Social Scientist

Prostitution in Nineteenth Century Bengal: Construction of Class and Gender

Author(s): Ratnabali Chatterjee
Source: Social Scientist, Vol. 21, No. 9/11 (Sep. - Oct., 1993), pp. 159-172
Published by: Social Scientist
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RATNABALICHATTERJEE*

Prostitution
in NineteenthCenturyBengal:
Constructionof Class and Gender

In a critiquemade of MichelleBarret'sWomen'sOppressionToday
(London 1980) JohannaBrennerand Maria Ramas pointedout that
Barret's analysis fails to decipher how the capitalist drive to
accumulate and use labour power left women out of capitalist
production and forcedthemtostayat home.1Takingmycue fromthese
criticsI would like to argue thatthoughBarrethas stated that the
familyhouseholdsystemis notinherent to capitalismbut has come to
forma historicallyconstituted elementof class relations,she has left
out of herformulations (whichhave sinceformedthecore of Marxist
feministdebates in the West) the pre-capitalist and colonial
experiencesofnon-European peoplein general.
In thispaper I have triedto explorehow in the specificcontextof
colonialrule,patriarchalnormsin Bengalwere shaped by bothcaste
and class considerations.The dominantideology expressed itself
throughcertainindigenouscategorieslike kulaand vamsa,whichdir-
ectlyaimed at controlling womens'reproductivepowers. I will also
discusshow an ideologyofdomesticity evolvedin thisperiodrestrict-
ing women'slabour and creativepowerswithinthe household.Any
movementoutside thissocial space-throughperformance, religious
preachingevenjoiningthelabourforcemarkedherout tobe a deviant
and prostitute.
Beriyeelem,beshyahalem kula karlemkhaya
Tabuo kina bhatarshala dhamkekathakay.'
(I came out became a whoreblackenedmy kula [family]yet even
now thisbastardofa husbandyellsat me).2
Thislone voice callingout fromthedarkbringsto theforethosecate-
gorieswhichdemarcateda woman'ssocial space in nineteenth
century
Bengal.The word kuladerivedfromSanskritmeanta genericcollec-
tivity.Two otherterms,gotraand vamsawereconsideredsynonymous
with kulaindicatingsharedblood and bodilysubstance.3
Theseterms

Dept. of IslamicH-listory
and Culture,University
ofCalcutta,Calcutta.

SocialScientist, 1993
Vol. 21,Nos. 9-11,September-November

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160 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

borea directreferenceto thereproductivepowersofwomenin ensuring

thepurityof thelineage.
The statusrankingof kula was based primarily on ritualconsider-
ation and applied mainlyto upper caste Hindus. Any loss of face
particularlyin the contextof a maritalalliancewas markedas a blot
on theprestigeof kula.4Womenwere therefore rearedand guarded
strictlyas the fear of losing the honour of one's kula constantly
haunted upper caste Hindus. In the nineteenthcenturypatriarchal
normsevolved in Bengal in responseto thesewider social anxieties
concerningthemaintenance of thebrahminicalmoralorderin general
and thesocialprestigeofone's own kulaor vamsain particular.
Due to theentrenchment ofcolonialrule,theperiodalso witnesseda
shiftin the politicaleconomy.This led to a generaldevaluationof
women'swork.The gradualcheapeningoflabourand thecreationofa
labour surplus in the agrariansectorforcedmarginaland peasant
householdsto depend moreand moreon participation of womenand
childrenin the procurement of subsistence.Since theywere paid a
lower wage compared to that of an adult male the women's
contribution to thehouseholdwas progressively devalued.5
The risein pricesof agiculturalcommoditiesand thereductionin
wages made it easier for the middle peasant and traderto adopt
seclusionby foregoingwomen'svisiblelabourwhetherin the family
farmor in sellingtheproductionofmalemembersofthefamily.6 Since
freeingwomenfromoutsidelabourimpliedan abilityto dispensewith
theircontributionto household income,dissociationfrommanual
labour distinguishedthe gentlewoman-the bhadramahila fromthe
womenofthelabouringpoor-the dasi.
For secluded women the work adopted followedthe facilitiesof
work space. Inside the house, separatedby a courtyardupper caste
Hindu women had a privatespace-the andarmahal,constructedin
contrastto the man's outer domain of the bahirmahalor kachhari.
Women's invisibilityor the notionof purdahwas now inseparably
identifiedwithsocial and moralstatus.While poor women'svisible
and manual work was stigmatisedby associationwithlower status,
the appropriation of an increasinglywider range of women's
productive activity within the household fed an ideology of
domesticity.7The gender and class identityof the Bengali Hindu
woman depended upon her nurturingactivitiesas motherand wife
withinthe home. These were codifiedthrougha numberof moral
tracts.8 While the gentle-womanwas deified as grihalaxmiand
kulabadhu,the deviantwas markedas an outcast-alaxmi,asati and
kulata(the latteralso meaningtheprostitute).

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 PROSTITUTION CENTURYBENGAL 161
IN NINETEENTH

Between1858-73thelargestgroupof migrantsfromthesurrounding
districtsto Calcuttawere widows or rejectedwives fromlow caste
familiesof barbers,milkmen,malis,jugis,kaibartasand Haris. Most
ofthesewomen,unableto findanyotherwork,wereforcedintoprosti-
tutionor intodomesticservicesas maids. AlthoughBritishaccounts
condemnthemas beingnotoriously unchastetheyweremerelypeasant
and artisanwomen who had been thrownout of theirtraditional
occupationswithoutanyotheralternatives offeredto them.9
Afterthe passing of the Indian FactoriesAct in 1881 women and
childrenwere legallyallowed to join the industrialworkforce. As a
resultthe Britishparliamentary reportsof 1884-85state thatunlike
the cottonmills of Bombay,the jute mills of Calcutta employed a
larger proportionof women and children.10Yet because of their
associationwith low skill theywere graduallyconcentratedin the
lowestpaid jobs in themills.Theywereregardedmainlyas a reserve
supplyoflabourwhenmalelabourwas shortand thefirstto lose their
jobsina slump.
The conditionsof employment affectedsocialand culturalattitudes
towardssuitabilityoffactory workas an occupationforwomen.Lower
wages and the perceptionthattheirearningswere secondarymeant
thatwomenoftenenteredthelabourmarketwhentheyhad exhausted
other alternatives.Sometimes they were pushed into the labour
marketby the inadequacy or deprivationof male earnings.Social
reasonslikewidowhood,desertionorbarrenness also forcedwomento
seek workoutsidethevillage.
Uncertainty of employmentpersuaded many men to leave their
wives in thevillages.Wivesofbetterpaid workersreplicatednotions
of upward mobilityby refraining fromjoiningboth the factoryand
domesticlabour force.The affirmation of such domesticideology
tended to sociallyand economicallymarginalisethose women who
continuedto workin factories or as domesticworkersin thehousesof
therich.11 Mostofthesewomenwereregardedas parttimeprostitutes
by theiremployers and co-workers.12
By mnid-nineteenth centurysome of the Bengali bhadralokbuilt
themselvestownresidencesand even broughttheirfamiliesfromthe
villages. The social divisions of space, earlier limited to ritual
consideration,were now construedinto actual living space. The
women'squartersbecamea refugefora numberofuppercasteHindu
widows.These womenwho had earliereked out a livingby spinning
and even observedthe familyrituals(of weddingsand funerals)were
now thrownout of theiroccupationby the importingof yarnsfrom
England.13Forcedto leave theirvillagehomestheyeitherworkedas
cooksor maids in thehouses of therichor ended up as prostitutes in
Calcutta'sexpandingbrothels.(In 1881thenumberofwomendomestic

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162 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

servantsnumbered21,884.While prostitutes numbered1,22,228and

dancers111).14
This stateof thingsdid not escape the Britishadministration.
In
1872,A. Mackenzyreporting on thegroundof prostitutionin Calcutta
had sharplypointedout-
In Bengaltheprostituteclass seemsto be chieflyrecruitedfromthe
ranksofHinduwidows.Theprominence ofHinduwomenamongthe
prostitutes
of Bengal,oftenit is stated:womenof good caste,and
thateven in districtswherea largeMohammedanpopulationpre-
dominates, is the most curious featuredisclosed in the cor-
respondenceand quitedifferent fromwhattheLieutenant Governor
believestobe thestateof thingsin otherpartsofnorthernIndia.15
The sheernumberof prostitutes increasingeach year in thelarger
Indian citiesconfrontedthe indigenouselitesas a social evil which
reflectedon theirleadership position. At the same time colonial
educationand missionaryonslaughtsheld up images which shook
theirfaithin themselves.The moreprogressiveamongtheelitefound
an outletin joiningthecampaignforreforms. Thusthemajoragendasof
reform,such as polygamy,widow burning,child marriage and
prostitution,broughtIndianwomencontinuously to theforefrontofthe
debates.In facttheywerenow used as a siteon whichagreements and
conflicts
betweencolonisersand thecolonisedsubjectstookplace.
In thenineteenth Bengalwas consideredtobe in thethroes
century,
ofa changeby therestofthecountry due toa numberofsocialreforms
consideredprogressiveby the civilisingstandardsof the west. The
BengaliHindus in theirpassage frombabuto bhadralok assessed these
reforms as theirparticularachievements; whilethemoreconservative
Hindus resisted the reformsas anti-traditional, liberals invested
themwith the logic of enlightenment. The subjectsof the debates,
however,remainedpassive and compliant.Theirvoices were largely
heardas echoesoftheone or theothergroup.16
From the very inception of the reformsit was clear to the
campaignersthattheyweremeantonlyforuppercasteHindu women.
As participants upholdingtheHindu moralorder,lowercasteartisans
and peasantswerekepton theveryfringesof debateswhileMuslims
werecompletely excluded.The dominantideologylookedupon upper
casteHinduwomenas theembodiment ofmoralorderand a numberof
Bengali textsof the nineteenthcenturyprojectthis image as the
centralmotif.17
The good woman, the chaste married wife and the mother
empoweredby a spiritualstrength were also perceivedas the iconic
representation of thenation.She was at once a captiveto be freedby
her morallyinspiredchildrenand thecentralfigurewho createdand
protected the sanctuary of the home, where the colonised
intelligentsiapersecutedbya foreignrulercould takerefuge.18

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 PROSTITUTIONIN NINETEENTHCENTURYBENGAL 163

In orderto contextualisethesecontradictory imagesof themselves

and themotherland,middleclass Bengaliscreatednew socialbinaries
whichwerepervadedby theirclass perception.The shiftfromearlier
Brahmin/Sudra included women among
categoriesto the bhadra/itar
theirconstructs.Thus bhadramahilastood in equal distance from
magi. Interestinglythe early nineteenthcenturycommon termfor
widows and prostitutes,rarh,19was now discarded for bidhabha
indicating the widow, and beshya and kulata indicating the
At the same timethe latterwas describedby adjectives
prostitutes.
generallyused in English. Patita being a literaltranslationof the
words'fallen'or 'degraded'was a commonattribute applied to British
workingclassprostitutesin thesameperiod.

II
The termsbarangana and beshyawere frequently used in Bengalitexts
of thenineteenth centuryto indicatetheprostitute. Textuallyit can be
tracedto the classical manuals on erotics(Vatsayana's Kamasutra)
and dramaturgy(Bharata'sNatyashastra). The Indian prostitutewas
thus by tradition inseparably associated with professional
entertainersand the terms nati,ganika or barangana (considered
synonymousin ancientIndia) generallyindicatedthe accomplished
courtesan.20She was perceivedas the productof a feudal society
which she also aestheticallyrepresented.The hierarchythat was
built into the core of the feudal relationsregulatedthe lives of the
courtesansand theiraristocratic clients.Thisconceptiondid notstretch
topeasantwomensincetheyusuallycateredformenoftheirown class,
or as thedasi (slave/servant)forthesexualneeds of theirmasters.21
Muslimcourtlynormsconfirmed theearlierpositionofthecourtesan
in brahminical societyand continuedtograntthema space in thecourt.
As dancers and musicians theyparticipatedin public rituals and
moved into the zenana mahalto entertainthe inmates.Oftenthey
wereincorporated intothehouseholdthroughcontract marriages.This
practicecontinuedwell intotheeighteenth century.
Mir Jafarwho had withthehelp of theBritishin 1758becomethe
Nawab Nazim ofBengal,marriedtwodancinggirlsfromAgra-Mani
Begumand BubbuBegum.MirJafarhad metthemwhentheycame to
performat the celebrationof Siraj-ud-daulah'swedding. He was
particularlysmitten by ManiBegumand persuadedherto staybackon
a monthlyallowance of 500 rupees. Mani Begum latermarriedMir
Jafar.Aftera timehe also marriedBubbuBegum.The Nawab had two
sons-Nazm-ud-daulah and Saif-ud-daulahby Mani Begum and
Mubarak-ud-daulahby Bubbu Begum.Afterhis death Mani Begum
bribedtheCompanyofficialsto make her the guardianof theminor
Mubarak-ud-daulah.The Companyofficialsagreed to her proposal
and passed over the claims of Bubbu Begutm(the motherof minor

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164 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

nawab) to make Mani Begum the Nawab's guardian.(Her influence

over the East India Companyofficials,
particularlyWarrenHastings,
earnedherthenicknameofMother-i-Company.) She won suchrespect
thattheCompanyfireda gun saluteafterherdeathwas announced.22
To takeanotherexample-Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Oudh knownas
an accomplishedpoet and musician,turnedhis entirehareminto a
dancing school which he called the Pari Khana. Everydancer was
connected to the Nawab throughthe contractualformof muta
marriage.23
Veena Talwar Oldenburgin her book on Lucknowgives a vivid
betweenthecourtesansand theirpatronsin
accountof therelationship
the nineteenthcentury.In orderto show the contrastin the lives of
differentprostitutesTalwar Oldenburg gives a descriptionof the
courtesan'sestablishments-
A courtesanwas usuallypartof a householdestablishment under
the chief courtesan or chaudhrayan. The latter owned and
maintainedextraapartments,having acquired wealth and fame
throughher beauty and music and dancingabilities.Typicallya
wealthy patron, often the king himself,would set her up in
agreeablequartersand supportherhouseholdin thestylein which
and she would recruitbuddingyoung
he wished to be entertained
singersand dancersto competewithotherreputableestablishments.
Everyreputablehouse maintaineda team of skilledlineages and
gharanas of musicians therebyenhancing the prestige of the
establishment.Doormentoutsand othermale auxiliariesscreened
theclientsat thedoor.24
Yet the courtesanswere not the only persons involved in the
professionof commercialsex. Lower than the tawaifsin rank and
accomplishmentswere two other categoriesof women known as
thakahi and randiwho lived in themarketarea and cateredforlower
class clientsincludingthelabourers.25 The Britishrefusedto recognise
thesehierarchical amongprostitutes
differences in Lucknowbothout
ofadministrative convenienceand because thoughtheofficials wentto
nautchparties,theylooked upon dancinggirlsas productsof thethe
customsof a static'native'of society,theydid not interfere in the
practice.
By the middle of the nineteenthcenturyCalcuttahad become an
important as moreand moredeposedrulers
centreofculturalactivities
of Indian stateswere forcedto take up theirexiled residencein the
city.Withthe migrationof a numberof musiciansand dancersonce
patronisedby theseNawabs, partsof Calcuttawere landmarkedas
theMughalCity.Here thedancersof Wajid Ali Shah and thepoetsof
theDelhi darbarmergedwiththemembersof Tipu Sultan'sdeposed
familyto create the cultural ambience for those who came in a
nostalgicsearchofthegrandold days.26

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 PROSTITUTIONIN NINETEENTHCENTURYBENGAL 165

Thisadded to thealreadyexistingfashionofarranging nautchesfor

familyoccassionsof a son/daughter's marriageor religiousfestivals
like the Durga Puja. The dancers were usually invitedfromAgra,
Benaras and Lucknow to come to Calcutta. The rich familiesin
Calcutta vied with one anotherto get the highestpaid baiji. Local
newspapersin Englishand Bengalireportedthesesocial gatherings.
SamacharDarpanrecordedon 16 October1819thatthefamousdancer
Niki had arrivedin Calcuttaand a fortunate gentlemanhad hiredher
on a monthly salaryof 1,000rupees.Also on 22 November1823it was
reportedin the same paper thaton the occasion of the Rasa Lila
festivalin the house of one Ruplal Mallick, the guests included
European Sahebs who attendedthe dance of a numberof tawaifs:
'Theyhad stayedon formanyhoursand had leftafter11 P.M., well
pleased withtheirperformances.'27
For Europeanartistslike Belnosand Solvynsthesefeastsoffereda
colourfulopportunity to look at the'native'householdand itsluxuries
of whichthedancinggirlsformeda part.28By 1858,however,things
were startingto changeeven thoughthe Britishadministrators were
stillnot adverseto thesefeasts.A nautchwas seen as an aristocratic
gatheringof 'natives' and definitelyto be distinguishedfromthe
revelriesof thevulgar.
Anothergroupofwomenartistsin thenineteenth centuryconsidered
to be semi-prostitutes, were mendicantsingersknownas vaisnavis.
Thesewomenwereoftenreferred to derisivelyas neris(shavenheaded
women) by contemporaries.29 Theybelongedto a popular religious
order who looked upon the medieval saint Sri Chaitanyaas their
guru.Theytriedtomoveaway fromtherigorousHinduritualsand one
of theirinnovativereforms was to dispensewiththeformalsystemof
marriage.Professinglove to be the centraltenetof theirfaith,they
changedpartnerswheneverit suitedthem.By thenineteenth century
these sects had bifurcatedand multipliedand they mainly lived
eitheras mendicantsor in a small settlements called akhrasusually
built on donated lands. These became places of refugefor many
destitutewomen.In officialperceptionthe vaisnavisin generalwere
equated withprostitutes.
are recruitedfromall castes;but theygenerallybecome
Prostitutes
Vaisnavis,forVaisnavismunlikeotherformsof Hinduism,denies
notitsspiritualconsolation
eventooutcastes.0
For some of theircontemporariesthe vaisnavis were the main
upholdersof popular culture,kept alive throughtheirrenditionof
folk songs, poetryand bardic narration,mainlyamong the poorer
people. Since theyusuallyhad freeaccess to thehomesof thegentry
(as religiousmendicants)the vaisnavisacted as a linkbetweenthe
privateand publicspace fromwhichthegentlewomenwerebarred.31

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166 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

The vaisnaviswerealso eruditewomenwho triedto enterthearena

ofreforms bybecomingsomeoftheearlyteachersin theschoolssetup
forwomen. Yet a systematicattackwas launched against themby
gentlemen reformers
bothIndianand British-
Baisnabis,the loose moralityof whose sect is separatedby a very
slightline fromthat utternegationof femininemoralitywhich
constitutes or line of separationwhichis in mostcases
prostitution
easilyand imperceptiblyoutstepped.32
By the end of nineteenthcenturythe moral indictmentagainst the
vaisnaviswas so strong,thatit made it impossibleforthemto provide
sheltersfordestitutes.Theirakhraswere now regardedas thenatural
habitatsof prostitutes.
Indigenouscategorisation of theBengaliprostitute thusfixedherin
a social space outside the home. Public performance, freedomof
movement (including that of religious mendicants) and even
participationin labouroutsidedomesticsphere,pushed any woman
fromher acceptedsocial role of mother,daughter,sisterand wifeto
thatof theprostitute-anoutcast.

III
The image of the prostituteas the otherof the good woman was
circulatedby a numberof Bengali textsthroughoutthe nineteenth
century.Both high and low literature,subscribedto the themeof
moral decay broughtabout throughthe agencyof sexuallydeviant
women. Her deviancy engrossed the male authorsand theyused
literarydevicesto makeit a salacioussubjectfortheirmale readers.33
Colonialeducationcoincidingwiththebeginningof a printculture
allowed theindigenousintelligentsia a creativeoutlet,yetas colonial
experiencedeepened, a sense of alienationbecame evidentmainly
among the membersof the lower middle class. These men though
accepted as allies by colonial officialsstill smartedunder the kicks
and blows which theyreceived fromtheircolonial masters.Their
feelingswere expressedthroughthe narrativeof moral doom-the
Kali Yuga.34
This has been a powerfulthemein theepics. In theVana Parva of
Mahabharata,upper caste male anxietiesare expressedthroughthe
description oftheKali Yuga. Textuallytheperiodofdoom is supposed
to have begun afterthegreatwar whenexistingpowerrelationswere
subverted.The mleccha (alien) rulersreplaced the rightfulkings.
Sudras appropriated the authorityof the brahmins,and most
important of all, sexuallydeviantwomenmade love to menials,slaves
and evenanimals,and wieldedpowerovermen.
The imageof thedeviantwomanis constructed by establishingher
relationswithmale protectors, i.e. fatherand husband.She is shown

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 PROSTITUTIONIN NINETEENTHCENTURYBENGAL 167

as rebelliousand unwillingto remaincontainedwithinthe restricted

sphereof theandarmahal.Her distancingfromthe good womenalso
situatesherwithina separatesocial space so thatthedeviantwoman
is alwaysprojectedas a homelesswanderer,heronlyrefugebeingthe
prostitutesquarterson thefringesofcitiesand villages.35
In a number of moral tracts the binaries of the chaste wife
(patibratastree)and the prostitutebeshyaare structuredinto visible
signs.Thisis bestworkedoutbyan anonymousauthorin his'Adviceto
Women' (Stridiger PratiUpadesh).He offerstheformulain the shape
of two distinctmouldsin whichhe castsall women.(The comparative
examplesused aregemsand glass.)
is shy,silent,does herdutyand is totally
The good wife,patibrata,
undemanding, staysaway frommen,keepsherwholebodycovered
and does notwearflashyclothes.
while
The beshyais loud mouthed,always restless,bares special partsof
herbody,fallson men,demandsjewelleryand continuously wears
revealingclothes.36
The authorwritingin 1871 lays down social codes and throughthe
processofstereotyping caststhewomenintoseparate'bodies'.Thus the
myththatdevelops around the prostituteis homogenisedthrough
these physicalsigns of dress and mannersto chartthe prostitutes'
social moves,and worksthroughtheverbalrecreation of theimmoral
and decadent scene, which gives her a location. She is now
individualisedand the storyrelatedin firstpersonsingularappeals
directlyto themale readers.
In Swarnabaia novel writtenby Sri NabakumarDatta (1888) we
have all the details the indigenous literaryformula utilised to
constructtheprostitute The author,an upper
and hersinfulhabitat.37
caste Kayastha,belongedto thegroupof traditionalloyalistswho in
this period formedthe core of the lower middle class. These semi-
literatemen workedas clerks,surveyorsand technicalassistantsin
Britishowned commercialfirms.Theysharedthedominantideology
of the Hindu conservatives,and their identity rested on the
preservation of the'home'as thatsacredspace wheretheywould not
be invadedand punishedby theircolonialmasters.
The openingpages ofthebookcontainsthefollowinginscription in
English:
Womanthyname is Frailty.
Thenfollowstheprefaceadvertising
themainaim of theauthor:
Sins are beingcommitted
everyday. People cannotbe freedfromit
throughpreachingand religiousadvice.Theirfolliescan be brought

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168 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

hometo themonlythroughan accountfromthesinnersthemselves

about the terribleconsequenceswhichtheysuffered.It is forthis
reason thatwe have decided to publishthe storyof Swarnabai.If
afterreadingthiseven one personshuns the lure of sins we shall
considerourtasktohavebeensuccessful.38
The narrationbeginswiththisstriking firstsentencein firstperson
singular:'My name is not Swarnabai.I was named Katayaniby my
father,a brahminpriestfromBardhaman.'Thus the piece is set for
the social passage of Katayanifroma respectableoriginto a sinful
transformation and end as Swarnabai.The narrativebeginswiththe
heroine'searly life as a child widow in her father'sfamilywhere,
thoughnot rich,she lived in comfortable circumstances. This makesit
clear to readers thatshe was not forcedto leave her home due to
economiccircumstances and,evenmakesitimperative thattheydo not
waste theirsympathy on her.
The firstepisode describesheras an impulsivewomanwho fallsin
love withtheman who saves herwhenshe was lost in a crowd.This
fixesherimageas wilfuland self-indulgent. She leaves home to seek
out thischancemetlover,butdoes thisby firstseducinga youngmale
relative.The two elope to Calcutta.Whenthemoneyrunsout theboy
returnsto thevillage,but Katayaniis pickedup by an old prostitute
who turnsherovertoa richold man.She nowgetsmoney,good clothes,
a palatial house,but not satisfiedwiththese,drivenby innatesexual
needs, she cohabitswitha youngservantand finallyleaves the old
man to live withthisservant.
This bringsus to thesecond phase of thenarrativewhen she leads
thelifeofa commonprostitute, contractsvenerealdiseaseand is sentto
the lock hospital. The author here treats her with a degree of
sympathy.Her descriptionsof shame at being examinedby a white
male,laughedat byyoungunsympathetic doctors,beingused byclerks
justwhenshe was gettingcured,are investedwitha certaindegreeof
poignancy.The physicalpain transforms herbody,once an abode of
pleasure, into a cage which perpetuatesher torture.This vivid
description ofthelockhospitalservesas a signinvestedwithlayersof
meaning.At a more factuallevel it gives a realisticdepictionof the
fateof por womenwho had been draggedthereagainsttheirwill.At
anotherit correspondsto theHindu mythical versionofhell.
Katayanientersthethirdphase of herlifenotas a victimbut as a
fortunate person,differentfromthosewho are pushedintoprostitution
foreconomicreasons.She now has theopportunity to learnclassical
musicand dance and makeshernameas a famousbaiji-so thatshe is
able tinher words 'to discardthatheinouslife'.But she startson her
career once again driven by her innate sexual desires. It is as a
musician-now knownas Swama Bai-that she meetsherfirstlover.
He does notrecogniseher.She now uses everytrickshe knowsto lure

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 PROSTITUTIONIN NINETEENTHCENTURYBENGAL 169

him into a life of degradationand vice. Ultimatelyrealising his

mistakehe escapes,whileas a womanscornedSwarna turnsherfull
vengeanceon all men,particularly herlover'sfriends, whomshebrings
to thebrinkofsocialand financialruin.
The narrativenow steadily moves downwards-the heroine is
shown addicted to alcohol, unable to live on her own and thus
exploitedby young male servants.Finally,once again, contracting
venerealdisease,she triesto becomea procuress.In herown words:'I
had ruinedmanya youngman in mylife,now it was myturnto ruin
youngand innocentgirls.'So she notonlysinsherselfbut spreadssin,
even as she spreads disease. In her nightmareshe sees herselfas a
criminaland murderer.Her retribution is thereforecompleteas she
becomesdiseased in bothmindand body.This physicaldeterioration
construesforthereaderstheend to whicha woman'ssexual impulses
lead her. It also fixes the stereotypedimages finallywithin this
brokenbody,fromwhichevendeathwouldcomeas a release.
But thenarrativedoes notend here.The authoroffershis solution
throughtheresurrection of theprostituteintoan asceticbeing.She is
now saved by a white missionarywoman who she calls 'my new
mother'.The author here triesto hammerhome the point of the
prostitute'snew birth. Like the criminal who has served a jail
sentence,the repentantsinneris given a new lease of life. She is
transformed intoa goodand industrious person.
She now takesthejob ofa maid servantin herformer lover'shouse.
Here seeing his chaste and good wife,surroundedby their'lovely
children'she is mentallyreformed.Love now takes a metaphysical
turnand she resolvesto renounceearthlypleasures altogether.She
liveslikean asceticwidow in Benareslookingafterherformer lover's
household,hereshe is accordedan honourablepositionand is finally
allowed to die. The Hindu readerwould recognisesthesignificance of
thisdeath in Benares-whereif immersedin the holyGanges one is
freedofall sinsso as tobe borntoa betterlife.
Thisnarrative herdstogether a numberof moralcodes necessaryto
constructthe mythof the prostitute. It also clearlyindicateshow at
thispointthe dominantHindu ideologymergeswiththe colonisers'
perceptions.39
Though this passage of the Brahminwidow to a courtesan,the
womanis depictedas one who steadilyand wilfullycommitssin,and
triesto harmher innocentvictimsbut finallypays forher deviancy
throughgreat sufferings of the body. It was the awareness of her
body-'I realisedat the age of sixteenthatI was beautiful',whichis
herfirstdeclaredsin. So it was not onlythedeviationfromthestrict
life of Hindu widow, but the affirmation of her physicalself that
neededtobe punished.
This themeof the body is again taken up in her emergenceas
SwarnaBai. Musicand dance are now lookedupon as thoseaspectsof

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170 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

knowledgewhichallows a woman to give ventto her sexuality.The

performances ofthesingerand dancerare inductedintoa socialcode of
physicaldisplay.Here the moralcensorshipof the authortakeson a
universalisingattitudeand the prostituteis transformedfroma
particularto a universalsymbolofsin.
The metaphorof the disease in particularacts as a part of the
dominantdiscourse,as bothcoloniserand subjectsagreeto itsabilityto
representthe prostitute.Lynda Nead writingin the context of
nineteenth centuryBritainpointsout:
The metaphor of disease was a central component in the
representation of theprostitute
bothas an agentof chaos and as a
social victim.Ill health and physicaldecline were a significant
stage in the narrativeof the downward progress. Within the
mythology disease was constructed
notas a socialthreator a signof
the prostitute's
power but as her punishmentand an index of the
depthsto whichshe had fallen.40
The indigenousperceptiongraftedthe metaphorof disease to thatof
'performance'. Singingand dancingas culturalactivitieswhich had
once elevated the prostituteto the statusof the creativeartist,were
now transformed intoan expressionof overtsexuality.Once a signof
class, signifyingthe courtesan,it was now construedas abusive
epithetsused againstthecommonprostitute.
These images of deviancyas the representation of the prostitute
mainly reflectedindigenous male perception.By coalescing the
imaginedand theactualinstancesintothemythof woman'ssexuality,
theywereable to construct a symbolofuniversalsin.At thesame time
theytriedto push theseBengaliwomenout of theirhistory.But they
were nottotallysilencedand occasionallytheirvoices could be heard
offering a challenge.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. JohannaBrenner and MarieRamas,'Rethinking Women'sOppression'Newleft

Review,No. 144,(March-April 1984),pp. 36-37.
2. SukumarSen, Women's Dialectin Bengali,(Calcutta:Jijnasa,1979),p. 81.
3. RonaldB. Inden,Marriageand Rankin BengaliCulture,(Berkeley:University
ofCalifornia Press,1976),pp. 11-12.
4. Tapan Raychaudhuri, BengalunderAkbarand Jahangir, An Introductory Study
in SocialHistory(2nd ed.), (Delhi:MunshiramManoharlal,1969),p. 7.
5. SumitaSen, Women workers in theBengalluteIndustries,1890-1940:Migration,
Motherhood and Militancy, unpublishedD. Phil Thesis,CambridgeUniversity,
(February1992). In her introductionSamita has argued that women's
participationin theindustrial workforceinfluencedand was in turninfluenced
bytheperception oftheirgenderedrolein thefamily.
6. W.W. Hunter,A StatisticalAccountof Bengal24-Parganas, Vol. I (London,
1876),p. 108.

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 PROSTITUTIONIN NINETEENTHCENTURYBENGAL 171

7. Meredith Borthwick,The ChangingRole of Womenin Bengal 1849-1905,

(Princeton,N.J,:Princeton UniversityPress,1984);ch.1,pp. 5-6;and SamitaSen,
WomenWorkers, p. 60.
8. Anonymous,StridigerPrati Upadesh,1974 (Bengali).This is one among a
numberofmoraltractswhichconstructs a binarydistinctionbetweenthegood
wifeand theprostitute.
9. HomeJudicial, July1873:An Abstractof Repliesof DivisionalCommissioners
Consulted in1873.
10. 'Indian Factories Act 1881: Employment of Women and Children',
Parliamentary Papers23rdOctober,(1884-1885),Vol. LX.
11. SamitaSen, WomenWorkers, p. 89.
12. 'Oftenthesewomenlabourersweregivenonlymanualjobs and accordingtoan
earliersource theywere called jharoonisand also regardedas part time
prostitutes,' Usha Chakravarty, Condition ofBengaliWomenaroundthesecond
halfof thenineteenth century,(Calcutta:Garcha Road, 1963), p. 28; see also
NirmalaBanerjee,'WorkingWomenin Colonial Bengal'in RecastingWomen,
eds.,KumkumSangariand SudeshVaid,(New Delhi:Kali,1989),p. 278.
13. In a poignantletterheaded-'The applicationof a spinnerfromShantipur
Nadia', a brahminwidow fromShantipurdescribesher plightafterweavers
stoppedcomingtoherhouse to collecttheproductsofherspinning.She claims
thatbeforeyarnsbegantobe imported fromEngland,she had afterthedeathof
her husband,who lefther verylittlemoney,not onlysupportedher family,
marriedoffherthreedaughterand evenmettheexpensesofherfather-in-law's
funeral,so thatthehonourof her vamsawas maintained.But now with the
yarnsbrought fromEnglandwhichcountry shehad tillnowknowntohavebeen
thatof a prosperousnation,she findsherselfoustedfromher onlymeansof
livelihood.So she praysto thespinnersof Englandto takepityon her and
considerher case. (SamacharDarpan,5thJanuary1828,quotedfullyin Nadia
UnishSatak,ed. MohitRay,(Calcutta:AmarBharati1988; Bengali).Nirmala
Banerjee,pointsoutthatbetween1812-13,3,30,000 spinnerswerefromPatnaand
Gaya alone,as comparedto the1881censusfigures of2,00,000spinnersfromthe
wholeofBengal'('Working Women',p. 253).
14. H. Beverly,ReportoftheCensusoftheTowns& SuburbsofCalcutta,(Calcutta:
1881).
15. FromA. Mackenzyto H.L. DampierOfficialSecretaryto theGovernment of
India,HomeJudicial ProceedingsNo. 5829datedCalcutta,17thOctober,1872.
16. SumitSarkar,'The Women'squestionin NineteenthCenturyBengal' in A
CritiqueofColonialIndia, (Calcutta:Papyrus,1983),pp. 71-72.
17. TanikaSarkar,'NationalistIconography:Images of Womenin 19thCentury
BengaliLiterature,' Economic and PoliticalWeekly,(November21), 1987.
18. ParthaChatterjee,'The NationalistResolutionof the Women'sQuestion'in
RecastingWomen p. 243.
19. A numberofrichmenhad died butthehousesoftheirrarhs(mistress) standas
monumentsto theirmemory'.The word rarhis used forbothwidows and
prostitutes in the text.KaliprasannaSinha,HutumPacharNaksha,(Bengali),
ed.,ArunNag, (Calcutta:Suparnarekhazl991), p. 199.
20. Moti Chandra,The WorldofCourtesans, (New Delhi: Vikas,1973),pp. 57-100.
21. Sukumari Bhattacharya,'Prostitutionin Ancient India', Social Scientist,
No. 165. (February1987),pp. 35-36. The authormentionskumbhadasi and
paricharikaindicating maid servantswho could be enjoyedat will.
22. Nikhil Nath Ray, Murshidabad Kahini, (Calcutta: Puthipatra, 1983),
(Bengali) also H.D. Sandeman,Selections fromCalcutta,Gazettesof theYears
1806-15,Vol. IV,pp. 120-121.
23. Veena Talwar Oldenberg,TheMakingofColonialLucknow, 1856-1877,(New
Delhi:OxfordUniversity Press,1989),pp. 134-135.

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172 SOCIAL SCIENTIST

24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. 'Thetownstartedto live up as WajidAli Shah releasedfromcustodyreturned
to his old haunts.'KaliprasannaSinha,HutumPachar,p. 143.
27. Brajendranath Bandopadhyay, Sambad Patre Sekaler Katha, Vol. II
(Calcutta: BangiyeSahitya Parishad,B.S. 1339), p. 121. (Translationfrom
Bengaliby RatnabaliChatterjee).
28. BaltzardF. Solyyns,Les Hindous.Vol. 1 (Paris1810);S.C. Belnos,Tuentyfour
platesillustrative
ofHinduand Europeanmanners in BengalDrawnon Stoneby
A Colinfromsketches byMrs.Belnos.(London:1832)
29. SumantaBanerjee,'Marginalisation of Women'sPopularCulturein Bengal'in
RecastingWomen, pp. 135-136.
30. WBSA (West BengalState Archives)Jud.Oct.1872..FromBabu Tara Prasad
Chatterjee, DeputyMagistrate Jungipur,to theCommissioner, RajsahiDivision,
dated22ndMay 1872.
31. SumantaBanerjee,'Marginalisation', pp. 134-135.
32. WBSAJudicialletterNo. 149/27.To theMagistrate ofMurshidabadfromBaboo
BankimChandraChatterjeeDy. Magistrate.The reporteris none otherthan
thecelebratedauthorBankimwho hererevealslittlesympathy forvaisnavis.
33. SumitSarkar,'Kalki Avatarof Bikrampur':A village scandal in Early 20th
centuryBengal'in Subaltern StudiesIV, ed. RanjitGuha,(Delhi: OxfordUniv.
Press),also 'Kali YugarKalpana 0 Aupanibeshik Samaj,in ItihasAnusandhan
4, (Bengali),ed. G. Chattopadhyay(Calcutta:K.P. Bagchi,1989); Ratnabali
Chatterjee, FromKarkhana to theStudio,(New Delhi: Books and Books,1990),
pp. 68-69.
34. SumitSarkar,'Kalki Avatar'.
35. In a numberof Bengali Satires 'Beshya BrittiNibritte,''Briddha Beshya
Tapaswini,'-thewoman'spassagefromvirtuetoviceis workedintoa formula.
36. Anonymous,StridigerPrati Upadesh1874 (Bengali), translationsdone by
RatnabaliChatterjee.
37. NabakumarDatta,Swarnabai(a novelin Bengali),(Calcutta,1888.)
38. Ibid.
39. RatnabaliChatterjee,
'TheIndianProstitute as a ColonialSubjectBengal,1864-
1883',in CanadianWomanStudies, Vol. 13,Nov. 1992,No. 1, p. 51.
40. Lynda Nead, Mythsof Sexuality:Representations of Womenin Victorian
Britain,(Oxford:Basil Blackwell,1990),p. 172.

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