Around 6th century BC, people of India were speaking and writing languages that were much simpler than classical Sanskrit. These vernacular forms, of which there were several, are called the Prakrits.
The word Prakrit stands for a group of languages and does not refer to any individual language. Marathi (with all varieties), Bengali, Orisa, Assamese, Bihari, Hindi (with all varieties), Gujrati, Rajastani, Marwadi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Kashmiri are all the varieties of new or modern Indo-Aryan languages. All these regional languages are originated from there respective varieties of Prakrits (technically called Apabhramsha) and not directly from Sanskrit.
‘Prakriti’ is ‘nature’. Prakrits are natural and spontaneous expressions of mass devoid of strict rules of grammar etc.Prakrit was largely used by the common people of the society.All the famous classical Sanskrit dramas of Kalidas, Bhasa, Bhavabhuti etc. contain almost 50% dialogues in Prakrit. The comedian, lay-man, ascetic, sage, child, woman and low-caste persons are prescribed to use Prakrit languages in dramas.
Women had limited admission to the male space or she had her own space defined for her – an all women theatrical space, the Stree Preksha. The term Stree Preksha was first adopted by Kautilya, the author of Arthashastra in the fourth century B.C. indicating plays performed exclusively by female artists. Kautilya writes in detail about Ganikas, Nata, Nartaka, Gayak, Vadak and others, their salary, price of their freedom, etc.
In this same chapter, Kautilya refers to the state administration where women should have her husband’s permission to visit a performance. Any woman caught without the permission will be fined 6 panas if she goes to see plays by stree preksha and double the amount if caught watching plays by purush preksha and during the night the fines double. Again, if a woman wishes to see a performance at night, she should be accompanied by her husband. These constrictions projected the codes of morality of the society.
Even Kalidasa referred to this tradition of Stree Preksha in his play Vikramorvashiya. In the play, a mythical account was dramatized by an all-female cast in the court of God Indra the play within play, Laxmi Swayamvara was composed by Saraswati, the goddess of learning. Apsaras like Urvashi, Varuni, Maneka complied with the direction of Bharata. ‘In this mythical account, we find the reflection of the contemporary tradition of an all-female dramatic spectacle with which Kalidasa must have been well acquainted.
Moreover, Bhasa’s Natyashastra portrays women’s ideal role as wives .With such restrictions on female spectators, we can deduce that the actresses who were then performing were doing so under disabling circumstances. This constraining atmosphere rigidified itself gradually and by the age of Bhavabhuti around 8th century the decadence in their position was rated the maximum. Their disappearance impelled another crisis in the enactment of the female roles. They provided a solution to it by introducing young boys below 14 years to impersonate women characters in the plays. Women almost disappeared from the theatrical scene with series of foreign invasions along with the institution of purdah system.
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