Tawa'if

[muqawwee123]

Re: Tawa’if

@bebo

Yes it is true. The word "Tawayaf “ has persian roots which technically means communities. However, Tawayaf is a urdu/hindi word for dancing girls and it denotes a particular class of courtesan. The word Tawayaf probably first appears inHindi/Urdu sometime in the mid-nineteenth century. At that time, Tawayafs in North India were considered high-class courtesans, unlike their more common counterparts who worked inthe bazars. Tawayafs were highly-skilled singers and dancers, who were also trained in the arts of poetry and conversation. (Japanese Geisha are the same). They were so refined that aristocrats would send their sons to be trained in sophistication, manners and etiquette.
Even in the era when courtesan arts were at the pinnacle of appreciation, most if not all tawafyafs were still sex workers of some kind. But many had dedicated patrons, to whom they would ‘belong’.

Yes, like they depicted in Umrao Jaan that Rekha was being paid her monthly income by the Nawab (played by Farooq)