WOMEN IN INDIA'S FREEDOM STRUGGLE When the history of India's figf^^M independence would be written, the sacrifices made by the women of India will occupy the foremost plofe. —^Mahatma Gandhi WOMEN IN INDIA'S FREEDOM STRUGGLE MANMOHAN KAUR IVISU LIBBARV STERLING PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED .>».A ^ STERLING PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED L-10, Green Park Extension, New Delhi-110016 Women in India's Freedom Strug^e ©1992, Manmohan Kaur First Edition: 1968 Second Edition: 1985 Third Edition: 1992 ISBN 81 207 1399 0 -4""D^/i- All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. PRINTED IN INDIA Published by S.K. Ghai, Managing Director, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., L-10, Green Park Extension, New Delhi-110016. Laserset at Vikas Compographics, A-1/2S6 Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-110029. Printed at Elegant Printers. New Delhi. PREFACE This subject was chosen with a view to recording the work done by women in various phases of the freedom struggle from 1857 to 1947. In the course of my study I found that women of India, when given an opportunity, did not lag behind in any field, whether political, administrative or educational. The book covers a period of ninety years. It begins with 1857 when the first attempt for freedom was made, and ends with 1947 when India attained independence. While selecting this topic I could not foresee the difficulties which subsequently had to be encountered in the way of collecting material. The subject relates to the recent past and hence not much has been written even about the freedom movement as a whole, not to speak of the work done by women in this field. At the very commencement of my work I was able to get permission from the Government of India to consult its records up to 1946. But later the permission was withdrawn in pursuance of a Government policy and scholars were forbidden to use the records pertaining to the period beyond 1917. This embargo on the official records also deprived me of the official interpretation of various events relating to the freedom movement. As a result, for the po'iod 1917-47, I had to depend mostly on contemporary newspajjers, journals, correspondence, personal interviews and records maintained in the offices of the political parties. The National Library, Calcutta, where I spent over three months, has a good collection of newspapers and journals, etc. Information available from these sources was, however, very limited due to the fact that whenever any major political agitation took place in the country, rigorous censorship was clamped down on the newspapers. vi Women in India's Freedom Struggle The next source could be the pioneer women themselves who had played a prominent part in the freedom struggle. These ladies are no more. Probably if women like Sarla Devi, Madam Bhikaji Rustum K.R. Cama, Annie Besant, Sarcjini Naidu, Satyawati and many others could be contacted they would have been able to give a good deal of information. The women in politic s today and who participated in the struggle for freedom were contacted through correspondence and personal interviews. But the infcmnation collected from them is not very comprehensive. In certain cases men who had been in the political field for a long time were approached bu. they perhaps were not aware that they would be called upon to give iriformation on their counterparts, the women, and as such the information from this source was also scanty. The women of India, it is evident from quite a few sources, had started taking part in the political agitation of the country, but because the police was hesitant to arrest them in the early stages of the struggle, even the police reports are far from complete in this respect This, however, should not lead the reader to think that women's part in the freedom movement was negligible. In fact, the role played by them was quite significant. I spent about three years in the National Archives of India, New Delhi, and collected some valuable information pertaining to the periot 1857-1917 from the records of the Foreign Political and Home Political Departments. The census reports, native paper reports. Imperial (Jazetteers and a number of official reports give an insight into the social conditions of the country. The offices of the different political parties had been victims of many a police raid and the records were either burnt or kept so indifferently that to go through them entailed a lot of work. However, the files and reports available in the All India Congress Committee office, New Delhi, are of interest for the years 1930 to 1947. Some material was also collected from the Central Secretariat Library, New Delhi, and Panjab University Library, Chandigarh. Small bits of infonnation gathered from different sources when put together do reveal the fact that women in India exhibited courage and patriotism and that the part played by them in the struggle for political freedom was importanx in nature and vital in its consequences. Preface vii I express my grateful thanks to Dr. Hari Ram Gupta, former Head of History Department, Panjab University, without whose liberal help and able guidance this work could not have been completed. In 1968 and 1985 two earlier editions of this book were published under the title Role of Women in the Freedom Movement (1857-1947). and Women in India's Freedom Struggle. Manmoban Kaur ABBREVIATIONS A.I.C.C. — All India Congress Committee is the deliberative standing committee of the Congress elected annually Congress — Indian National Congress Ed. — Edited Govt — Government N.A.I. — National Archives of India, New Delhi NL.C. — National Library, Calcutu N.W.P. — North Western Province U.P. — Utiar Pradesh CONTENTS Preface v Abbreviations viii Introduction 1 1. Position of Women: 1857-1900 6 2. Women Fighters' Role in 1857-1858 War 34 3. The Political Awakening: 1857-1900 71 4. Women Social Reformers: 1859-1900 83 5. Extremist Women in Indian Politics: 1900-1913 91 6. Annie Besant and the Home Rule Agitation: 1914-1918 113 7. The Civil Disobedience Movements: 1919-1929 139 8. Civil Disobedience Movements: 1930-1935 162 9. Women Administrators: 1935-1939 197 10. The Last Phase: 1940-1947 203 11. Independence and After 239 Appendices 265 Bibliography 286 Glossary 297 Index 299 INTRODUCTION Women in ancient India occupied a dignified place. They participated in the outdoor life as circumstances and situations demanded and there were hardly any prescribed positions exclusively earmarked for men.' All the high avenues of learning were open to women. During this period we come across a reference to some women who excelled in learning and their hymns were included in the Vedas. There were women known as Brahmavadinis who could continue their studies throughout their life. Some of the outstanding women of that age were Lopamudra, Apala, Kadru, Ghosha, Paulomi and others. The notable philosopher of the time was Gargi.^ However, absence of legal rights, keeping female slaves' in an aristocratic Aryan family and polygamy tended to lower the status of women. The Buddhists maintained the traditions of Brahmanical religion and gave an honoured place to women in the social Ufe of the country. Women were admitted in the order of nuns by virtue of which they gained opportunities to learn and to serve. They participated in the public life and won distinctions. Some of them were amongst Buddha's chief disciples. Many a women gave up wealth and ease and took up missionary work. Prominent among them were Dharmapala, Anupama, Queen Kshema, Chapa and others.* Wom_en continued enjoying the same position more or less until the Muslim invasions from the north-west. A slow and steady but imperceptible decline in the position of women had begun with the advent of Huns. With the coming of the invaders this process accelerated, and the decline was marked and discernible. Continuous invasions made the conditions in the Indo-Gangetic plain unsettled. The political instability, consequent migration of population and economic depression extending over a period of about three centuries affected the women adversely. 2 Women in India's Freedom Struggle Infanticide, child marriage, sati, purdah system and prejudices against women's education \vere some of the measures adopted by the Hindu society to save the honour of their women, against invaders and foreign conquerors. All thuse customs hampered the progress of women, yet there appeared throughout the ages some women who excelled as administrators, warriors, reformers and as religious teachers. The names of Padmtni, Razia Begum, Durgawati, who fought against Akbar, and Chand Bibi who defended the Ahmednagar Fort, represent the warriors and administrators amongst the women. Mughal princesses like Nur Jahan, Jahan Ara and Zebunnissa are prominent women of the medieval India. South India was not much affected by the intruders, as a result education was fairly spread in the region. One hears of poetesses like Ganga Devi, the author of Varandanbika Parnaya. Amongst the Maratha rulers Tara Bai, who was instrumental in putting up a powerful resistance against the onslaughts of Aurangzeb, and Ahalya Bai Holkar, whose administration won admiration of English­ men, were famous women of this time. Punjab had a courageous and good stateswoman in Sada Kaur who helped Ran jit Singh in conquering Lahore and consolidating the Sikh empire. The old order slowly changed with the coming of the British. The economic structure built by them to exploit the Indian resources for their benefit proved ruinous to the economic and cultural set-up of the land.