Piety or Prostitution? History of Courtesan Culture in India
What is the history of courtesans in India? For a country so particular about the purity of its women, what leads to it having multiple systems of what is perceived as sex work prevalent throughout its milieu. One such practice that promotes this sex work in the contemporary world is the Devadasi tradition practiced in most of western and southern India. The history of the Devadasi system, however, is very nuanced. Another term very popular in recent media is ‘Tawaif’. Having been brought forth to contemporary discussions because of recent shows and movies, the term ‘Tawaif’ has been misconstrued in numerous different ways. But the history that the title contains along with the Devadasi system as a whole is perhaps not aptly represented in mainstream media. This article explores these systems and the often-blurred line they dance on between tradition and exploitation.
The heart of these traditions started with the act of dancing. Dance, as described in various sacred Indian texts, was seen as having a divine origin. Dance, in its different forms, performed in courts and in temples during rituals, has maintained its integral position in Indian culture. One of the first mentions of devadasis comes from the tale where Urvashi, an apsara, passed down the art of dance to human beings and devadasis were the first ones to receive it. Devadasis, or ‘ganikas’ as they were so called, graced all auspicious occasions such as temple rituals and marriages with their presence. It is true that they earned the favor of the rich and elite through their skills as they were known to be well-versed with the sixty-four kalas as outlined in the Vedas. In a time where women could only possess assets and property through means outside of their control, the devadasis earned wealth through their own independent work and through this wealth funded the construction and maintenance of public resources much like their male peers. However, wherever power is handed, it is not left unchecked. This was made sure in the case of the devadasis as well through several treatises which outlined the cunning and perhaps evil ways in which some devadasis, specifically known as ‘kutanis’ in this regard, acted to gain the favours of the elite classes.
The evolution of devadasis took two different roads in the northern and southern halves of India. While South India continued its support for its credence in the spirituality of dance, North India was much more divided on this issue. While many Delhi Sultans patronized the fine arts monumentally, others chastised the practice as anti-Islamic. Therefore, the status of devadasis under the Sultan rule wavered from monarch to monarch. In the most abject of cases, devadasis were reduced to slaves and were forced to dance in courts and special gatherings not of their own accord. But the Mughal court was also a place where dance and music flourished with new innovations being made in this period that changed the course of Indian traditional art. For one, the Indian traditional dance form of Kathak was borne out of these Mughal courts by combining the rulers’ Persian roots with the dancer’s Indian heritage.
All this discussion about Devadasis lends a curiosity to the origin of the Tawaif. Borne of Persian origins, the Awadhi term ‘Tawaif’ signified a tasteful and sophisticated dancer and singer. It first bloomed in the Mughal courts to describe highly talented courtesans. The scope of dancers also increased during this period as they were now patronized by a wider class of people and had their own place of performance known as ‘kothas’ which translates to the first floor. Admittedly, it would be a very shallow view to just perceive courtesans as talented merely in the fine arts. They actively controlled the reins of their respective political, economic, and administrative spheres either directly or indirectly through their patrons. They advanced from being just performers to women who garnered respect and influence in society. They were perhaps one of the only class of women at this time period to do so.
Courtesan culture in India has left legacies that breathe life into the country’s culture till the present day. Dance forms like Kathak and Bharatnatyam traditionally performed in temples and in courts are now an intrinsic part of Indian heritage. While these systems themselves have been reduced to mere prostitution in modern society, the history they carry is of immense importance to our culture. The very musical culture that is now such an intrinsic part of Bollywood has been the gift of talented courtesans who moved to a new genre of music with the advent of gramophones. Thus, the offerings of courtesan culture are abundant although its contemporary state might be dismal. What is left is how one perceives these gifts and the legacy that they entail.
