ABSTRACT
This study aims to investigate and register the significant contributions of early women in public administration, which have remained invisible so far and failed to become the central discourse of gender history. There were different facets to women administrators in the public domain of early India- women rulers, governors, military commanders, judges, counsellors, diplomats, spies, and messengers. It is crucial to observe that women were proving their mettle as administrators when their general social position and status had fallen considerably in early India. It is pertinent to admit that the post-Gupta time frame records a political landscape with evidence of leading ladies in various administrative capacities. The king and the queen were considered joint and equal ruling authorities of the state. Some provinces of the subcontinent like Deccan, Karnataka, Kashmir, Orissa, and peripheral regions, have outstanding examples of women administrators in different capacities. South India had numerous examples of women administering provinces, towns, divisions, villages and they headed social and religious institutions. The instances of stri-rajyas were a very peculiar and distinct feature of women's political engagement in ancient India. Stri-rajyas were ruled and administered by a female succession line. This research paper is an effort to register the glorious contribution of early Indian women in the domain of Public Administration.
