It is common knowledge that the nawabs and the upper classes frequented koThay and bazaar-e-husn during the muslim rule in india and during the raj…probably still due. So, do you think it is a part of our heritage or not? Is it justified? Is it justifiable? Do these women provide an important service to society? Is it a way out for women who’d otherwise starve?
aur aggar…ahem…khud koThay pe baithnay ka irada hai…tou she shee…kaisa besharam hai tu haiN??? aisee baateiN humaaray culture ka hissa nahi ho sakti. kahi aur jao(khair O’Farrel theatre yaad gaya
there are great people who have come out of kotha culture. Begum Akhtar, Nargis, Noor Jehan and likes. Film actress turned politician Jayalalitha's mother was a dancer in court of king of mysore.
[This message has been edited by ZZ (edited January 24, 2001).]
Tawaaifs dont sell their bodies
They just dance and sing ...kinda compare them to Modern day's Madonna or Britney
Coming to cultural heritage and what is their part in our society
These days nothing
In the old days however
Young boys were sent to these gharans to learn adab and adaab
Ever heard a tawaaif speaking
she speaks in the most shaista urdu
Usually the young nawaabs waghera were sent to them to learn adab adaab and stuff
ASIF kasiay hou sakta hay hamaray culture kaa hisa yay to baitay Paisay kaa khail hay,poori dunia main jis k paas paisa hay wou yay khailta hay,or kabhi bhi kisi bhi culture main isko pasnad nahi kia gia or na hi kisi nay as a part of culture represent kia kam az kam mairay ilm k mutabiq.
[This message has been edited by B-B-G (edited January 24, 2001).]
Anchal: I like this adab-o-adaab stuff. One of my friends was taught adab-o-adaab by an older paRhosan when he was in his early teens. I have to admit the guy learned adab-o-adaab when he was 16 that hum abh takk seekhnay ko taras rahe hain
If you mean Courtesans, yes, they have been part of Indo-Pak culture for the past 1000 years or so, starting with the Turkish Invasion of India (1000 to 1200). Ghuzni is well known for his taste for music and women dancers, so it is quiet possible that he introduced this form of Art (yes, it is an art) into our Culture. It might have existed before, but history is very silent on this. After that, Qutab-ud-din Aibek, when he conquered Dehli and started a Dynasty, the trade flourished further into India. With later dynasties (Khilgi, Tughlak, Lodhis, etc.) this form of Art was well established in many big and medium towns all over the Indian Sub-continent. With the arrival of Moghals, the trade was given a “formal” blessing to make it part of every “official function”.
So Asif, given the current state of affairs in Pakistan, I am sad to say that Courtesans are no longer part of our popular culture of today. It was a part of our Culture for some 1000 years. I hope God is hanging Zia-ul-Huq upside down and making him sing “Raks Zangeer Pehn Kar bhi Kiya jata hey”.
Please note that I used the term Courtesan to mean Dancer and not Prostitute.
temple dancing is very old in india. Bharata wrote Natyashastra long before Turks. Dancing was one of the 64 arts taught in universities of Taxila, Nalanda and others (alongwith stealing, sex, horse riding, spying and such bizzarre skills. I wish the textbooks were available still)
If I remember right, in ramayana, u have a court dancing and singing before coronation of Ram. I think court dancing prevails in all ancient societies. Like in birds and other animals, dancing and singing evolved in human beings as a device for attracting opposite sex and slowly changed in an art form.
well i think courtesans were a very important part of our culture and esp if you are talking about early 18 century infact if you read about the stories of all the poets (shayars )of that era you will find the mention of these women perahps because that time there was no inter mingling of sexes and these women were the only women the poets would interact with
but it is important to know that those women were very higly respected among the elite of that era and te "tawaif's were very highly eduacted and execelled in singing classical songs and dance and infact they were the very first women to learn to read and write in india