people as Wat Tyler where would England be now?
The Purdah System.
English people are wont to say that the purdah system is at the root of all backwardness in India, and that, "the hope of India lies in educating its women." I do not care to argue this point, more especially in the case of the Hyderabad State, where all women — both Mahomedans and Hindus — of the higher classes (with a few notable exceptions), live behind the curtain. We have seen in the new census that Hindu working-women in the Dominions are engaged in almost every kind of business, and that they show a marked aptitude for trade and possess a keen money-making instinct. And we have read in the education reports that the schools for girls of the upper classes in Hyderabad city are as good, if not better, than similar places in British India. No doubt, there is in the districts a very strong prejudice against female education; and the census suggests that one reason for this is the jealousy of Hindu and Mahomedan men. "If a woman can write a letter, then she may write a love-letter," says the census.
