Which statements are correct about women in agricultural societies in the 16th-17th centuries?
Statement A- Hindu and Muslim women inherited zamindaris which they were free to sell or mortgage.
Statement B- In Punjab, women, including widows, actively participated in the rural land market as sellers of property inherited by them.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option 3 - Both statements are correct.
Statement A- Hindu and Muslim women inherited zamindaris which they were free to sell or mortgage.
Statement B- In Punjab, women, including widows, actively participated in the rural land market as sellers of property inherited by them.
Women in agricultural societies in the 16th-17th centuries:
Amongst the landed gentry, women had the right to inherit property. Instances from the Punjab show that women, including widows, actively participated in the rural land market as sellers of property inherited by them (Statement B). Hindu and Muslim women inherited zamindaris which they were free to sell or mortgage (Statement A). Women zamindars were known in eighteenth-century Bengal. In fact, one of the biggest and most famous of the eighteenth-century zamindaris, that of Rajshahi, had a woman at the helm.