Review: Tawaifnama by Saba Dewan

This review was originally published on my personal blog in May 2024.

Saba Dewan’s Tawaifnama is an ethnography of a family of tawaifs (courtesans) based in Benaras and western Bihar. The book spans several generations–starting with the Mutiny of 1857 and going up to the present. Through the stories of individual women, Dewan brings out the social and cultural pressures faced by tawaifs and how the institution changed over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

One of the book’s major themes is the changing nature of patronage. Prior to British colonial rule, tawaifs were patronized by nobility (in the case of Benaras this mostly included Rajput and Bhumihar landlords). The tawaif became the aristocrat’s mistress and he would provide for her and for any children she may have while she was associated with him. Either party could end the relationship at any time. Although the tawaif did sell sex, she was primarily known for her accomplishments in music and dance. They were also highly educated– especially when compared to “respectable” women. Dewan’s informants were taught to read and write both Urdu and Hindi.

Colonialism profoundly changed the status of the tawaif. The British did not consider the courtesans to be artists but rather defined them as “nautch girls” or prostitutes. This colonial attitude was internalized by Westernized Indians who began to see their own culture as debauched and decadent. Reformers such as Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860-1936) believed that Indian music had been corrupted by Muslims and dancing girls and needed to be cleansed of their influence in order to become a truly “national” music. These reformers particularly wanted to make music safe for “respectable” women to perform. This reform movement caused major changes in the thumri. In particular, the genre was de-linked from dance, which had been a major part of courtesan performance. Secondly, thumri was re-interpreted as a devotional genre rather than an erotic one (More details on this can be found in my earlier piece). Dewan notes that the conflation of tawaifs with prostitutes continued even in independent India and that the community was seriously affected by laws that were intended to prevent prostitution and the trafficking of women. It is ironic that while tawaifs were considered to be prostitutes, many prostitutes sought to evade restrictive laws by rebranding themselves as tawaifs–despite their lack of any serious musical training.

While she is clearly appreciative of tawaifs’ artistic accomplishments, Dewan resists glamorizing the community. She is frank about the exploitation faced by many of these women. For example, the mother of her main informant was prostituted by her father as a child. Another informant recounts facing sexual abuse from her ustad, who had been hired to teach her dance. Thus, the reality of these women’s lives was often much darker than it is portrayed in romanticized portrayals that tend to stress their liaisons with aristocrats and royalty.

Respectability politics is another major theme. Dewan’s main informant–who is never named in the book and referred to only as “you”–struggles to reinvent herself as a serious musician and to overcome the stigma of her tawaif lineage. She arranges “respectable” marriages for both her daughters, neither of whom follow her into the profession. Towards the end of the book, Dewan notes that this main informant has begun adhering to markers of orthodox Islam (such as covering herself with a veil when outside her home). Dewan attributes this to social pressures faced by minorities in an increasingly Hindu majoritarian India as well as the stigma faced by tawaif families. She contrasts this with earlier tawaif generations which used to raise their sons as Hindus and their daughters as Muslims.

At over 600 pages, the book becomes repetitive at times. However, I highly recommend it to those who are interested in Hindustani music and in tawaifs. Through the history of one family, Dewan provides a fascinating social history of the courtesan profession.