Report No. 66
3.20. Proprietary rights.-
The only sphere in which the position of women improved in this age was the one of proprietary rights. The right of the widow to inherit the share of her husband came to be eventually recognised all over the country by c. 1200 A.D. In Bengal, the position was further improved by conceding her this right even when her husband had not separated from the joint family at the time of his death. The scope of Stridhana was further extended by the Mitakshara school, by including in it property acquired even by inheritance and partition. How far this position survived, will be discussed later1. The widow's estate continued to be a limited one, but in some parts of South India she was allowed to gift it away for religious purposes without the consent of the reversioners.
1. Paras. 3.29 and 3.30, infra.
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