Enchanting, Enticing and Somewhat Topnautch

Book Review of Pran Neville's 'Nautch Girls of the Raj' published by Penguin India in 2009. Book Review published in Deccan Herald (Sunday Magazine) on 26.4.2009

The pre-existing Devdasi system disintegrated in North India as it shifted from temples to courts and became confined to royalty and nobility.

Nautch Girls of the Raj is a concise and comprehensive historical account of the emergence and decline of institutionalised dance and music performance called ‘Nautch’ during colonial India. Pran Nevile has traced the origin of this institution from ancient times and treatises like Natya Shashtra. In different eras, the dancing ‘public woman’ had different names and somewhat varied social functions and relevance. Nevile asserts that before the Islamic period, such dancing women had high social standing as ganika, devdasi and nagarvadhu. Preponderance and prosperity of these women find mention in the ancient accounts of Huein Tsang, Alberuni and Kalhana. In the Mughal India, the Persian dancing style coalesced with the classical Indian tradition and gave rise to a new style called later as Kathak. New musical forms like thumri, dadra and ghazal emerged and enriched the dance. Footwork was another element that was added to this dance style. The pre-existing Devdasi system disintegrated in North India as it shifted from temples to courts and became confined to royalty and nobility.

Devdasi system continued in South Indian temples. It also got patronage from the kings particularly in Vijayanagara, Mysore and Tanjore and there was an exchange of dancing women between temples and courts. Thus, classical Indian dance continued and flourished in both secular as well as religious arenas. During British rule, the traditional performance dance acquired a new dimension as it emerged as an entertainment for the sahibs. Nautch became a permanent feature of all sorts of official entertainment. It was quite popular among the British officials and soldiers as evident from their early journals, travelogues, memoirs, diaries and letters. Nautch was an erotic spectacle for the British who had lack of company of British women in India and an all pervasive sense of boredom. On another hand, Nautch was also an integral enchanting part of the ‘exotic Orient’. Neville has cited various comments and poems written by British officers and visitors praising the Nautch and the beauty of Nautch girls. Thus, the institution of nautch flourished in British India as a part of the wider historical process of acculturation of the White sahibs to the culture of the native. After the 1857 mutiny, the empire’s policy changed drastically. Prostitution was one major challenge for the entire British empire across the globe as British soldiers were getting infected with venereal diseases. Indian Contagious Diseases Act was passed in 1864 that established a licensed system of prostitution. At an ideological level, it was a conscious instrument of colonial dominance and white supremacy. The empire wanted to project itself as a moralising authority and since Devdasi system was intertwined with Hindu religion, they called it ‘Temple Prostitution’. Some research has also shown that prosperous courtesans had funded the mutiny. By that time, the population of British women in India and missionaries increased and they disapproved Nautch as immoral. The anti-Nautch campaign by the empire also got support from the reformist educated Indian middle class and followers of Arya Samaj. Pran Nevile has delved into an area and subject of nautch that is not much researched by the historians and social scientists. The book, for its simplicity and broader coverage, gives a fair insight but it lacks a critical analysis of Nautch in the ideological contexts of the empire, race, sexuality and power.
NAUTCH GIRLS OF THE RAJPran NevilePenguin India2009, pp 136, Rs 250