and remain one ofits most neglected subjects. Note that the article reviews and analyses writings on women and finds them to be limited in many respects. Kumkum Roy, 'Introduction', in Women in Early Indian Societies, ed. Kumkum Roy, New Delhi: Manohar, 1999, p. 4 talks of certain sphereslinstitutions like the family being isolated as particularly relevant to women. Leslie C. Orr, Donors) Devotees) and Daughters of God: Temple Women in Medieval Tamilnadu, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 10, stresses that ideas on women's roles in Indian society are derived from religious texts, myths, symbols and rituals rather than a focus on the behaviour or experience of individuals. 5 B.D. Chattopadhyaya points out that the dominant discourse of women in early Indian society, derived mostly from Brahmanical norma­ tive texts, has remained confined to women within the household. Gender relations in past societies within the overarching frame of patriarchy are inevitably becoming a major focus of the social history of

12

From Obscurity to Light

This, in turn, makes their visibility as 'problematic' as their invisibility.6 By extension, my choice of the early medieval period of Indian history as requiring investigation, in this regard, was prompted by the fact that it constitutes one of the 'vast chronological expanses' that remain virtually 'unexplored' from the perspective of women's history.7 I will discuss this time span in more detail in a subsequent section. such societies. See B.D. Chattopadhyaya, 'General Editor's Preface', in Women in Early Indian Societies, ed. Roy, pp. ix-x. See also Leela Dube, 'Introduction', in Visibility and Power: Essays on Women in Society and Development, ed. Leela Dube, Eleanor Leacock and Shirley Ardener, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986, p. xxiii. Also Uma Chakravarti, 'Beyond the Altekarian Paradigm: Towards a New Understanding of Gender Relations in Early Indian History', in Women in Early Indian Societies, ed. Roy, pp. 72-3; Mandakranta Bose, ed., Faces of the Feminine in Ancient, Medieval and Modern India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 4; Wendy Doniger, Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in Ancient Greece and India, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999, pp. 303-4; M.K. Raj, 'Permeable Boundaries', in Ideas, Images and Real Lives: Women in Literature and History, ed. Alice Thorner and M.K. Raj, Mumbai: Orient Longman, 2000, pp. 1-2; Shirley Ardener, 'The Representation of Women in Academic Models', in Visibility and Power, ed. Dube, Leacock and Ardener, p. 6; and Doris R. Jakobsh, 'The Construction of Gender in History and Religion: The sikh Case', in Faces of the Feminine, ed. Bose, pp. 271, 279. 6 Patricia Uberoi, 'Feminine Identity and National Ethos in Indian Calendar Art', in Ideas, Images and Real Lives, ed. Thorner and Raj, p. 342; Ardener, 'The Representation ofWomen', in Visibility and Power, ed. Dube, Leacock and Ardener, p. 3 says that visibility alone does not give women a voice. Kumkum Sangari, Politics of the possible: Essays on Gender, History, Narrative and Colonial English, New Delhi: Tulika, 1999, p. 369; Ursula King, ed., Religion and Gender, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1995, p. 1; Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Patriarchy, New York: Oxford University Press, 1986, p. 4; Leela Dube, 'Gender Bias and Social Sciences', in Women in Indian History: Social, Economic, Political and Cultural Perspectives, ed. Kiran Pawar, New Delhi: Vision & Venture, 1996, p. 3; Rosalind IJ. Hackett, 'Women and New Religious Movements in Africa', in Religion and Gender, ed. King, p. 260; and Sally J.M. Sutherland, ed., Bridging Worlds: Studies on Women in South Asia, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 6. 7 See Kumkum Roy, 'Introduction', in Women in Early Indian Societies,

Introduction

13

The challenge, consequently, was to narrate a more meaning­ ful and inclusive socio-political history, and Roy's observation was particularly pertinent, at this juncture. She opines that there are two ways of situating women vis-a.-vis major historical processes. 8 The first-the focus of most secondary works­ envisages historical developments as autonomous and focuses on their impact on women. Thus, women are viewed as passive receptacles with their 'status' or 'position' changing to reflect the state of the world around them. The second, articulated less frequently and systematically, envisages a certain degree of agency for women vis-a.-vis historical processes. The focus of my study was largely this aspect. At this point, it becomes necessary to understand the meaning and implications of the term 'gender', as the scope of any historical context widens considerably with its inclusion as an analytical category.9 Gender largely relates to the social and cultural distinctions that being a man or woman entail in a given society at a given time.lO To refer to gender instead of ed. Roy, p. 11. See also B.D. Chattopadhyaya, 'General Editor's Preface', in Women in Early Indian Societies, ed. Roy, pp. ix-x; The Making of Early Medieval India; and Studying Early India: Archaeology, Texts, and Historical Issues, Delhi: Permanent Black, 2003. 8 Kumkum Roy, 'Introduction', in Women in Early Indian Societies,

p.3.

9 Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid, 'Recasting Women: An Introduction', in Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History, ed. Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid, rpt., New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1993, p. 2; Chattopadhyaya, 'General Editor's Preface', in Women in Early Indian Societies, ed. Roy, p. ix; June O'Connor, 'The Epistemological Significance of Feminist Research in Religion', in Religion and Gender, ed. King, p. 57; Elise Boulding, The Underside of History, revd edn, U.S.A.: Sage, 1992, voLl, p. 8. 10 Roberta Gilchrist, Gender and Material Culture: The Archaeology of Religious Women, London and New York: Routledge, 1994, p. 1 defines gender as an aspect of social structure which is socially created and historically specific, in contrast with the categories ofmale and female sex which are fixed and biologically determined. Chakravarti and Roy, 'In Search of Our Past', Economic and Political Weekly, p. 9 note that specific

14

From Obscurity to Light

sex indicates that women's position is not dictated by nature, by biology or sex, but is a matter ofsocial and political contrivance. It also stresses the limitations ofterms like the 'status ofwomen' that obscure the fact that the attributes and activities ofwomen vary in relation to the diverse intersections of caste, class, age, kinship, religion, region and so on. 11 Charles Beem notes that gender implies a description of 'socially constructed differences' between men and women, manifested in the 'public roles played by male and female historical actors'.12 Thus, gender is always defined by a social context. 13 It is, moreover, intrinsically governed by the act of elements regarded as crucial to definitions of masculinity and femininity vary considerably over space and time. Also Peter N. Stearns, Gender in World History, London and New York: Routledge, 2000, p. 1; Merry E. Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 5; julia Leslie and Mary McGee, ed., Invented Identities, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 34, 44. 11 Seemanthini Niranjana, 'On Gender and Difference: Towards a Re-Articulation', Social Scientist, vol. 22, nos. 7-8, july-August 1994, p. 29; Carole Pateman, 'The Sexual Contract: The End of the Story?', in The Woman Question, ed. Mary Evans, London: Sage, 1994, p. 238; Elaine Showalter, ed., Speaking of Gender, London: Routledge, 1994, p. 3 states that as gender is always shaped within an ideological framework, it should be seen as a part of the process of social construction. 12 See Charles Beem, The Lioness Roared: The Problems of Female Rule in English History, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, p. 4. See also Subhadra Mitra Channa and Kamal K. Misra, 'Introduction', in Gendering Material Culture: Representations and Practice, ed. Subhadra Mitra Channa and Kamal K. Misra, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal and Rawat Publications, jaipur/New Delhi, 2013, pp. 9, 13. It is noted that gender does not represent people but a complex of ideas, beliefs, abstractions, images and fantasies; further, that gender roles and constructs are not static. An interesting assertion-that although patriarchy is supported by traditional roles and the significations emanated by material culture, there is scope for it to be reworked-is also made (p. 22). Material culture itself is defined as being composed of those things that have been objectified through the process of social interaction and the conferring of meaning (p. 4). 13 See Urmimala Sarkar Munsi, 'Changing Gendered Boundaries:

Introduction

15

imaging. The word 'imaging' implies projection, reflection, imitation and the art of symbolizing; an imposition, therefore, that has an element of control in that images can be often created and imposed even though their reflection of reality might be questionable, exaggerated or biased. 14 Thus, Jasbir Jain notes that myth, which marginalizes women, and history, which excludes them, have dominantly projected images that render women as secondary, depicting them 'in restricted role models, and reinforcing inequalities and discriminations'. Masculinity and, by extension, patriarchy, are premised on the pervasive image of a passive femininity that precludes any exercise of the latter's independence or agency. However, significantly, dislocations and disjunctures exist in almost all Materiality of the Resistive Moments in Dance History', in Gendering Material Culture, ed. Channa and Misra, p. 154. She cites Judith Butler as stating that the process of undoing/challenging is always a result of a negotiation between individual agency and socially-dictated/structured norms and value systems. Butler also highlights the importance of ackn­ owledging that gender negotiations are always dependant on collective social systems. See also Teresa A. Meade and Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, 'Introduction', in A Companion to Gender History, ed. Teresa A. Meade and Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, Oxford: Blackwell, 2004, pp. 1-7; and Kim M. Phillips, 'Introduction: Medieval Meanings of Women', in A Cultural History of Women: (Vol. 2) In the Middle Ages, ed. Kim. M. Phillips, London: Bloomsbury, 2013, pp. 1-14. 14 See Jasbir Jain, Writing Women Across Cultures, Jaipur and New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 2002, p. 11. Jain notes that the verb 'imaging' confers the active role on the 'Other', and that there is a subtle difference between imaging and imagining-one conveys conformity, the other has speculative tendencies. Women, history, and women in history are some of the categories that are governed by the act of imaging, implying an external agent-society, men, writers, priests or others-who images. Thus, the categories being imaged are, to a certain extent, passive recipients of the images that are cast of them. Although exceptions and deviations from this trend are few and far between, Jain calls for the need to recognize the 'innate split' in the projected conventional images. Women have, thus, risen above these limitations in various ways-by sustaining an oral tradition and deconstructing patriarchal structures 'through individual questionings'. See p. 21.

16

From Obscurity to Light

overarching, conventional images of women and original sources usually bear testimony to this, indicating that women routinely questioned the images that were cast of them. Other aspects that have a direct bearing on a gender analysis are the varying extent of women's subordination in society over time, the need for control over women to safeguard the purity of the Brahmanical structure, and the association of kingship/state in this subjugation. Chakravarti, for instance, notes that caste, class, and state connections provide the struc­ tural framework within which gender relations operated. 15 Thus, gender concepts and constructs should be contextualized or viewed with reference to their particular cultural, political, social, religious, and historical contexts. The intention, how­ ever, should not be to merely locate important women figures in the historical past but to acknowledge the agency ofwomen in any context. I had selected, for my doctoral study, only the most important texts and inscriptions amenable to a gender analysis. While the aim was to integrate the evidence of epigraphic and literary sources, the manner in which these could be used varied from region to region. Thus, while literary texts were crucial in a gendered reconstruction of early medieval Kashmir, epigraphic evidence was more useful in the case of the kingdoms located across Bengal and Bihar. In the case ofKanauj, though, I discovered a largely fruitful conjunction ofliterary and epigraphic evidence. At thisjuncture, I will briefly recount some ofthe observations and conclusions that emerged in the course of my doctoral 15 Uma Chakravarti, 'Conceptualising Brahmanical Patriarchy in Early India: Gender, Caste, Class and State', Economic and Political Weekly, vol. XXVIII, no. 14, 3 April 1993, pp. 579, 584-9. Chakravarti notes that the purity of caste was contingent on the purity of women. Hence, the safeguarding of the caste structure was achieved through the highly restricted movement ofwomen. The purity ofwomen ensured the purity of the social order itself Moreover, the control ofwomen of ruling clans and landholding groups ensured legitimacy in terms of succession.

Introduction

17

research as these are directly relevant to my post-doctoral research on gender in early medieval Orissa. One of the most significant issues, in this regard, is that of women's power, exercised in formal and informal ways in different regional contexts but, particularly, in early medieval Kashmir. Female rulership in Kashmir was an aspect that cut across time spans and dynasties, and was, additionally, culturally acceptable. The throne was a source of legitimate authority for both royal and non-royal women, either as direct rulers or as regents. 16 This, naturally, posed a distinct challenge to prescriptive norms of succession that favoured the male and denied women access to public roles of authority. Sugandha (AD 904-6) and Didda (AD 980/1-1003), the two most prominent women rulers of Kashmir, commenced their pursuit of power as regents and were backed by strong public approval. Their growth to political maturity involved confrontations with rebellious factions and scheming co­ ntenders. Both rulers were responsible for important dynastic changes, Sugandha by enabling her lover's family to gain pro­ minence, and Didda by bequeathing the throne to her natal kin from Lohara. Female rulership, therefore, was a strikingly significant feature of early medieval Kashmir. Additionally, power was exercised by royal and non­ royal women of Kashmir in a range of situations-as queens, courtesans, court participants, mediators, dynasty makers and destroyers, and in other capacities. Royal and non-royal women of Kashmir appear, therefore, to have wrested a largely autonomous space for themselves in political and social circles. Clearly, the patriarchal order in Kashmir was capable of being subverted or transgressed-and this, interestingly, seemed to have been largely tolerated. It is necessary, however, to note the

16 The word 'non-royal' is used here for purposes of convenience but it should be noted that there are several categories of women within this overarching term.

18

From Obscurity to Light

manner and extent to which patriarchal norms were subsumed since deviations are inherently significant. As regards Kanauj, the absence of women rulers here does not imply that some royal women could not be independent or instrumental. Rajyasri, for instance, was pivotal in enabling her brother, Haqavardhana (AD 606-48), to obtain the throne of Kanauj. Used as a pawn in a strategic marriage alliance, Rajyasri later became so important in Har~avardhana's calculations that her presence was essential for him to stake his claim to Kanauj. Indications ofher active participation in Haqavardhana's court, thereafter, and her possible influence on his religious choices, are pointers to the power she must have wielded. There are other prominent instances of powerful women in Kanauj. The Pratihara (c. AD 810-1085) genealogical lists, for instance, accord clear visibility to the royal women. At the same time, there are unmistakable indications of the involvement of some of them in harem rivalries, manifested in succession wrangles among sibling contenders. The Gaha