Which of the following statements is/are correct in the context of medieval India?

1) Marriages in many rural communities required the payment of bride-price rather than dowry to the bride's family.
2) Remarriage was considered legitimate both among divorced and widowed women.
3) Women were kept under strict control by the male members of the family and the community.
4) Men could inflict draconian punishments if they suspected infidelity on the part of women.

Choose the correct answer from the given options:

1, 2, 3 and 4

The correct answer is Option 1 - 1, 2, 3 and 4

Women in agricultural societies:

Marriages in many rural communities required the payment of bride-price rather than dowry to the bride’s family. Remarriage was considered legitimate both among divorced and widowed women. The importance attached to women as a reproductive force also meant that the fear of losing control over them was great. According to established social norms, the household was headed by a male. Thus women were kept under strict control by the male members of the family and the community. They could inflict draconian punishments if they suspected infidelity on the part of women.

Documents from Western India – Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra – record petitions sent by women to the village panchayat, seeking redress and justice. Wives protested against the infidelity of their husbands or the neglect of the wife and children by the male head of the household, the grihasthi. While male infidelity was not always punished.