WOMEN IN INDIAN KNOWLEDGE TRADITIONS: SILENCED HISTORIES AND INTELLECTUAL LEGACIES

Abstract

This chapter explores the multifaceted roles of women in shaping, sustaining, and challenging Indian knowledge systems across historical periods. From the Vedic era’s female philosophers to the often-unacknowledged knowledge transmission by women in oral and devotional traditions, the chapter interrogates the intersection of gender, knowledge, and power. By examining classical texts, religious movements, and contemporary feminist reinterpretations, it aims to recover women's intellectual agency from historical marginalization.