Here is Question No. 95 a part of our series on UPSC Prelims 2021.
Q95. According to Portuguese writer Nuniz, the women in the Vijayanagara Empire were experts in which of the following areas?
- Wrestling
- Astrology
- Accounting
- Soothsaying
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
a) 1, 2 and 3 only
b) 1, 3 and 4 only
c) 2 and 4 only
d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer: (d)
- Women in general occupied a high position in Vijayanagara society and instances of the active part they took in the political, social and literary life of the country are not rare, besides being trained in wrestling, handling swords and shields, music, and other fine arts, some of them at any rate, received a fair amount of literary education. Nuniz writes: “he (the king of Vijaynagar) has also women who wrestle, and others who are astrologers and soothsayers, and he has a woman who write all the accounts of expenses that are incurred inside the gates and others whose duty it is to write all the affairs of the kingdom and compare their books with those of the writers outside; he has women also for music, who play instruments and sing. Even the wives of the king are well-versed in music…it is said that he has judges, as well as bailiffs and watchmen who every night guard the palace, and these are women.”
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