Nautch Girls of the Raj

*Still, to the cadence of the sprightly air,*

*Her supple limbs and waving head she plies;*

*Now, drooping forward, bows with modest care;*

*Now, backward bending, flash her beaming eyes;*

*And, midway, now her form is seen to rise, till, once more, standing, she
resumes the dance.*

*And many a varied attitude she tries.*

This piece of poetry is but one paean to the nautch girl. Pran Nevile’s *Nautch
Girls of the Raj* has been published by Penguin Books, India, and in the
book, we find many such snatches of poetry that are charming but more
importantly, tell us how fundamental the nautch girl used to be to
entertainment and even the functions of daily life.

The nautch girl did not just entertain but served a purpose that changed
down the ages. Still, somehow, historians and the scribes of yore have not
done justice to this talented tribe, so germane to the culture and history
of India and said to be in existence since the times when the gods roamed
the earth.

Music and dance is a fundamental part of our cultural heritage, proved even
today by the fact that the average Indian cannot watch a film without it
having plenty of dances and music to entertain him.

Pran Nevile decided to “study the aesthetic pursuits and achievements of the
dancing girls through the ages.” He sought to discover why and how “this
icon of the performing arts was banished from the performing arts by the end
of the nineteenth century”.

Nevile, who has written extensively on the days of the Raj, and also on
Indian art and culture, found himself fascinated by the role of the “public
woman” who he says was an integral part of the Indian society. He traces the
mention of these ladies to the Puranas that highlight their auspicious
presence as a symbol of good luck. Nevile points out how music and dance
were divine gifts to human beings. In fact, Lord Brahma commissioned Sage
Bharata to compile the Natya Shastra, the sacred exposition on dance and
music.

The Apsaras, created by Brahma himself, were the forerunners amongst the
nautch girls. Urvashi, the most beautiful, was born on earth to impart
knowledge of the dance to the Devdasis, or the temple dancers. In the
Mauryan era, the temple dancers became equally a part of the royal life and
thus more temporal in nature. In the Mughal era, the Devdasi tradition
languished in north India, but the Mughals brought Persian dancing girls to
India. The fusion of the two styles gave birth to the glorious Kathak. In
the South, the Devdasis fell into poverty and had to seek the patronage of
the British Sahibs, who were enthralled by them.

Nevile has actually tabulated not just the rise and fall of the nautch girls
but also their significance in the social milieu. Looked up to for their
beauty and talent, these ladies had a ready wit and poetic disposition. They
were often used to install manners and mores of civilization in the boys of
leading aristocratic families. In the time of the British Raj, nautch
parties were an accepted part of the social scene, even attended by the
memsahibs.

Nevile also writes about some of the celebrated nautch girls, giving
charming details, and wherever possible, a short biography. We thus come
across Nicki, ‘easily the most celebrated nautch girl of Calcutta’ in the
early 19th centaury, Begum Jahan, ‘a tall and charming figure, Hingum, with
the sonorous voice and Mehtab, the celebrated nautch girl from Sind.

It was later in the 19th centaury, when there was a rise of a new petit
bourgeoisie class in India that, influenced by the British missionary ideal
of morality, denounced the nautch girls and dealt them with the death knell.
The rise and fall is thus clearly chronicled.

The book is replete with pieces of poetry written in praise of the nautch
girls that are delightful to read. In addition, the book offers a
smorgasbord of reproductions and drawings obtained from collections all over
the world that makes it extremely visually appealing. Surely, Nevile is the
scribe of the ladies of the dance and through the use of prose, poetry and
pictures, brings alive the life of these beautiful women!