Stridhan

(“woman’s wealth”) Term denoting any
property owned or inherited by a
woman, which usually included any
gifts given to her by her family or money
that she earned herself. In the patrilineal
inheritance systems prescribed by texts
such as the Mitakshara and the
Dayabhaga, stridhan was not considered part of the family property, but a
woman’s personal property that she
could dispose of as she pleased.
Stridhan could be inherited, but the
inheritance patterns were different than
those for family property. The primary
inheritors were a woman’s daughters;
for women with no daughters, the ownership would devolve to her husband
and his heirs, or to her birth family.