44733578

COURTESAN CULTURE IN INDIA: The Transition from the Devdasi to the Tawaif or Boijee
Author(s): MEKHALA SENGUPTA

Source: India International Centre Quarterly, Vol. 41, No. 1 (SUMMER 2014), pp. 124-140
Published by: India International Centre
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COURTESAN
CULTURE IN INDIA
The Transition from the
Devdasi to the Tawaif or ßaijee
MEKHALA
SENGUPTA
Gauhar Jan; the story of the Indian courtesan - always an

About integral Gauhar
integraltwopartpart Jan;-thousand
of society is even longer.of the
Theysociety
entertained;storytheyyears - of is separate even the Indian longer. the courtesan They iconic entertained; Amrapali - always from they an
engaged; and they advised rulers on statecraft, despair entering their
lives only when British colonial interests, the Raj, declared them as
'prostitutes' who were not entitled to even what they had earned.
Courtesans across the world were front-runners of the first
professional women entertainers. They were in the entertainment
business, which was intended for the enjoyment of select sections
of society, or for society at large. They were celebrated and their
position in society is inextricably linked with the overall position of
women, in the separation of domesticity and childbearing from finer
skills of influencing outcomes of significance.
As with other ancient cultures, where the courtesan culture
was integral, such as China and Japan, India, too, has had a
long-established tradition of the courtesan. In ancient India,
the courtesan was treated as a public good, to be of service to
society. As distinct from women in regular society, courtesans, as
professionals, were freed from the confinement of domestic routine,
childbearing and social convention and seclusion of the inner
realms of the home. The domain of the courtesan is described as
an oasis of refinement, pleasure and contentment that the wealthy
gravitated to, while the rulers of native Indian states sent their sons
to imbibe both etiquette and culture. The courtesans were known
for their graciousness, impeccable manners, refined customs,
proficiency in singing and dancing, extending to sophisticated
literary realms.
Summer 2014, Volume 41, Number 1

124
COURTESAN CULTURE IN INDIA : MEKHALA SENGUPTA
This article traces the change in the soc

celebrated state courtesan of ancient India, Am
tawaif, the baijee or kothewali and the dram
from grace to a status so lowly that it was no b
in brothels.
Courtesans, freed from domestic conventions, were
unarguably the first specialists in the art of winning friends and
influencing people. It was not just charm, but entertainment and
persuasion. They had an opportunity to train in the literary and the
performing arts (but in a commercial way), and to be independent
and free-thinking. They applied these principles to all matters of
the state and diplomacy, with considerable impact. Courtesans - the
devdasi or kothewali - were accepted by both Hindus and Muslims.
Many courtesans, already beauties, or accomplished musical and
dance artistes, became erudite scholars and were trained in the art of
conversation, persuasion, argument, debate and discourse.
Were the courtesans of India, whether devdasis or the later
evolved kothewalis, the first pioneers to, willy-nilly, challenge male
dominance and traditional ideas of patriarchal society? Were they
the first feminists; was this female empowerment, or was it the
exploitation of women?
How did they join the profession: voluntarily or against their
will? For the vast majority of courtesans, the choice of the profession,
of the entertainment business for society at large, instead of being
the exclusive preserve of one man, was not a result of a conscious
decision. Irrespective of how and why they entered the profession of
the entertainment business and the inherent exploitation they faced,
courtesans, in any part of the world were, in fact, the first paid working
women and the nascent start of female empowerment in society.
Veena Talwar Oldenburg writes:
Of the women I met, some in the flesh and others who came alive
through the archives, 50 per cent had run away from home and a
considerable number of them were Rajput women who had taken
on Muslim names fearing the wrath of their fathers, husbands
and brothers.
Kidnapping may have been (and perhaps still is) one of the methods
by which girls found their way into the tawa'if households, but it is
125
lie QUARTERLY
certainly not the most common. From my interviews

women who today live in the Chowk area of Luck
ages ranged from thirty-five to seventy-eight, a very
emerged. In recording the life stories of these wom
three generations, I found that the compelling ci
brought the majority of them to the various tawa'
Lucknow was the misery they endured in either th
conjugal homes. Four of these women were widowe
teens, two of whom hailed from the same district a
husbands in a cholera epidemic; three were sold b
when famine conditions made feeding these girls i
were victims of physical abuse, two of whom were
regularly beaten by their alcoholic father for not
making themselves sexually available to the toddy s
known victims of rape and therefore deemed ineligib
two had left their ill-paid jobs as municipal sw
because they were tired of 'collecting other people
battered wives; one had left her husband because h
and one admitted no particular hardship, only a
and dancing that was not countenanced in her or
home. Three said they had left their marriages wit
they saw the advantage of earning their own li
at liberty to use their resources as they wished, a
want to have children. Only four of them were da
tawa'if. Not one claimed that kidnapping had been
although they had heard of such cases. This assortm
from the sharif or respectable, world gave a compl
to the notion of respectability. The problem, accord
a plump woman in her early forties, who recounted
a violent, alcoholic husband at length and with h
there were no obliging kidnappers in her muhallah
'Had there been such farishte [angels] in Hasang
have had to plot and plan my own escape at great p
and my friends, who helped me' (Oldenburg, 1990)
In India, the practice of child marriage was p

child brides were widowed, their prospects of
marriage were often appropriated by the fami
child widows were faced with cruel and explo
126
used sexually or sold off or just abandoned.

young child widows simply ran away from
faced. Many were forced into the professio
alternative opportunities for integrating the
into an unforgiving and unyielding society.
The devdasi in ancient Hindu India who la
the kothewali in Muslim India came to epito
woman artiste and connoisseur with a lifesty
the erotic and artistry in not just the performin
persuasion as well. There were some 64 arts
was supposed to master as a skilled practition
as explicitly described in the Kamasutra of
1962). The role of the courtesan in keeping alive
the musical and dance traditions of India is well documented. The
development of the thumri and ghazal and many semi-classical
genres of music through the courtesan kothas and havelis , as also
the dances of India, are rooted in genres developed in these arenas.
Many courtesans were composers of free verse and accomplished
masters in the literary arts too.
Amrapali, or Ambapali, is one of the most celebrated
courtesans of ancient India. Of unknown parentage, she was born
around 600-500 bc in Visalia, also called Vaishali, the capital city of
the Lichchavis, one of the eight Kshatriya clans of ancient northern
India that had united to form the Vajjian confederacy. The Vajjian
confederacy was reputed to be the world's oldest democracy, where
the king was elected by an electoral college consisting of princes and
nobles from Kshatriya clans. When an infant was found at the foot
of a mango tree in one of the many royal gardens in Vaishali, she
was adopted by a childless couple and called Amrapali. The adopted
father, a merchant, must have undoubtedly found it difficult as the
fame of the rare grace of his beautiful daughter spread. Amrapali was
declared the 'most beautiful' girl in the city of Vaishali at the age of 1 1 .
According to some accounts, 'Amrapali is not only touted
to be the most beautiful woman to have ever lived and a danseuse
par excellence, but her magnanimity and interventions toward
uplifting the socially downtrodden are undisputed' (Anand, 2012).
Amrapali, too, had a childhood love, Pushpakumar, to whom she
was betrothed. She had many suitors and was desired by them all.
One Mahanaman was so attracted by Amrapali, even when she was
127
lie QUARTERLY
a child, that he abandoned his kingdom to sh

small hamlet in Vaishali. With so many youn
desiring her company, there was confrontati
Manudev, then the king of Vaishali, saw her
set about a covert operation to exclusively
the murder of Amrapali's intended brideg
marriage and followed this up with an
declaring her the 'bride' of Vaishali, i.e., th
kingdom, and designated Vaishali Janpad
was the term given to the most beautiful
kingdom. A Janpad Kalyani was selected for
and a palace was given to her. She had th
she wanted in her physical relationships. Soo
the title of Nagarvadhu , Amrapali became th
status of the state courtesan of Vaishali.
Amrapali's physical sensuality and b
undeniable aspect; the other was the pristi
courtesan. People remembered her not ju
beauty but also her political acumen, her w
as also her compassion for society whic
schools, roads, temples and other institutions
As the stories of Amrapali became celebra
of the neighbouring kingdom of Magadh
attack on Vaishali. Vanquished, he was und
in Amrapali's house, stating he was an exil
was accepted with no one suspecting the t
out his covert operations to bring down th
Amrapali and Bimbisara became inevitably
son named Vimala Kondanna.
There are accounts that when she learnt his true identity from
him, Amrapali asked Bimbisara to leave Vaishali and to cease the war.
Amrapali's position as the royal courtesan, until now as
an unfettered and free spirit, became tenuous as a result of her
association with Bimbisara. His cover blown, Bimbisara agreed;
for him the return to Magadha must have been fraught with the
complexities of the situation, as in the eyes of the people of both
Vaishali and Magadha , his living under a false identity in the
home of the fabled courtesan was ignoble and cowardly. It would
undoubtedly have added fuel to the underlying conflict between
128
Bimbisara and Ajatshatru, his son from

called Queen Chelna (according to Jain
Rosala Devi (according to Buddhist traditi
Ajatashatru was a contemporary of b
Jains and Siddhartha, who became the B
relationship with his father Bimbisara a
is known to have directly caused or facil
Ajatshatru annexed Vaishali, causing carnag
imprisoned Amrapali was brought to Ajat
his father's former lover and then entered in
All of these events must have been s
Amrapali. The evidence, which is sour
records, states that Amrapali turned tow
wished to serve the Buddha after he had
There is a record of the Buddha accep
request to eat the food served from her
objections. Amrapali then renounced her
formally accepted both Buddhist philosop
Kondanna became a Buddhist monk as well.
♦♦♦
Traversing time, we go from the ancient era of the celebrated

courtesan to the second half of the 19th century, to the case
Umrao Jaan, immortalised in celluloid from the novella, Umraoj
Ada , published in 1905 by Mirza Muhammad Hadi Ruswa.1 It i
melodramatic story of a beautiful girl child of five who is kidnappe
and sold to a tawaif in Lucknow. She is trained by Persian and Urdu
scholars to become a renowned and much sought after courtesa
Ruswa describes in great detail the musical and formal educati
of Umrao Jan, her mastery of Urdu poetry and the styles of leadin
poets, her ability to write poetry, and converse with wit and wisdo
The respect accorded to the courtesan as the epitome of a style icon
is unmistakable.
Much is written about the rigour in education and training

that courtesans underwent to ultimately please and entertain their
patrons. Unique to the Indian courtesan was the use of an in-depth
understanding of male sexuality to develop nuances called nakharas ,
or pretence, to manipulate earnings from the male patron to allow
129
lie QUARTERLY
them to reinvest their wealth and enable

the age of about 35. With repetitions and
an evening's entertainment, they could ba
extra cash, or gifts in kind, from their unsu
these were learnt, invented, even improvised
bespoke, customised for each client so that it
Repeated rehearsals by the trainee would b
tawaif, until no trace of the pretence was di
fabulously wealthy, the courtesans became
lifestyles of legendary opulence as well. The
of the courtesan became a hallmark and em
culinary and artistic talents, coupled with fe
In Ruswa's novel, this particular nakh
described by the protagonist, Umrao Jan:
I am but a courtesan in whose profession lov

Whenever we want to ensnare anyone we pr
with him. No one knows how to love more than we do: to heave
deep sighs; to burst into tears at the slightest pretext; to go without
food for days on end; to sit dangling our legs on the parapets of
wells ready to jump into them; to threaten to take arsenic. All these
are parts of our game of love. But I tell you truthfully, no man ever
really loved me nor did I love any man (1905).
That aside, there is no documented proof that the character as

described as Umrao Jan in Ruswa's Umrao Jan Ada actually existed.
Ruswa's novella, which is based on a first-hand interview of the
courtesan, does effectively portray the ambience of the culture that
pervaded the old world of Awadh and the quaint, yet hierarchical,
world of the courtesan in Lucknow which was, before 1857, the
capital of Oudh (or Awadh) presided over by the ruler, the Nawab.
As in the film Umrao Jaanf so also in Pakeezah, the courtesans
of Lucknow are given the image of the purveyors of voyeurism
under the guise of entertainment.
Veena Talwar Oldenburg delved into the realms of the historic
colonial past of Lucknow in the state of Uttar Pradesh in modern
India. In the Nazul office, Oldenberg chanced upon rare records that
show that of the top 100 taxpayers of the time, 60 were women.
They were designated under the profession as being 'singing and
130
dancing girls'. Property records also con

the best and coveted homes. . .the mahals o
these courtesans.
Oldenberg writes,
In an attempt at a composite and seamless depiction of the

courtesan, the contention is that contrary to popular perceptions
the 19th century courtesan was not coerced into this profession. In
this profession and matriarchal lineage it was the woman who was
deeply celebrated (2002).
Courtesans depended upon the patronage they received and the

largesse of royalty, wealthy land owners and newly emerging
business classes. Taking a historiographical view of the courtesans of
the time, Oldenburg felt the courtesan subverted institutional male
dominance and annihilated patriarchy. It was, in her opinion, a life of
'resistance' that many chose to lead. Oldenburg certainly questioned
the sanctity and romanticism of the institution of marriage; and she
states the resonances of the everyday life of a married woman are
reflected in her subjugation, denigration and exploitation, in a bid to
keep body and soul together.
These courtesans appeared in other British colonial records as well.

They were the subject of frequent official memorandums written
in connection with a grave medical crisis that engulfed the military
establishment in Lucknow, as well as in all the major cantonments
in British India. A greater number of European casualties during the
mutiny and rebellion of 1857, it was discovered, were caused by
disease than in combat. The shock of this discovery was compounded
by the embarrassing fact that one in every four European soldiers
was afflicted with a venereal disease. It became clear that the battle to
reduce European mortality rates would now be joined on the hygienic

front, to ensure a healthy European army for the strategic needs of
the empire. It became imperative that the courtesans and prostitutes
of Lucknow, along with those in the other 1 10 cantonments in India
(and in several towns in Britain) where European soldiers were
stationed, be regulated, inspected, and controlled. The provisions
of Britain's Contagious Diseases Act of 1864 were incorporated into
a comprehensive piece of legislation, Act XXII of 1864 in India;
131
lie QUARTERLY
it required the registration and periodic med

prostitutes in all cantonment cities of the Indian
The British usurpation of the Kingdom of Awa

forced exile of the king and many of his cou
put an end to royal patronage for the courte
of the contagious diseases regulations an
penalties on the courtesans for their role in th
the gradual debasement of an esteemed cultu
common prostitution. Women who had once co
and courtiers, enjoyed a fabulously opulent l
men and means for their own social and poli
custodians of culture and the setters of fas
left in an extremely dubious and vulnerable
British. 'Singing and dancing girls' was the cl
to describe them in the civic tax ledgers, and
the many profound cultural misunderstandin
women by colonial authorities (1990).
Oldenberg also brings another aspect to lig

subject of this article, is worthy of mention
studies. She writes:
It was difficult to imagine that these wome

were economically independent, educated, and
lives, would spum the opportunity for real int
stability. Everyone agreed that emotional needs d
success, fame, or independence; on the contrary,
Almost every one of the women I interviewe
visits claimed that their closest emotional relat
themselves, and eight of them admitted, when
their most satisfying physical involvements wer
They referred to themselves as chapat baz , or le
or chipti , or chapat bazi , or lesbianism. They se
importance to labels, and made no verbal d
homosexual and heterosexual relations. There was no other 'serious'
or poetic term for lesbianism, so I settled for the colloquialisms. Their

explanation for this was that emotions and acts of love are gender-
free. 'Serious' words such as muhabbat (Urdu) or prem (Hindi) or
132
COURTESAN CULTURE IN INDIA : MEKHALA SENQUPTA
'love' (English) are versatile and can be used to de

of love, such as the love of man or woman, the lov
siblings, parents of either sex, so there was no ne
term for love between two women. There are w
passionate love, like ishq; these have the same
and are used by either gender. Although their lesbi
private matter for them, the absence of a spec
makes it a simple fact of life, like heterosexual lov
male homosexual love. The lack of terminology or
pronouns may also be interpreted as the ultimate
something cannot be named, it is easy to deny its
poetry, ambiguity about gender is not uncommo
love often passes for heterosexual love (ibid.).
Oldenburg supports this by writing that th

had male patrons as lovers, others sought tru
a lesbian partner. She correlates this finding
geisha of Japan, brothels of Russia and salons o
partners were customary.
This idyll came to an end with the establ
colonial rule in Lucknow, which ended
Oldenburg writes that it was after the Se
British usurpation of the kingdom of Awadh
of the courtesan began. With the British div
their legitimate sources of earnings, stoppin
vilification and denigration of the professio
properties, many courtesans were forced into i
Oldenburg writes of this confiscation in th
some 20 pages long, which records the spoil
one set of 'female apartments' in the palace
called the Qaisar Bagh, where some of the d
Ali Shah's three hundred or more consorts
seized by the British. It is a remarkable list
of a privileged existence: gold and silver orn
precious stones; embroidered cashmere woo
bejewelled caps and shoes; silver-, gold-, jade
fly whisks; silver cutlery, jade goblets, plates,
silver utensils for serving and storing food and
furnishings. The value of this part of the boot
133
lie QUARTERLY
at nearly four million rupees (there were app

to the US dollar in 1857).
The ghetto quality of life, which eventu
light areas, Oldenburg feels, resulted in th
prostitute, with all the negative connotations
the previous avatar as a celebrated courtesa
This is presumably the basis of the voyeu
courtesans depicted on film. She writes:
The greatest harm done to the reputation of the

by British political propaganda. The older cour
who felt keenly about contemporary politics
among the local power elite, were impressively
the history of their city. In their view it was off
malign the courtesans and the culture of salon
the British role as usurpers of the throne of A
high-handedness in this and other policies un
rebellion in north and central India in 1857,
months in Awadh until Lucknow was recaptur
consolidate their rule in the Province of Awadh
their fury against the powerful elite of Lucknow
were an integral part. Yet when it came to m
these women as prostitutes for the European g
income tax, the eminently pragmatic British set
dudgeon. It became official policy to select the
'specimens' from among the kotka women and
them in the cantonment for the convenience of
This not only dehumanised the profession, stripp
function, but it also made sex cheap and eas
exposed the women to venereal infection from
This was the dramatic fall from grace, the t

pedestal as a celebrated court persona, to a
linked to the ghetto. The government, too, b
classified all nautch girls and devdasis as pros
Colonial discourse in consequence exc
from the domain of culture. Courtesans a
cultural and public figures in Mughal India u
had started after the establishment of th
134
was cemented by the 20th century. They

in the form of music and entertainment sh
by the wealthy and powerful who's who of
the nawabs, the rajas, influential busines
figures across Lucknow, Allahabad, Benar
Baroda, Calcutta and Delhi. Although docum
of these entertainers, while significant in
cultural practices and helped in their po
durbars, have yet been overlooked. They
artistic pioneers in their own right. Like G
recorded the first rpm, there were other p
Devi Bai who first acted and sang in films.
The subject of a woman in natio
benchmarked around cultural markers as
journals of the time. With the impetus to t
the early social reform programmes reinfo
The first call for the abolishment of
in Madras around 1892-93 (Peterson, 2
campaigns transformed the diverse and str
women into a homogenous group, which
being of society.
An editorial published in Chaand , a p
journal of that time, has defined the ideal w
. . .she should be free from the present ignora

ill feelings. . .she should not observe purdah,
that she should go out laden with jewels, un
men's attention... she should know how to fi
defend herself with her own hands, singing
her ornaments, but only songs that become
she should be as virtuous as a heroic wife a
mother of lions and bear sons who will free In
Yet, the same magazine had also issued a

Katherine Mayo's commentary on the de
exploitation of the Indian woman in her
book had generated heated debate and contr
published in the late 1920s, resulting in the
Act in 1929.
135
lie QUARTERLY
The nationalist movement in its Gandhia

towards inducting women into the freedom
Karamchand Gandhi himself approached Gauhar
singing and dancing girl of Calcutta, to hel
to raise funds for the freedom movement i
famously known as the one of the first Indi
to record on 78 rpm records by the Gramaphon
and she was celebrated enough to be invited to
Durbar at the coronation of Edward V in 19 1 1
But there was also a duplicity of standard
the ideologies were in inviting all classes of Ind
the freedom movement, it is recorded that wh
organised themselves into groups to formally
non-cooperation movement in 1921, the pro
was deemed as being morally objectionable. G
to discriminate between courtesans in this.
Annihilating patriarchy, the courtesan of t
felt, led a life of 'resistance' where she w
institutionalised ideas of male dominance. As Ol
The courtesans have uniquely combined the ele

for their material needs with those of an ideologi
patriarchal values, by creating and hiding behind
They live in outward harmony with male power
for the struggle can only be effective if their
mistaken for compliance, and their true intentio
men against other women. Their cooperation w
outside the kotka , such as the khangi [married
they rent space so that they too can earn (undiscl
is also little known, and it would be no longer p
it were uncovered (1990).
Oldenburg perhaps commits overkill by questio

romanticism of marriage, stating that the ever
woman is reflected in her subjugation, denigra
in a bid to keep body and soul together. Th
several 17th- and 18th-century European travel
peculiar 'code of behaviour' prescribed to co
that all of them are accomplished perform
136
south Indian temples and royal courts. The

fascinating picture of the rich 'courtesan cu
peculiar to European observers.
The courtesan remains an important refe
on the evolution and commoditisation of the woman in India from
ancient times, to between colonial and nationalist times, right
up to the present day. Courtesan culture was an established social
institution and should be the subject of any study of proto-feminism,
or in the study of the many origins of the forces that a woman must
contend with in India even today.
NOTES
1. Umrao Jan Ada (1905) is considered by many as the first Urdu novel. Based on
the life of a renowned Lucknow courtesan and poet of the same name it became
the basis for Umrao JaanAda (1972), a Pakistani film, a Pakistani television serial
(2003) and two Indian films, Umrao Jaan (1981) and Umrao Joan (2006).
2. See Wikipedia sources on gender studies: 'Courtesan Culture: Complexities
& Negotiations', http://www.wikigender.0rg/index.php/C0urtesan__Culture:_
Complexities_and_Negotiations.
3. Gauhar Jan was born Angelina Yeoward in 1873 of Jewish Armenian ancestry.
In her lifetime, she recorded more than 600 records from 1902 to 1920, in
more than 10 languages which included Bengali, Hindustani, Gujarati, Tamil,
Marathi, Arabic, Persian, Pushto, French and English. She would round off her
performances for a record by announcing 'My name is Gauhar Jan'.
REFERENCES
Anand, Anurag. 2012. The Legend of Amrapali. New Delhi: Srishti Publishers.
Burton, Richard E 1962. Kamasutra. Translation by author. New York: E.P. Dutton.
Mayo, Katherine. 1927. Mother India. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.
Oldenburg, Veena Talwar. 1990. 'Lifestyle as Resistance: The Case of the Courtesans
of Lucknow', Feminist Studies, 16, 2 (Summer), http://www.columbia.edu/itc/
mealac/pritchett/OOurdu/umraojan/txt_veena_oldenburg.html
Peterson, Indira. 2002. The Courtesan's Life as Art in the Viralivitututu, an 18th-Century
Tamil Literary Genre , 22nd European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS,
2012).
Ruswa, Mirza Mohammad Hadi. 1905. Umrao Jan Ada: Courtesan of Lucknow.
Translated by Kushwant Singh and M.A. Husaini. Hyderabad: Disha Books.
♦♦
137
lie QUARTERLY
Baijees on Matchbox Covers
138
Baijees on Matchbox Covers
139
lie QUARTERLY
BAIJEES ON MATCHBOX COVERS
till their decline in the 20th century. Known for organising

Baijees popular till their
popularweresoireesdecline
in thesoirees
form ofpopular
music andin inentertainment
cultural the the 20th form figures century. of music in Mughal Known and India entertainment for organising and after,
shows, they were patronised by the wealthy and powerful of the
time, including nawabs, influential businessmen and important
social figures across Lucknow, Allahabad, Benaras, Kanpur, Patna,
Agra, Baroda, Calcutta and Delhi.
Although their contributions have been criminally overlooked
by canon-makers, they were responsible for enriching many
significant cultural practices and even helped in their popularisation
outside elite durbars. From recording the first rpm (Gauhar Jan,
1873-1929), to acting and singing in films (Jaddan Bai, Devi Bai),
they must also be recognised as artistic pioneers in their own right.
These artful reproductions of baijees on matchbox covers
attest to their powerful popular appeal and plays across the line
between frank exoticism (they were all made in European countries
like Sweden) and earthy sensuality.
NOTE
*Text and all images from the private collection of Anirban Kazi and Ankan Kazi.
140

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COURTESAN CULTURE IN INDIA: The Transition from the Devdasi to the Tawaif or Boijee

Author(s): MEKHALA SENGUPTA

Devdasi to the Tawaif or ßaijee

Gauhar Jan; the story of the Indian courtesan - always an

Summer 2014, Volume 41, Number 1

This article traces the change in the soc

certainly not the most common. From my interviews

In India, the practice of child marriage was p

used sexually or sold off or just abandoned.

a child, that he abandoned his kingdom to sh

Bimbisara and Ajatshatru, his son from

Traversing time, we go from the ancient era of the celebrated

Much is written about the rigour in education and training

them to reinvest their wealth and enable

I am but a courtesan in whose profession lov

That aside, there is no documented proof that the character as

dancing girls'. Property records also con

In an attempt at a composite and seamless depiction of the

Courtesans depended upon the patronage they received and the

These courtesans appeared in other British colonial records as well.

reduce European mortality rates would now be joined on the hygienic

it required the registration and periodic med

The British usurpation of the Kingdom of Awa

Oldenberg also brings another aspect to lig

It was difficult to imagine that these wome

or poetic term for lesbianism, so I settled for the colloquialisms. Their

'love' (English) are versatile and can be used to de

Oldenburg supports this by writing that th

at nearly four million rupees (there were app

The greatest harm done to the reputation of the

This was the dramatic fall from grace, the t

was cemented by the 20th century. They

. . .she should be free from the present ignora

Yet, the same magazine had also issued a

The nationalist movement in its Gandhia

The courtesans have uniquely combined the ele

Oldenburg perhaps commits overkill by questio

south Indian temples and royal courts. The

Baijees on Matchbox Covers

Baijees on Matchbox Covers

BAIJEES ON MATCHBOX COVERS

till their decline in the 20th century. Known for organising

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