A review of the book 'Nautch Girls of the Raj' written by Pran Nevile.
The Nautch girl, extravagantly adored for both her beauty and her virtuosity, belonged to a unique class of courtesans who played a significant role in the social and cultural life of India in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The nautch girl, it may be said, was no ordinary woman of pleasure—she had refined manners, a ready wit and poetry in her blood. She embodied a splendid synthesis of different cultures and dance forms—the classical and the popular—and catered to the sophisticated tastes of the elite who had the time, resources and inclination to enjoy her accomplishments.
Illustrated with reproductions and drawings obtained from collections all over the world this book offers a vivid glimpse of the seductive allure and dazzling grace of nautch in its days of glory.
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Courting Hindustan - Book Review
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Coming up: A review of the book 'Nautch Girls of the Raj' written by Pran Nevile.
Namaste Friends. My name is 'Shinil Subramanian Payamal' and you are listening to the Historylogy podcast.
Before I proceed, a full disclosure: This book was bought with my own money and not been provided to me by the author or publisher.
Little bit about the author:
Pran Nevile was born in Lahore and took his post-graduate degree from there. After a distinguished career in the Indian Foreign Service and the United Nations, he decided to become a freelance writer and has specialized in the study of social and cultural history of India. His particular fascination with the performing arts inspired him to spend many years researching in libraries and museums in the UK and USA.
Nevile has written extensively on Indian art and culture and also acted as a consultant for two BBC films on the Raj. He is the author of Lahore: A Sentimental Journey, Love Stories from the Raj, Beyond the Veil: Indian Women in the Raj, Rare Glimpses of the Raj, Stories from the Raj: Sahibs, Memsahibs and Others, K. L. Saigal: Immortal Singer and Marvels of Indian Painting.
Let me read what is written on the back cover of the book:
QUOTE
The Nautch girl, extravagantly adored for both her beauty and her virtuosity, belonged to a unique class of courtesans who played a significant role in the social and cultural life of India in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The nautch girl, it may be said, was no ordinary woman of pleasure—she had refined manners, a ready wit and poetry in her blood. She embodied a splendid synthesis of different cultures and dance forms—the classical and the popular—and catered to the sophisticated tastes of the elite who had the time, resources and inclination to enjoy her accomplishments.
Over the centuries female dancers have appeared in various incarnations, frequently as temple dancers dedicated to the gods, for dance is believed to have divine approval. However, historians, sociologists, novelists and chroniclers have not always done justice to the nautch girl, depicting her as either a vamp or as a showgirl bought by the wealthy for festive occasions. This book highlights the emergence of the quintessential nautch girl in the Mughal era when she reached the zenith of her talent and charisma. Her mystique continued to reign supreme during the Raj and her popularity and status among the English sahibs and the Indian aristocracy flourished during this period.
Illustrated with reproductions and drawings obtained from collections all over the world this book offers a vivid glimpse of the seductive allure and dazzling grace of nautch in its days of glory.
UNQUOTE
The word ‘nautch’ is an anglicized form of the Urdu word nach derived from the Sanskrit nritya through the Prakrit nachcha, meaning dance.
The nautch represented cultural interaction between the native and the early English settler in India. Its professional exponent, the nautch girl, held the white sahib spellbound for nearly two centuries.
In this book you will find revealing accounts of the famous celebrities and their captivating performances. The interesting part was the sahibs’ fascination for this entertainment and their generous patronage.
Modern writers on the Raj have also paid little attention to the cultural scene and the status of dance and music during the period.
The author has tried to examine every possible factor—historical, socio-economic and cultural—that contributed to the rise and fall of the nautch girl, once the reigning queen of entertainment.
Some of the famous dancing girls and performers mentioned in this book are:
1st ─ During the later Mughal period, Jahandar Shah, grandson of Aurangzeb, married the famous dancing girl Lal Kunwar and gave her the status of a queen with the title of Imtiaz Mahal.
2nd ─ Another colourful ruler, Mohammad Shah Rangila, also married a dancing girl, Uttambai, known as Qudisa Begum.
3rd ─ Emperor Akbar was enchanted by an expert Portuguese dancing girl whom he named Dilruba.
4th ─ The devadasi tradition also made its appearance when Badshah Begum, the first queen of Oudh, named eleven Syed girls as wives of the Imams. The girls were not allowed to marry.
5th ─ Job Charnock, widely regarded as the founder of Calcutta, married a beautiful young Brahmin girl after rescuing her from the funeral pyre.
6th ─ General Pater was so fond of his bibi that he built a church over her grave.
7th ─ In Akbar’s time, Rupmati, a dancing girl from Saharanpur, became famous all over north India.
8th ─ Another girl of Akbar’s period who became a legend was Anarkali.
9th ─ In the palace of Shah Jahan, there was a dancing girl of humble birth known as Rana Dil.
10th ─ Mastani, whose passionate love affair with Bajirao Peshwa I has become part of folklore.
11th ─ Gauhar Jan of Calcutta, became a legend at the turn of the twentieth century.
Lastly, the 8th and last chapter of the book deals with what led to the downfall of the nautch girl. Due to the spread of English education, the educated Indians, suffering from an inferiority complex, were overcome with a sense of shame about their own traditional arts.
Then the missionaries, in their efforts to propagate the virtues of the Christian civilization, denounced Indian religious practices, social customs and manners. The nautch institution in particular came under heavy attack as they took it up as a moral issue. Some of them went to the extent of saying that nautch aroused anti-Christian feelings.
The book has only 129 pages and is an easy read. I give the book 4/5. There are quite a few pictures spread across the book which show you the life of nautch girls giving us an idea of a world gone by. I had previously reviewed the book titled 'Courting Hindustan: The Consuming Passions of Iconic Women Performers of India' written by Madhur Gupta on the 18th of August. If you have read that book, then you won’t need to pick up this one as that is a slightly more detailed and well written book on the same topic.
The book is available for just under Rs. 200 on Amazon India and at around Rs. 215 on Flipkart. And it is available for $4.95 on Amazon USA. I will provide the respective buy links in the show notes. Please check them out for the latest prices.
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