46 SOCIAL SCIENTIST scholars who would fall within the nationalist sthool of history. Writing at a time when Hindu social institutions were being subjected to fierce criticism by a generation that was imbibing western education and western values, these scholars worked hard to show that the position of women had been high in the ancient past. The contemporary evils reflecting the low position of women were responsible for the Hindu sense of inferiority in relation to their ruling masters. As a reaction Hindu scholars argued that the evils were only a temporary aberration and could easily be eliminated. The general thrust of the work has therefore been to demonstrate that the status of women was very high in the Vedic period; according to this view there was a general decline afterwards, reaching rock bottom with the coming of the invaders, especially the Muslims, who abducted Hindu women and violated them, and these circumstances resulted in the development of such evils as Purdah, Sati and female infanticide. This view has become widely prevalent since it appears regularly in popular literature and vernacular journals but we must point out that it is only an extension of traditional academic research. Here is a fairly representative example from the pen of a woman scholar: The tenth and the eleventh centuries saw the advent, and later, the firm establishment of Muhammadans in this country. When Hindu culture came into clash with a culture far different from its own the leaders of society began to frame rules and laws to safeguard their interest—specially the position of women. Rigorous restrictions were placed on them.... We find at this stage child marriage firmly enforced. The death of a widow was preferred to her falling into evil hands. Hence self-immolation of a widow was enjoined by the law codes giving the unfortunate victim the hope of heavenly bliss. Such and several other customs were introduced which curbed the freedom of women to a very large extent. This was done perhaps to save her from the foreigners and to preserve the purity of the race.1 Similarly, R.C. Dutt, the well-known nationalist historian and the first to present a coherent account of ancient Indian civilization and of women, writes: Absolute seclusion and restraint (of women) were not Hindu customs. They were unknown in India till Mohammedan times. . . . No ancient nation held their women in higher honour than the Hindus.2 Such a sweeping view is untenable if one looks at the past without the tinted spectacles of the present. Even if one were to confine oneself to Brahmanical sources there is enough evidence to show that women of