Herstory: Presenting History in Fair Light

Report

Dr. Devika Rangachari, a gender historian and an independent researcher delivered an exceptional lecture on the subject of women and their perspectives being largely absent from historical narratives of early medieval north India. She inspected epigraphic and textual sources belonging to eminent kingdoms of Kashmir, Kanauj, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha from between the seventh and twelfth centuries. The inspection of primary sources allowed her to contest the unwarranted representation of women from this period as an ‘undifferentiated mass’ leading lives as a passive presence throughout centuries. It is in this context that she discoursed about her work as a gender historian and its conveyance to young adults through the mode of historical fiction.

She began the talk by asserting how secondary sources betrayed the female narrative by marginalizing their roles and importance in early medieval north India. They represent women from this period as a ‘non-participatory’ group, only conforming to their gender norms and carrying out related duties. Contrarily, the primary sources that were referred to by the secondary sources provide a richer, more comprehensive account of the role of women in society and governance of the period; they expounded upon them as individual rulers on the throne or acting as advisors and negotiators behind it. In the same instant, Dr. Rangachari made the case of women’s agency being highly contextual. Their intermittent rise to power, or its wielding by a select few must not be used to make blanket assumptions about the status of women at the time.

In order to drive home the above points, Dr. Rangachari gave multiple examples of women undertaking pivotal roles as queens and and wielders of power. In early medieval Kashmir, Queen Sugandha became regent for her minor son after her husband’s death. After her son died, she ruled the kingdom successfully with the support of the people. Another remarkable ruler from Kashmir was Didda. She ruled in the 10th century for 50 years, behind the throne as well as a formal ruler. She brought a period of prosperity to Kashmir unparalleled by any other ruler. However, attempts to stereotype her image and question her morality have led to many secondary sources labelling her ‘dissolute’ or ‘monstrous’. In early medieval Kanauj too, Harshavardana consolidated power as king because of the vital role played by his sister Rajshree. However, her contribution has been trivialized. In the Palasena period of Bihar, the maternal bond and its role in winning King Ramapala a stable kingdom has been overlooked.

In uncovering these and many such narratives, Dr. Ranagachari met with the gendered reading and retelling of history. She also found the problem to be systemic in a way, because this gendered reading of history is inculcated at a young age through school textbooks. They tend to ignore the role or even the existence of women and talk about them through stereotypes. Her venture into young adult historical fiction as a genre was encouraged by this phenomenon. Through her books such as Queen of Ice and Harsha Vardhana she urged the target audience to look beyond their textbooks and question such male centric narratives. The assertion that any reconstruction of the past is not possible without the inclusion of women in it was central to Dr. Rangachari’s lecture as well as her research efforts.

By Rohini Sharma, Undergraduate Class of 2020