MCQ
Q.
When was Channar women given the right to cover their breast?
Correct Answer: C
The Correct answer is 1859 July 26.
Key Points
- On July 26 of 1859, Travancore witnessed the first major triumph of the nationwide struggle for female liberation.
- On that day, Travancore Maharaja Aayilyam Thirunal made an official declaration granting lower caste Nadar/Channar women the right to cover their breasts.
- The victory of the Channar Lahala or the Upper Cloth Mutiny (Maaru Marakkal Samaram), after half-a-century of violent struggle, is widely seen as the transformative event that triggered a wave of renaissance movements that shaped modern Kerala.
Additional Information
- Channar Revolt:
- The Channar revolt against the British colonial state of Travancore. Channar Lahala or Mura Murakkal Saharam took place in the early 1800s in Travancore, modern day Kerala.
- It is considered as one of the most important feminine protests in kerala.
- In nineteenth-century Travancore, it was a socially acceptable norm for women to be seen naked from waist up in public places. Higher caste women like the Nairs (Savarna) were expected to bare their upper bodies only in temples in front of priests, who were considered an authority of god.
- If any woman disagreed with the practise, they were obliged to pay a ‘breast tax’ or Mula Karam whose amount was determined, quite sickeningly, by the size of their breast
- Nangeli was the female leader who fought against this practice.
- She protested against this customs by cutting her own breasts and died in 1803.
- Kerala historians depicted that Nangeli's life was one woman’s rebellion against oppressive feudalism has been hijacked and repurposed by the patriarchy.
- Ayya Vaikundar ,a social reformer, led this Channar revolt against the British colonial state of Travancore.