‘Courtesan’ was once a word that people used to not shy away from. Considered as an authority on etiquette, courtesans were the epitome of adab, and custodian of etiquettes and poise, who apart from contributing to music, dance, theatre, and the Urdu literary tradition, went on to rule the empires, lead armies, work as spies and even redefined the socio-political discourse in many ways.
The upcoming DelhiByFoot’s Golden Era of Tawaifs: Saga of the Courtesans walk will let you delve into this journey of tawaifs. Right from their esteemed position in the courts to their relegated status of nautch girls in kothas.
Conducting this walk is Mariyam Siddiqui, who has been researching on the subject for the past three years. “From Kashmere Gate metro station, we will walk towards the gateway of Qudsia Bagh, which has been converted into a park now. It has a different gate now, but we will begin from the original gate of Qudsia Bagh. The palace is a double-storey structure. Here, I will give a background of the tawaifs. Then, we move on to the garden, discussing Qudsia Begum (born as Udham Bai), her life, her children and the politics of that time. Then comes the palace, and then we go to the mosque, which served as an artillery battery, from where canons were fired on Delhi walls and the fort,” the 23-year-old says, giving you a generic picture of the route.
Qudsia Begum was Mohammad Shah Rangeela’s third wife. She had built the Golden Mosque near Red Fort, and the Qudsia Bagh palace.
It was Meena Kumari-starrer Pakeezah that made this history student delve into the lives of courtesans. “I read all the research papers, books and articles I could find about tawaifs. I’ve always wondered at the perception that we have of tawaifs as compared to what it actually was at that time. They used to be very well-respected individuals. This walk is just a step to bring all that to life,” she adds.
The walk will offer a peek into the lives of Mahalata Bai Chanda, the first Urdu poet to have her own dewan, Begum Samru, who led her own army after the death of her husband, and a lot of women who went on to become queens, special consort.
Sharing an anecdote, Siddiqui says, “During Aurangzeb’s rule, he prohibited dancing in his court. But a certain group of dancers called kanchanis became so politically important that they used to attend the court. Even as their art was being demeaned, they continued to stay important.”
Since there’s a lot of walking involved, wear comfortable shoes.
| When: November 17 Contact: +91 9871181775 |