CBSE Class 8 Answered

About two hundred years ago, and more particularly, before the ascendance of British power in India, sociological conditions in the country were very different. Most children were married off at a tender age. Polygamy had social sanction among the Hindus and Muslims. In some parts of the country, women were praised if they chose to end their lives on the funeral pyre of their husbands. Women who died in this manner, whether willingly or otherwise, were called ‘sati’. The meaning of this term is ‘virtuous woman’.

At that time, women’s rights to property were also severely restricted. Most women had no access to education. It was also widely believed that if a woman was educated, then she would become a widow.