Civilization flourished at one of its earliest cradles, the Indian subcontinent,
in rather a utopian fashion. The Indus Valley settlement offered an idyllic social structure
where there was hardly any segregation among its population based on color, creed, gender,
or financial status. But, after the mysterious collapse of civilization on the banks of the
Indus River, a new social structure emerged with the rise of Arya kingdoms in the northern plains.
With a new caste system to separate different sects of the population and
a massive decline in women’s status in society, patriarchy introduced many appalling customs.
Welcome to Nutty History, and today let’s find out what creepy customs were normal in ancient India.
When Greeks arrived at the Indian subcontinent during Alexander’s campaign, the land fascinated
them so much that a lot of them settled down in Northern plains and mountains. They were amazed to
find out that the concept of slavery didn’t exist in Indian civilization as it did back in Greece.
However, that doesn’t mean the Indian subcontinent didn’t have its own demons. The caste system was
and still is one of the most dreadful segregation practices that have survived even in modern times.
The untouchables or Achhuts were the social outcasts of Ancient Indian society who were forced
to live at the edge of civilization but never be part of it. They were restricted to work only the
lowest of jobs, paid much less than minimum wages to survive, and subjected to be punished at will
by the upper classes. Ironically, untouchables were not allowed to touch people of other
communities but the upper class were allowed to beat, flog, skin, and hang untouchables to death
if they deemed it necessary. Men and women of this class were responsible for performing essential
jobs like sanitizing toilets, cleaning out drains, unclogging sewers, wiping streets and getting
rid of animal carcasses, and more menial trades which other castes considered filthy, polluted,
and unworthy. In the early centuries of the establishment of the caste system, children
of untouchables were allowed to educate themselves and qualify for better jobs, but later this system
became hereditary. But how did things changed so radically after the fall of the Indus Valley
civilization? Buckle up, because this story has some twists in it. The fall of the Indus Valley
region led to the rise of the Vedic Period. The wise founders of this era came up with a social
hierarchy system to distribute responsibilities among citizens. The arrival of Aryas in India
marked a social reform that will leave a mark on Indian society forever. The professions and job
descriptions were much simpler back then and this new socio-economic development was meant to assist
in assigning wages, social status, and privileges that may come with the profession of one’s choice.
People were assigned their caste-based on the profession they were practicing. As centuries
passed, the political struggle between the upper classes began affecting other classes.
This conflict led to the degradation of the caste system and one’s freedom to be able to choose a
career of their own volition. The Untouchables who were already at the bottom of the barrel
went from worse to worse. The new hereditary system made things more stringent and pushed the
untouchables farther from any social recognition. The only difference between the shunning of the
untouchables in the Indian subcontinent and the slavery in the west was that the untouchables
weren’t anybody’s properties but they were treated no better. Unfortunately, the tag of property fell
around the neck of women who also lost a lot of rights with the passing of time.
In Ancient India, Swayamvar was originally a practice to allow women to choose their husbands,
however, later most religious texts referred to women as a ‘property’ of their fathers,
they had the final call on who their daughters could marry. Swayamvar was orchestrated as a
ceremony at an auspicious time where possible suitors were invited by the bride-to-be’s father.
After perhaps a test or introduction of suitors, the bride-to-be will broadcast her intentions
about who she would like to choose as her partner for life. This practice was most common among
royal and noble families but was a rare occurrence among the common people of ancient India.
The idea of women being the property of their fathers before marriage and then after,
of their husbands, solidified in society. The agency of decision making was stripped from
women and became a right of their fathers. Brides will be passed on like an asset traded in a deal.
The practice of swayamvar itself continued till the dawn of modern times,
however many families in Indian society still force parents’ wishes on their children.
There was another horrid downside of women being treated as property and not a person of their
own in ancient India. As they were supposed to be owned by their father and later, by their husbands
after marriage, the untimely death of their husband would cause an identity crisis for them.
Well, at least that’s what Indian society deemed. They had limited options after becoming a widow,
they would have to give up living a life that they were used to and reject every pleasure
offered by the world, down to the colors and good food! But that choice wasn’t always available,
widows were most likely forced to follow their husband in the afterlife dead or not! Widows
would be forcefully pushed into the burning pyre of their late husband, kicking and screaming to
be set a blaze. The practice of sati, emerged in historical records during the time of the Gupta
Empire between 320CE and 550 CE. However, it is widely believed that the practice has been around
in India for a much longer time. Incidents of sati were first recorded in Nepal in 464CE, and later
on in modern central India in 510CE. The practice then spread to Rajasthan, where the greatest
number of sati cases happened over the centuries. Initially, the practice of Sati was confined to
royal families and only later spread to the lower castes, becoming widely practiced among the entire
society. Things only got worse during medieval times with the frequent invasions of middle
eastern Islamic raiders and conquerors. They tried to mistreat, enslave, and forcefully convert Hindu
widows of dead warriors, soldiers, generals, and kings alike. To save themselves from such a
grim outcome, these women would rather prepare for self-immolation as soon as the battle would begin,
in the event of their army losing or the gates of the cities being breached. Even though this
was an act of self-sacrifice, such incidents were used by religiously zealous people to propagate
and advocate the forced practice of sati. This led to the practice peaking during the period between
the fifteenth and eighteenth century. As many as 1000 widows were burned alive every year in
India and Nepal. The practice also spread during this time to countries like Fiji and Vietnam.
Women of ancient India had only two options as an alternative to being married to a man.
But calling these other ways of living an option is a bit of a stretch because calling them options
suggest that these women had an agency of choice, and that clearly wasn’t the case! God-Maids or
Devdasi were women who were forcibly married to a deity at a prepubescent age by their parents. This
institutional exploitation of women was aimed at socially and economically
deprived families who were asked to send their adolescent daughters in service of the god,
sometimes in return for a compensation fee. These girls were not allowed to marry normally,
as they were supposedly married to the temple. What it really meant was that they were bound
to serve the priests and inmates of the temple, however they may ask and sometimes
such services would extend to the local lords and other influential people tied to the temple.
These women were slaves of the priests and clergy and were exploited in every way imaginable from
the day of their admission into the temple to their death. Shockingly this practice is still
around in southern parts of India. City-Brides or Nagar Vadhus were openly considered courtesans and
the title was generally held by the most beautiful and talented courtesan of the city. In fact,
beauty pageants were held to select the next City-Bride. Unlike a god-maid, City-Bride was
honored and revered among citizens of the city. However, she was still a harlot. That said,
her intimate services were ridiculously expensive so that only top brass of the city, generals,
kings, and emperors could only manage to afford her time. City-Brides would also perform music,
dance, and other theatrical arts for the city at special ceremonies, events,
and occasions. Amrapali, the mistress of Emperor Bimbsaar, was perhaps the most famous city bride
in Indian history; she later converted to Buddhism after hosting Buddha following the destruction of
her city courtesy of Bimbsaar’s son, Ajaatshatru. Do you think we missed any creepy custom or ritual
from ancient India? Let us know in the comments. And as always thanks for watching Nutty History!