Women in the Chola Kingdom

The Chola Kingdom was a powerful kingdom of ancient South India. They ruled over the present Tamil Nadu area, and the fertile Kaveri Valley was their heartland. This dynasty ruled around 1000 years ago and around the beginning of the 13th century, it started to decline. Raja Raja Chola and Rajendra Chola were the greatest rulers of the Chola dynasty.

One of the most interesting features of the Chola culture was the presence of gender equality. The warrior Chola culture celebrated bravery in both men and women. In the Chola era, women were known for their valour and occupied strategic administrative positions.

The Cholas, a massive Naval Power, had a warrior culture that included women in a multitude of roles. There was presence of women bodyguards and throne guards in the Chola Empire. The Chola King's retinue included the padimagalir - women bodyguards. These women were trained for fighting from a young age, and well-armed to protect the royalty.  Courage was one of the foremost virtues to possess for the Cholas.

Women also worked as advisors and ambassadors - the poem Perum Kathai speaks of "clever women" who acted as peacemakers between kingdoms.

The symbol of women's high social status is evident by the wealth that women personally owned. Women, even outside the royal families, made significant donations to temples. Female donors included the wives of merchants and landowners, as well as women from the royal family.

Inscriptions suggest that Chola women had some control over the resources of the household. Property, when owned by the woman, could not be spent by her husband without her permission.

Women were respected and given pride at home as well as in state administration. Moreover, women were able to exercise freedom in some areas, like, they could marry for love.

However, one must not forget that it was a patriarchal and feudal society, that still saw women in the context of their relationships with men. Widows were marginalised and low status women were not treated kindly and were more like property.

Given that, it is worth noting that a thousand years ago, Indian women in this Kingdom had privileges which were denied to women throughout most history and even in the 19th and early 20th centuries.