Home> Archive> 2016> Volume 6 Number 4 (Apr. 2016)
IJSSH 2016 Vol.6(4): 297-302 ISSN: 2010-3646
DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2016.V6.661

Conquering Land, Conquering Women: Exploring the Co-relation between War and Sexuality in the Early Medieval Indian Inscriptions

Shatarupa Bhattacharya

Abstract—What does victory mean? Is it access to resources? Then the corollary question would be what kind of resources. Is it human or material resource? Many a times the line between the two blurs in early India. The ruler in the description of their war exploits mention access to men and women besides land and materials. Another way would be to use similes which would reflect the co-relation between the two. Why and when sexual access to women becomes the norm for the victor? Publicising sexual access to women during war through inscriptions was a common practice in the early medieval period in Indian history. Concepts such as beauty, sexuality and cultural refinement besides bravery become part of the newly emerging courtly culture. Attempt in this paper is to explore the thread correlating courtly culture, sexuality and war through epigraphs.

Index Terms—Courtly culture, inscriptions, sexuality, violence.

Shatarupa Bhattacharya is with the Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, India (e-mail: shatarupa.b@gmail.com).

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Cite: Shatarupa Bhattacharya, " Conquering Land, Conquering Women: Exploring the Co-relation between War and Sexuality in the Early Medieval Indian Inscriptions," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 297-302, 2016.

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