Women in India have always been topics of concern. The family and society at large consider women as second class citizens. Though we respect and preach them in the name of Durga, Saraswati, Parvati and Kali, we also abuse her in the form of Child-marriage, Female infanticide, Sati, Sexual harassment and many more. Valmiki`s Ramayana teaches us that Ravana and his entire clan were wiped out because he abducted Sita. Veda Vyasa`s Mahabharata teaches us that all the Kauravas were killed because they humiliated Draupadi in public. From a largely unknown status to a relatively low period in Medieval India, the condition of women is still somewhat the same. In India, the families are always `Patriacal` i.e. male dominated. Women were never given any Rights of liberty and equality. They were always treated as Inferior as an item or showpiece in the house. Women were considered as Machines for giving birth to children. The condition of women was so bad that if she gave birth to a girl child she was treated in a humiliated manner. The boy child was seen as `kul-ka-deepak` (taking the family name ahead in generations). Women were not only refrained from being educated but also not allowed to step out of the house. They were asked to eat after their husbands have eaten. They were given the remains of their husband`s food to eat.

Women in Ancient India
It is said that women enjoyed equal status with men in all fields of life in ancient India. In the early Vedic period women were educated. We can see this in the works of Grammarians such as `Patanjali` & `Katyayana`. Women got married at a mature age and were also free to select their husbands. Scriptures such as Rig Veda and Upanishads mention many women sages and seers, notably Gargi and Maitreyi. There are some kingdoms in ancient India, which had customs such as `nagarvadhu` i.e. the bride of the city. According to this custom women competed to win the prestigious title of `nagarvadhu`. Amrapali is the most famous example of a `nagarvadhu`. Women in fact had superior position than their male counterparts. It is truly in this period that women were really treated as Durga and Parvati. There was a special thread ceremony in which girls were tied threads of honour based on merit. Later this ceremony was replaced by `child-marriage`. Child-Marriage by this time was started on a large scale because of many holy books. Girls were married when they were infants. They were send to their husbands house when they attained puberty. Girls were not permitted to gain education. Although many Jain institutions admitted girls but it was of no use as only few number of girls attended these institutes.

Women in Medieval India
The condition of Women in society was deteriorated more during the medieval period. At this point of time child-marriage, sati, female infanticide was practiced largely. The Muslim seclusion in India introduced the `purdah` system by and large on Muslim women. These women were also forced to practice `zenana`. The Rajput women of Rajasthan who are known to place a high premium on honour practiced `jauhar`. Jauhar refers to the practice of the voluntary immolation of all the wives and daughters of defeated warriors, in order to avoid capture and consequent molestation by the enemy. Polygamy i.e. husband marrying more than once was practised by most Hindu Kshatriyas. At the same time many women excelled in arts, literature, music. Women were also rulers in the medival period. Some of the great women rulers were Razia Sultan, the only women monarch to rule the throne of Delhi. The Gond queen Durgavati ruled for fifteen long years, before she lost the battle to mughal emperor Akbar`s general Asaf Ali. Chand Bibi also fought the mughals in 1590`s. Nur Jehan the only mughal women ruler is still today considered the most effective ruler. Inspite of all these successful women the condition of a poor Indian women was the same . At this time, girls were married at an early age say 5-6 years. Sati was also practised where women were forced to jump in the burning funeral of their dead husband. Purdah was practised among muslim women i.e. to cover their heads fully with a `veil`. Devdasi was prevalent in south India where girls were married to deity or trees. This practise had destoyed the lives of many girls as they were physically molested and sexually exploited by many pundits.

Women in Modern India
Modern India wittnessed improvements in the Status of Women There were many women reformers who worked for the betterment and upliftment of their other female counterparts.The begum of Bhopal discarded the purdah and fought in the revolt of 1857. Many reformers like Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Jyotiba Phule with his wife Savitribai Phule undertook various measures to eradicate social stigmas from the society. Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan established the Aligarh Muslim University for the spread of education among the Muslims. He also abolished the purdah system among muslim women. Many Acts were passed for the upliftment of women among those Widow Remarraige Act of 1856 was important.

In the modern times, Indian women were given liberties and rights such as freedom of expression and equality, as well as right to get education. But still today, we are fighting for crisis such as dowry, female infanticide, sex selective abortions, health, domestic violence, etc. Women today are educated but illiterate in terms of knowing their rights properly.Another harmful practise is the Dowry system where gift of money or valuables given by the bride`s family to the groom`s at the time of their marriage. This is the new harrasment in the name of wedding gift. Women are killed if they bring less dowry after marriage. The term Bride Burning is criticized within India itself.

India has a low sex ratio, the chief reason being that many child die before reaching adulthood.They are aboted in the womb itself as many people do not want a girl child because they cannot pay dowry.This is a vicious circle which is linked to one another.It is somewhere a criticism that highest female ratio lies in Kerala and Tribal societies in India knowing the fact that tribal communities have far lower levels of income, literacy and health facilities.Female infanticide (killing of girl infants) is still prevalent in some rural areas. Dowry has been one of the main reasons for female infanticides in India.

The level of Domestic violence is also high in India.Husbands beat their wifes in a drunken state to get rid of their frustration. Domestic violence is also prevalent because of `dowry`. Trafficking is also a big reason for female abuse. Trafficking means girls are sold to big people for satisfying their sexual needs or kidnapped to make them prostitutes. In many rural families, girls and women face nutritional discrimination within the family, and are anaemic and malnourished.

The maternal mortality in India is the second highest in the world. Only a few percentage of births in the country are supervised by doctors. Most women deliver with the help of traditional nurses in the village who often lack the skills and resources to save the mother`s life if it is in danger. Women suffer many health problems because of abuse and other mal-nourishments. The average Indian woman has little control over her own fertility and reproductive health. So women today in short are suffering from various other problems but still thanks to the reformer`s like Jyotiba Phule, Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekanand that they still can live to an extent on their own & fight for their Rights .