Which one of the following sources tells us about women protesting against the infidelity of their husbands or the neglect of the wife and children by the male head of the household?

The documents belonging to the Village Panchayats of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra serve as a vital source for understanding social dynamics in medieval India. These records, often in the form of petitions (arzi), reveal that women frequently approached the panchayat to seek justice against domestic grievances. Specifically, they protested against the infidelity of their husbands or the neglect of the wife and children by the male head of the household. The panchayats often intervened by ensuring the husband provided maintenance or by reprimanding the male head to fulfill his domestic obligations. While textual evidence like the Manusmriti suggests male control over resources, these local administrative records highlight the agency of rural women in asserting their rights within the family structure. Other sources like the Ain-i-Akbari or Kitab-ul-Hind focus more on imperial administration or general cultural observations rather than specific local domestic disputes.

Sources

1. [1] THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART I, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 3: Kinship, Caste and Class > 4.1 Gendered access to property > p. 68