The society of Kashmir during ancient period was patriarchal in nature. In this social setup, men and women were situated not only differently but also unequally. Specifically, women got less of the material resources, social status, power and opportunities for self- actualization than do men who shared their location- be it a location based on class, race, religion, etc. One of the major causes that resulted in such inequality between men and women was the organization of society based on the sexual division of labor designed by the male patriarchs that linked women to the functions of wife, mother and house hold worker: to the private sphere of home and family: and thus to a long series of events and experiences very different from those of men, who were exclusively linked with the public domain. Such was a cherished male ideal social setup and every effort was made to preserve it. But in spite of all this, there were many adventurous women who took a keen interest in the polity of the state and even sometimes became its rulers, and thus curved a niche for themselves. This paper attempts at, looking into the place the women were accorded in the social setup of the period, the challenges which they faced, and the strategies and diplomatic tactics which they adopted to face those challenges, and how they ruled during the period of our study.
