What was the condition of women in the Early Vedic Age?

If the Vedic period is divided into two halves then it may be said that the condition of women deteriorated in the second half, that is, late! Vedic period than what it had been during the Early Vedic period.

In the Early Vedic (or Rig-Vedic) period the womenfolk had a high status in the society. Women were highly respected in the family a well. A married woman used to perform religious ceremonies as a partner of her husband.

Despite the prominence of men in family women were considered as the masters of the household. Unmarried women could pursue their study staying in the house of their parents In Later Vedic period, however, this position of women change for the worse.

The family tended to be more patriarchal. In contemporary books women have been depicted as one of the evils In the Later Vedic period women were not allowed to participate in the tribal assemblies.