|
Tawaif
A ''tawaif'' was a highly successful entertainer who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance ( mujra), theatre, and the Urdu literary tradition, and were considered an authority on etiquette. Tawaifs were largely a North Indian institution central to Mughal court culture from the 16th century onwards and became even more prominent with the weakening of Mughal rule in the mid-18th century. They contributed significantly to the continuation of traditional dance and music forms and then to the emergence of modern Indian cinema. History The patronage of the Mughal court before and after the Mughal Dynasty in the Doab region and the artistic atmosphere of 16th century Lucknow made arts-related careers a viable prospect. Many girls were taken at a young age and trained in both performing arts (such as Kathak and Hindustani classical music) as well as literature (ghazal, thumri) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mujra
Mujra is a dance performance by women in a format that emerged during Mughal rule in India, where the elite class and local rulers like the nawabs of the Indian society (often connected to the Mughal emperor's court) used to frequent courtesans for their entertainment. Background and history It combines elements of the native classical Kathak dance with native music including thumris and ghazals. It also includes poems from other Mughal periods like the emperors from Akbar to Bahadur Shah Zafar's ruling periods. Mujra was traditionally performed at mehfils and in special houses called . During Mughal rule in the subcontinent, in places such as Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, the tradition of performing mujra was a family art and often passed down from mother to daughter. These courtesans or tawaifs had some power and prestige due to their access to the elite class and some of them came to be known as authorities on culture. Some noble families would send their sons to them to lear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prostitution In India
Prostitution is legal in India, but a number of related activities including soliciting, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, prostitution in a hotel, child prostitution, pimping and pandering are illegal. There are, however, many brothels illegally operating in Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Chennai. UNAIDS estimate there were 657,829 prostitutes in the country as of 2016. Other unofficial estimates have calculated India has roughly 3–10 million prostitutes. India is widely regarded as having one of the world's largest commercial sex industry. It has emerged as a global hub of sex tourism, attracting sex tourists from wealthy countries. The sex industry in India is a multi-billion dollar one, and one of the fastest growing. History A tawaif was a courtesan who catered to the nobility of India, particularly during the Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance ( mujra), theatre, and the Urdu literary tradi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moran Sarkar
Moran Sarkar ( pnb, ) was a Punjabi Muslim married to Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab in 1806. She was a nautch girl before she became a queen. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was supposedly punished by flogging by Akali Phula Singh for marrying her. Mai Moran was sent to live in Pathankot district, in 1811. Life Mai Moran was born in a Muslim family in Makhan Windi, near Amritsar She later married Maharaja Ranjit Singh, a year after he became the maharaja of Lahore at the age of 21 and was officially given a name as ''Maharani Sahiba''. She was a nautch girl. Maharaja Ranjit Singh used to meet her in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. She used to dance for him at the Baradari of Maharaja Ranjit Singh halfway between Amritsar and Lahore. The place was since called Pul Kanjri but now its name has been changed to 'Pul Moran'. She later married Maharaja Ranjit Singh, a year after he became the maharaja of Lahore at the age of 21 and was officially given a name as ''Maharani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wajid Ali Shah
Mirza Wajid Ali Shah ( ur, ) (30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856. Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Alam Ara who was better known as Khas Mahal () because of her exquisite beauty. She was one of two Nikahi wives. His second wife, Muhammadi Khanum, better known as the Begum Hazrat Mahal, rose against the British East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 as the regent of Awadh. His kingdom, long protected by the East India Company (EIC) under treaty, was annexed by the EIC on 11 February 1856, two days before the ninth anniversary of his coronation. The Nawab was exiled to Garden Reach in Metiabruz, then a suburb of Kolkata, where he lived out the rest of his life on a generous pension. He was a poet, playwright, dancer and great patron of the arts. He is widely credited with the revival of Kathak as a major form of classical Indian dance. As a Kin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thumri
Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dramatic gestures, mild eroticism, evocative love poetry and folk songs, especially from Uttar Pradesh, though there are regional variations. The text is romantic or devotional in nature, the lyrics are usually in Uttar Pradesh dialects of Hindi called Awadhi and Brij Bhasha. Thumree is characterized by its sensuality, and by a greater flexibility with the ''raga''. ''Thumri'' is also used as a generic name for some other, even lighter, forms such as Dadra, Hori, Kajari, Sawani, Jhoola, and Chaiti, even though each of them have their own structure and content — either lyrical or musical or both—and so the exposition of these forms vary. Like Indian classical music itself, some of these forms have their origin in folk literature and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wazeeran
Wazeeran, also known as Nawab Nigar Mahal Sahiba, was an Indian courtesan (tawaif A ''tawaif'' was a highly successful entertainer who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance ( mujra), theatre, and the Urdu literary tradi ...). She was frequented by Last Nawab of Lucknow, Wajid Ali Shah. He is said to have made her protégé, Ali Naqi Khan, his Wazir ( Chief Minister) when he became king. She was the daughter of courtesan, Bibi Jan. References Indian courtesans 19th-century Indian women 19th-century Indian people Royal mistresses {{India-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathak
Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as Kathakars or storytellers. The term Kathak is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word which means "story", and ''Kathakar'' which means "the one who tells a story", or "to do with stories". Wandering Kathakars communicated stories from the great epics and ancient mythology through dance, songs and music. Kathak dancers tell various stories through their hand movements and extensive footwork, their body movements and flexibility but most importantly through their facial expressions. Kathak evolved during the Bhakti movement, particularly by incorporating the childhood and stories of the Hindu god Krishna, as well as independently in the courts of north Indian kingdoms. During the period of Mughal rule, the emperors were patrons of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zohrabai Agrewali
Zohrabai Agrewali (1868–1913), also known mononymously as Zohrabai, was one of the most noted and influential singers of Hindustani Classical Music from the early 1900s. Along with Gauhar Jan, she marks the dying phase of the courtesan singing tradition in Indian classical music. Known for her masculine style of singing, she recorded several songs for the Gramophone Company of India. Early life and background Zohrabai was born in 1868 in Agra, North-Western Provinces, British India. An exponent of the Agra gharana of the Hindustani Classical Music, she took on the surname ''Agrewali'' that translates to "from Agra". During the early years of her life, Zihrabai received training from Ustad Sher Khan, Ustad Kallan Khan and the noted composer Mehboob Khan (''Daras Piya''). Performing career Zohrabai performed and recorded tracks from such forms of the Hindustani classical music as khayal as well as lighter varieties including thumri and ghazals which she learned from Ahm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sardhana
Sardhana is a city and a municipal board in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is northeast of New Delhi and 13 mi from Meerut. It is 5 km from Meerut Karnal National Highway and 12 km from National Highway 58. It is famous for its cloth and timber industries, and its church. History Being close to Hastinapur, which is also in Meerut district, the capital of Kauravas of Mahabharata, Sardhana is also known for the ancient Mahadev Temple that is believed to be dating from the Mahabharata period. It was here that the Pandavas prayed before leaving for the Lakshagrah, the notorious palace made of lac by Duryodhana, at the confluence of the Hindon and Krishna rivers (Kali River, ''Kali Nadi''). This palace was located at ''Varnavrat'', the present Barnava, where the prince resided with their mother Kunti. In the 19th century, Sardhana was the capital of the Begum Samru, born as Farzana Zebunisa in 1751, and considered to be the only Catho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gauhar Jaan
Gauhar Jaan (born Angelina Yeoward; 26 June 1873 – 17 January 1930) was an Indian singer and dancer from Kolkata. She was one of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India, which was later released by the Gramophone Company of India and resulted in her being known as "the Gramophone girl" and "the first recording superstar of India". Having recorded more than 600 songs in more than ten languages between 1902 and 1920, Jaan is credited with popularising Hindustani classical music such as ''thumri'', '' dadra'', '' kajri'', and '' tarana'' during the period. Early life Gauhar Jaan was born as Eleen Angelina Yeoward on 26 June 1873 in Azamgarh, of Armenian descent. Her father, Robert William Yeoward, worked as an engineer in a dry ice factory, and married her mother, Adeline Victoria Hemmings, in 1872. Victoria, an Indian by birth, had been trained in music and dance. In 1879 the marriage ended, causing hardships to both mother and daughter, who moved to Ban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Rebellion Of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Company's army in the garrison town of Meerut, northeast of Delhi. It then erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions chiefly in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, though incidents of revolt also occurred farther north and east. The rebellion posed a considerable threat to British power in that region, and was contained only with the rebels' defeat in Gwalior on 20 June 1858., , and On 1 November 1858, the British granted amnesty to all rebels not involved in murder, though they did not declare the hostilities to have formally ended until 8 July 1859. Its name is contested, and it is variously described as the Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion, the Revolt of 1857, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gauhar Jaan
Gauhar Jaan (born Angelina Yeoward; 26 June 1873 – 17 January 1930) was an Indian singer and dancer from Kolkata. She was one of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India, which was later released by the Gramophone Company of India and resulted in her being known as "the Gramophone girl" and "the first recording superstar of India". Having recorded more than 600 songs in more than ten languages between 1902 and 1920, Jaan is credited with popularising Hindustani classical music such as ''thumri'', '' dadra'', '' kajri'', and '' tarana'' during the period. Early life Gauhar Jaan was born as Eleen Angelina Yeoward on 26 June 1873 in Azamgarh, of Armenian descent. Her father, Robert William Yeoward, worked as an engineer in a dry ice factory, and married her mother, Adeline Victoria Hemmings, in 1872. Victoria, an Indian by birth, had been trained in music and dance. In 1879 the marriage ended, causing hardships to both mother and daughter, who moved to Ban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
