Deconstructing Universality: Women and Gender in Early Medieval Kamarupa (600-1200 CE)

The Brahmaputra valley known interchangeably as Kamarupa or Pragjyotisha in the early medieval period was eclipsed successively by three different ruling dynasties, marking a transition from its prehistoric phase to state society.The region has received meagre treatment in the historical writings of ancient India, so does the question of women and gender of the region.Although women in the copper plate inscriptions of early medieval Kamarupa do figure in few historical writings, their position and status were discussed in relation to the question of marriage, education and inheritance based on the names of few queens and women that figure in the epigraphs.However, it does not reflect their actual position in the social structure.It is imperative to formulate their contemporary socio-religious structure that conditions gender relation.The paper aims to study the inscriptions, the Kalika Purana,and other textual sources to furnish us with a comprehensive view of women and gender in early medieval Kamarupa and situate them in their contemporary socio-religious context.It additionally argues that women in early medieval Kamarupa were not subjected to ritual subjugation on account of preponderance of non-Brahmanical traditions.