No, it was definitely not. Indian states at the time were almost all ruled by kings/emperors/shahs (there are some notable female rulers like the Rani of Jansi who fought the British during the Sepoy rebellion, but England at the time was ruled by Queen Victoria and one would not describe that society as matriarchal) and men were definitely of a higher status than women within their caste. Hinduism generally places women as lower and able to be reincarnated as a man at a higher level. In fact, rituals like widows being burned on their husband's pyre were widespread and put an end to by the British. What your friend is probably incorrectly talking about is the fact many historians argue that British rule introduced conservative Victorian sexual values which further constrained the place of women in society and led to things like more conservative dress being adopted . So while European rule can be said to have reduced the role of women and made society more conservative in many ways, this was not a decline from a matriarchal society but rather degrees of male dominance in various aspects of life.

Hopefully someone with more expertise can comment further.