Gender, Violence and Society in India: A Comparative Analysis of the Shah Jahan Period and Contemporary India

DOI- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24197008

Abstract

     Gender violence is not confined to a single historical period. Its forms, social justifications, legal treatment, and mechanisms of redress change with institutions, while patriarchal relations may persist in altered forms. This paper compares gender violence during the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (1628–1658) with contemporary India. It examines marriage, child marriage, sati, purdah, economic dependence, domestic violence, sexual violence, and control over women’s mobility, while also considering the agency of elite Mughal women such as Jahanara Begum. The comparison avoids treating the seventeenth century as a simple earlier version of modern India and instead emphasizes historically specific meanings of consent, family authority, honour, property, and legal personhood. Contemporary India is examined through its constitutional framework, statutory protections, and available evidence on spousal violence. The study argues that substantial transformations have occurred in women’s legal status, citizenship, education, public participation, and access to remedies, but that legal change has not eliminated gendered power inequalities. The comparison therefore reveals both historical continuities and major institutional transformations.

Keywords: Shah Jahan, Mughal India, gender violence, women, patriarchy, purdah, sati, domestic violence, contemporary India, women’s rights