Heeramandi has left people in awe of and sympathetic to tawaifs. Their talent and beauty have inspired many fashion trends, but the dreadful display of their lives has raised many questions about who they were. Tawaifs or nautch girls, as the British called them, were not always looked down upon. Before the British Raj, they enjoyed great respect as the carriers of culture. Tawaifs or baijis came to life with the advent of the Mughals in the Indian subcontinent, when they used to be invited to the Mughal courts to deliver beautiful performances on special occasions.
In the Mughal era, music and dance developed into distinguished performing arts that gained an immense reputation and recognition. They were the most popular modes of entertainment, and their practitioners were deemed agents of culture. The traditional practice of ‘entertainment’ associated these art forms with physical pleasure, and hence the label of prostitutes attached itself to these performers or entertainers. While the assimilation of the two labels theoretically would have reduced the authority and status of the practitioners, the label was hardly rigid.
Within this group of prostitutes was a class of courtesans trained in the finer nuances of dancing and music and educated in the finer arts and literature. The band of performing courtesans was termed “tawaif”. They occupied an elite status in society and engaged with the likes of nobility and aristocracy. This thin line of difference distinguished courtesans from prostitutes — the distinction which lost its uniqueness in the translation of courtesans into nautch girls of India during the British Raj.
Known as devadasis in ancient India, the courtesans were connoisseurs of politics and persuasion as well. They were considered professional women entertainers freed from the confines of domestic life, childbearing, and conventional social norms designated for women. They were the embodiment of refinement and pleasure, which attracted the wealthy. Their kothas received the princes of native Indian states on their quest to learn etiquette, manners, and culture. They composed free verses that served as the foundational root for the origin of thumri, ghazal, and many other semi-classical genres of music.
Most of these courtesans thrived on royal patronage, but the annexation of the Indian princely states by the British led to their decline, forcing the graceful cultural torchbearers to enter prostitution. The lack of funds and poor quality of life robbed the kothas of their grandeur, turning them into brothels and homes of ‘ill-repute’ courtesans.
This speaks volumes about how colonial power and social prejudice can erase nuanced histories and identities. Today, with shows like Heeramandi sparking renewed interest in this forgotten community, we must challenge lingering stigmas and acknowledge the tawaifs’ artistry and agency. Reclaiming their stories is not just about honoring the past, but about questioning the definition of respectability and culture in modern India.
