Article Written By EIH Researcher And Writer
Ashray Goswami
The traditional notions of zenana tend to portray them with sensual and voyeuristic fervors. However, if we look at history, it provides a different picture. The subjects that one might relate to closed harem life, like marriages, motherhood, and wifehood, were intrinsically linked to the socio-political power structures. Indeed, many of these women were learned scholars, poets, and calligraphers. The queens and princesses of the harem had their pay or payments assigned according to their birth or the rank they held. Travelers who tried to estimate the wealth of the Mughal Empire frequently mentioned the wealth of the women of the zenana. The travel accounts also refer to various recreational and celebratory activities which used to take place in the zenana. These include celebrating festivals like Narrows and Diwali, among others, and the revelry of Meena Bazaar.
Fig: A Zenana Scene At A Royal Palace, Princesses Attended By Maidens In Three Chambers.
Provincial Mughal, Jaipur Circa 1800.
During the Mughals, Meena Bazaars or Kush-Roz (Day of Joy) was held exclusively for women. It used to take place on the third Friday of every month. Niccolo Manucci describes the bazaar as solely devoted to ladies. The bazaar was first organized by Humanyu and was later elaborated by Akbar. The bazaar was later closed to the public. The Rajput women, wives, and daughters of the nobility of the court used to set up their shops to sell textiles, jewelry, and handicrafts, among other things. Apart from the emperor, princes, and some nobles, other men were prohibited from attending the fair. The king used to select the item he liked and fix the price for others while scrutinizing the affairs of the harem. He also used to fix marriages between boys and girls.
Beautiful stalls were set up by royal and other harem women, including the daughters of the nobility, for various commodities. These commodities were sold at a high price, and the money earned was then used for charitable works. Bargaining was a common phenomenon for this bazaar, and the women in charge of selling items were charming, beautiful, and skilled in the art of conversation, making them excellent sellers.
Bazm-i Aakhir: The Last Gathering(1885) by Munshi Faizuddin is a first-hand account of life in the court of Bahadur Shah Zafar II. The text also provides insight into the happenings of Meena Bazaar. Faizuddin describes the scene of the bazaar in Hayat Baksh’s garden beyond King’s Moti Mahal. He gives the account of erected tents, wooden dykes, and screens around the reservoir during the preparation of the fair. He describes the stalls for food items like kebabs, poori, dahi bade, kachoris, and sweet items and their selling by the sons of sweetmeat sellers. He also notes the presence of the platoon of boys in telangi and western uniforms with guns and toshdaan (boxes of cartridges). Once all the things were in place, queens and princesses used to arrive at the bazaar. He also writes about some beliefs, like asking the princesses to walk in the middle and put white scarves on their heads for fear of ghosts and snakes. Faizduddin observes the common use of cuss words, jokes of poor taste, and the fear of putting an evil eye on others in the bazaar. He also notices the invectives and abuses that are usually thrown at bondwomen. These women were called exotic names and were branded as skivers, witches, whores, loose characters, and shirkers. The emperor also marks his presence and sits at the jahaan-numa, where everyone pays their obeisance to him. Women play Indian-styled Ludo and hide and seek. In addition, there are also small boats in the reservoir which women can use. This fun and frolic go on for seven days with the mad crowd tumbling over each other and bondwomen and slave girls looting the booty and fruits for the princesses, among other things that used to happen in the joyful chaos of the bazaar.
Some people suggest that the Mughals borrowed this custom from the region of Turkistan and Transoxiana, where such markets once or twice a week were a norm. However, an important difference between them is that the markets of Turkistan and Transoxiana were open to both women and men. Akbar’s successors are also known to organize Meena Bazaar. Jahangir used to organize the fair inside the fort at night. It was a weekly fair that often used to happen in tents, even when the king traveled. Shah Jahan continued the customs and made them even more, Une affaire de grandeur. Hence, the Meena Bazaar was gradually institutionalized.
Bibliography
Dey, Gouri. “Chapter VII- Mughal society through the lens of fashion culture.” In Fashion and Designing under the Mughals (Akbar to Aurangzeb): A Historical Perspective, 125-150. Darjeeling: University of North Bengal, 2015.
Munshi, Faizuddin. Bazm-i Aakhir: The Last Gathering. Translated by Ather Farouqui. New Delhi: Roli Books, 2021.
Rathore, Sharad, and Amrita Chowdhary. “Some Insights into Seventeeth Century Mughal India Based on Niccolao Manucci’s Storia Do Mogor.” IIS University- Journal of Social Science, 2013: 85-94.
Fig: A Zenana Scene At A Royal Palace, Princesses Attended By Maidens In Three Chambers. Provincial Mughal, Jaipur Circa 1800. Retrieved From- Bonhams <bonhams.com/auctions/11404/lot/116/>
