Gouhar’s jewels
she also ordered chintz, the glazed cotton fabric imported from India and favoured by the British.
Style icons of their time
Courtesans were avid patrons of jewellery. Diamonds, emeralds, rubies and pearls were crafted by skilled artisans into elaborate pieces — from maang tikkas, naths, jhumkas, and hath phools, to chokers, kamarbandhs, and anklets — that they wore as a symbol of their status and wealth. They also popularised pieces such as the chhapkā or jhūmar.
There is one rather touching anecdote about Begum Akhtar, the 20th-century legend of Hindustani classical music, and her jewels. Between music seasons, she used to leave a satlada (seven-stringed pearl necklace) of tremendous value, a gift from the Nawab of Rampur, with sitarist Arvind Parikh. He, in turn, would oªer her money to smooth over lean times. When the concert season started again, Begum Akhtar would return the borrowed money in exchange for the necklace.
Courtesans were the style icons of their time, a role to which they brought as much dedication as they did their art. The most prominent cultivated a signature style, which has been immortalised in literature. Consider Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s creation, Umrao Jaan Ada (in the eponymous Urdu novel), who was known for her rich silks, intricately embroidered costumes and exquisite jewellery. Or Vasantasena, the protagonist of the Sanskrit play Mrichchakatikam, who lled up a child’s clay cart with her jewels. They were the spiritual foremothers of Gauhar Jaan, one of the rst recording artists of India, whose glamorous photos were printed on matchbox
In the Sarmaya archive, a carte de visite (visiting card-style photo) by photographer Daroga Abbas Ali has been identified as Gouhar, a courtesan from Lucknow. Dating back to 1874, it shows her dressed in an Awadhi chikankari sharara.
What is particularly interesting is that the embroidery has been done to mimic the satrangi, a woven silk brocade from Benares that is made of diagonal stripes of colour filled with bootas created by the use of an extra weft. It is paired with a khada dupatta, which is the length of a modern-day sari. Her jacket is in
taasi, gold brocade woven to look like a sheet of metal. She wears a maang tikka as well as a do-rukh jhoomar or chapka, a waterfall-like ornament worn on the left side of the head, popularised by the Mughals. Her earrings seem to be
karanphool jhumkas with big Basra pearl loops and among her many necklaces is the traditional chintak
or choker made with uncut diamonds and emeralds. covers around the world. Frederick William Gaisberg, an engineer with Gramophone and Typewriter Ltd, notes in his memoirs that Jaan arrived to record her songs wearing the nest outts, and she never repeated her jewels.
Inspiring Sanjay Leela Bhansali
In the 19th century, courtesans from the subcontinent had the cultural cache of movie stars, in§uencing fashion, style, and even politics. Dutch exotic dancer and alleged war spy, Mata Hari, fabricated a past in which she was born an Indian princess. In her gem-encrusted head dresses and sari-like drapes, she clearly took inspiration from the South Asian courtesan.
In Veena Talwar Oldenburg’s 1990 paper, Lifestyle as Resistance: The Case of the Courtesans of Lucknow, the author cites civic tax records from 1858-77 to reveal that the tawaifs were, in fact, the largest and highest tax paying class, with “the largest individual earnings of anyone within the city”.
By the 1940s, the courtesans’ glory days had come to an end, but their legacy continues to inspire designers and artists — and most recently, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. His upcoming Net§ix period drama, Heeramandi, will take viewers behind the storied walls of a Lahore tawaif-khaana, as the freedom struggle gathers momentum in the subcontinent.
On April 26, the writer will give a lecture on courtesans as part of Sarmaya Talks. At Joss, Mumbai, at 6 p.m.
The fourth in a series of columns by sarmaya.in, a digital archive of India’s diverse histories and artistic traditions.