Today in the India where we live, everyone has equal rights, But it was not always so, There was a time when women even had to pay tax to cover their breastsIf she had not done so, she would have had to face punishment for thisHowever, there was one woman who ended this practice and did it in a very unique way.
What was the rule of breast tax?
talk19th century, When women of Travancore had to pay breast taxThis tax was only for womenUnder this rule, Dalit women had to pay tax to cover their chest with clothes or blousesIf a woman did not pay tax and covered her chest with a cloth, then as soon as she was seen, she was pulled with a knife and the covered cloth was torn.
Its beginning was formed in 1729 in the Travancore Kingdom in the Madras PresidencyAt that time King Marthanda Varma had also decided to impose breast tax along with water and house tax.
Tax had to be paid according to size
You will be surprised to know that women had to pay this tax according to the size of their breastsAlthough at that time most of the people of Dalit community used to be agricultural laborersPaying breast tax was beyond the control of those who used to have In such a situation, only the women of Nair and Edwa community had the ability to pay this taxActually, the idea behind imposing this tax was that women should not cover their breasts in front of upper caste men
Woman ended conservative practice by cutting her breasts
Someone comes forward to end every wrong practiceHence for this also a courageous woman Nangeli came forwardYou may have hardly heard the name of Nangeli but her sacrifice for women is hugeActually Nangeli had decided that she would cover her breasts without paying taxIn such a situation, when tax was demanded from her for covering her breasts, she cut off both her breasts, served them in banana leaves and handed them over to the king’s soldierAfter which this tax was abolished.
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