While India’s history has many interesting stories and cultural traditions, it was once home to a strange practice known as the “Breast Tax”. This story tells the story of a tax affecting lower caste women in the state of Travancore.
India was under British rule at that time and consisted of 550 different states. The king in one of these states, Travancore, began collecting a strange tax called the “Breast Tax” from lower-caste women. Women were forced to pay taxes to cover their breasts.
Purpose of Breast Tax
The caste system, which has been practiced for about 3,000 years in India, divided the society into four classes, while causing the upper classes to oppress the lower ones. This tax was especially imposed on the Sudras, a group of workers and artisans who included young women from the lower castes. If a woman who had reached puberty wanted to cover her breasts, she had to pay taxes.
An even more embarrassing aspect of this strange practice was that the tax fee varied according to the size of the breasts. An officer was calculating the tax by manually touching women’s breasts. The king’s officers were knocking on women’s doors and checking their breasts. This practice trampled on women’s dignity and made them part of society in a degrading way.
The main purpose of this tax was to determine social status and clearly show which caste people belonged to. Upper-class women were free in their clothing and could cover their breasts as they wished. But the situation was different for lower-caste women; They had to pay to cover their breasts. This was just a way to oppress women and the lower caste.
Rebellion Against the Breast Tax: She Cut Off Both Her Breasts with a Sickle!
In 1859, two women were punished for wearing beautiful clothes, and this happened in full view of the public. These women were stripped naked and executed. They were hanged to make an example, and this triggered the beginning of the rebellion. A brave woman named Nangeli opposed this oppression and cut off her two breasts with a sickle and handed them over to the tax officials who came to her house. Unfortunately, this brave action led to extreme blood loss, causing Nangeli’s death. Later, his wife also committed suicide.
But after this point, everything started to change. The women no longer wanted to be silent. The society was outraged at these unfair practices and Nangeli’s death marked the beginning of this struggle for freedom. With the support of the governor, the pressure on the Travancore king gradually increased.
Finally, in 1924, women were given the right to cover their breasts, and with this historic change, the Breast Tax ended. Women could now dress freely, which was recorded as a memorable turning point in India’s history.
For the article about “Sati Tradition in which Women Are Burned Alive”, which is one of the strange traditions practiced in India. CLICK!
