• FLORIDA K. LYNAPAWPI

This paper examines the complex dynamics of women's status in pre-colonial Mara society through an analysis of their roles in domestic economic management, political exclusion, and social expectations. Drawing from ethnographic accounts, oral histories, and cultural testimonies, the study reveals how Mara women occupied paradoxical positions as indispensable economic agents while remaining systematically subordinated within patriarchal structures. The research demonstrates that despite women's central roles in household sustenance through crops management in sawvâ, tobacco production, and agricultural labor, their contributions were consistently undervalued and their social mobility severely restricted. Through examination of proverbs, customary practices, and gender-specific taboos, this analysis contributes to understanding how traditional tribal societies maintained gender hierarchies even as they depended fundamentally on women's labor for survival. The findings illuminate the intersection of economic necessity and patriarchal control in shaping women's lived experiences in pre-colonial Mara society.

Pre-colonial Mara society, women's status, patriarchal structures, economic agency, domestic management, tribal societies, Northeast India, gender hierarchies

"Navigating Patriarchy: Women's Economic Agency and Social Subordination in Pre-Colonial Mara Society", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 8, page no.f481-f487, August-2025, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2508565.pdf

"Navigating Patriarchy: Women's Economic Agency and Social Subordination in Pre-Colonial Mara Society", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.12, Issue 8, page no. ppf481-f487, August-2025, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2508565.pdf