Dear Rahula,

thanks for pointing that out. May I say that the Jains were the only exception? There is some information on Wikipedia on this.

metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Ngawang Dorje wrote:

Jains already had Nuns' Order before Buddha.(Padmanabh S. Jaini, Gender and Salvation Jaina Debates on the Spiritual Liberation of Women)