The Problem of Gender Discrimination and Position of Women in Medieval Mithila: 1150 to 1450 A.D.

This is an ambitious article; my aim is to bring �a gendered perspective� to the social and cultural history of North Indian Mithila (Bihar) region in the medieval period. An introductory analysis providing a cultural framework for the mithila region in the period of the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, treatment of the presence of women in the available primary sources, and a short summary of the findings for this region. We have many such references which point to the degraded status of women in medieval societies through the Dharmastras, Arthasastra, Smrtis, Jytriswar�s Varratnakar, with some reference to Vidyapati�s writing to 20th Century text the position of women has changed a lot. This position actually changed in many respects and the change can be studied from various angles. One among them is financial position of a woman. Thus, in this paper an attempt is made to look into the Gender equality and position of women as reflected in the concept of Kulinism, Panji-Parbandh, stridhana and to see what one can observe after studying the same. These are bracketed by a general introduction and a brief conclusion, which emphasizes the variations in the roles and influence of women among the Mithila region. Gender functions as an organizing principle for society because of the cultural meanings given to being male or female. Culture, in Mithila, is closely interwoven with its social structure