WOMEN IN INDIAN KNOWLEDGE TRADITIONS

Abstract

The role of women in Indian knowledge traditions has often been obscured by dominant patriarchal historiographies that privileged male scholarship in classical, medieval, and colonial periods. However, a closer examination of Vedic literature, philosophical treatises, poetic compositions, scientific works, and oral traditions reveals an enduring and significant contribution of women to the intellectual and spiritual heritage of India. From the Rig Vedic seers such as Gargi and Maitreyi to medieval poet-saints like Mirabai and Akkamahadevi, women participated actively as thinkers, debaters, teachers, and composers. This chapter aims to investigate the multifaceted dimensions of women's intellectual agency across diverse fields, including philosophy, medicine, mathematics, literature, and spiritual knowledge. Drawing on textual evidence, historical records, and feminist scholarship, it argues that women were not merely passive recipients of knowledge but were vigorous contributors and, at times, subversive challengers of established epistemological norms. The chapter also critically examines the structural barriers that limited women's formal access to education and the mechanisms through which women nonetheless navigated, appropriated, and transmitted knowledge across generations.