Elizabeth Wiessner

Ancient History
4 December 2016
M11- The Role of Women in the Mauryan Dynasty
Women in the Mauryan Dynasty were still treated with respect even though they
were subordinate to men. A man in rage would never be harsh to a women because he
knows that on her depends the joy of love, happiness and virtue.
Women were allowed to have public jobs like jobs around the community like
working textile production, temple dancers, wage labor, and court attendants. Married
women could own land.
The Arthasastra was a religious scripture that explained how to deal with women,
they played a key role in many religious scriptures.
Women had a lot of minor roles in the empire, but the biggest priority was
marriage. Marriage was so important that remarriages were allowed. Women could not
own property independently, if women wanted to own property they had to marry and
then women could talk to their husbands about owning property together. Remarriages
occurred because when women took too long to conceive a son, a woman's husband
could marry another so that a son could be conceived and could own property. Women
could receive some benefits from marriage like property and some wealth. Marriage
was an ideal solution for lower class women in the Mauryan Empire. Marriage continued
to prevail much so that the laws were enforced for women.