Driven by passion!

Nritya, the art of dance and music, dates back to primeval times. It was Brahma who created Nritya (after rememorising the Vedas at Delhi’s Nigambodh ghat) when he released a gust of wind and an Apsara or divine courtesan came out dancing in ecstasy. Lord Indra had a whole lot of Apsaras in his court who were at times used to seduce rishis and munis engaged in endless tapasya or devotion. Menaka seduced Rishi Vishwamitra as Indra feared his penance was causing upheaval in the heavenly court. The emperor Ashoka was astounded by courtesan Bindumati, who induced the mighty Ganga to flow backwards. And in ancient Delhi Ugarsen built his Baoli or step-well for an Apsara.

In “Passionate Players”, a Bookwise (India) publication, Pran Nevile (now 95) has traced the history of courtesans, princesses, and biwis, who during Mughal days, made Agra and Delhi a virtual court of Indra. Anarkali was Akbar’s famous courtesan until she was seduced by his son Salim. Shah Jahan was initiated into the art of love-making by royal courtesans before his marriage to Mumtaz Mahal. Dara Shikoh was charmed by Ranadil and married her. Aurangzeb was infatuated by Hirabai Zainabadi and after her tragic death wed another dancing girl, Udaipuri Bai. His grandson, Jahandar Shah lost his heart to Lal Kunwar, a tawaif of Chandni Chowk and gave her the exalted title of Imtiaz Mahal. After Jahandar Shah was ousted by his nephew Farrukhsiyar and killed, Lal Kunwar was banished to Sohagpura or widows’ quarters in the Red Fort. She passed her days dreaming of the sexcapades she had with the deposed emperor that extended from Delhi to Lahore and Agra. She found her last resting place in Lal Bangla, at which the Delhi Golf Club is situated. After her the court of Mohammad Shah (with Noor Bai) virtually rivalled Indralok.

Like the Mughals the Firangis too were fascinated by dancing girls and made them their Biwis or country wives while denied the company of their spouses left behind in Britain. Sir David Ochterlony, the first British Resident at the Mughal court in Delhi, had 13 Biwis whom he paraded on elephant-back in the Kashmere Gate area every evening. Another courtesan to attain fame was Zebun-Nissa Farzana, who became the begum of Walter Reinhardt “Sumroo” and later succeeded him as Begum Sumroo of Sardhana. She was also attached to the court of Shah Alam, who put her in charge of the Agra Fort. Begum Sumroo’s story reads like a fairytale which never ceases to excite the fancy of writers and researchers.

Lola Montez became a royal mistress from a memsahib after ending her marriage to Captain Thomas James and a life of revelry in Simla. She went away to Europe after her divorce and became the mistress of King Henry of Reuss Ebersdorf and then of King Ludwig I in Munich. After many other affairs she ended up in the U.S. in 1861 as a lady engaged in charitable services.

Rani Jindan, the 17th wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was the last queen of Punjab and the mother of the last Maharaja of the State, Dalip Singh, who was sent by the British to England and gave the Kohinoor diamond to them. The stunningly beautiful and charming Rani Jindan was the daughter of a court official of Ranjit Singh and there was much rejoicing when she gave birth to an heir, though there were allegations that the Maharaja was not potent at that age. The Rani was alleged to have had a number of affairs, one of them with “Pahari” (Frederick) Wilson the timber king of the hills. But though her detractors tried to malign her she was in the thick of the Freedom War of 1857, having met the main leaders of the revolt like Ahmadullah Shah, the fiery Maulvi of Faizabad, along with her paramour, Lal Singh, nicknamed “Red Lion” by the British.

In the first Anglo-Sikh war the Rani and Lal Singh were accused of passing on secrets to the British which led to their taking over Lahore in February 1846. The Treaty of Lahore recognized Dalip Singh as Maharaja and Rani Jindan as regent. Dalip Singh sold Kashmir to Raja Gulab Singh for ₹1.5 crores. His mother was accused of double-dealing deposed in December 1846 and granted an annual pension of ₹1.5 lakhs. She was exiled to Benaras and lodged in Chunar Fort. In April 1849 she escaped, disguised as a maid and reached Kathmandu where she was given asylum by Jung Bahadur, the Prime Minister of Nepal, and where she stayed along with Hazrat Mahal, Wajid Ali Shah’s begum, and Nana Sahib, planning an attack on the British. Meanwhile Dalip Singh became a Christian in England and when he visited Calcutta in 1861 Rani Jindan was allowed to join him there. He later took his mother to London, where she died in August 1863.

Nevile has also included devadasis and nautch-girls in the list of passionate players. Among them were courtesans of Anarkali Bazar of Lahore and the ones from Delhi who captivated the hearts of even the Raj officials, through Tamancha Jan, whom the author met in Pakistan, had become a withered, old bespectacled woman in 1999. Legendary singers like K.L. Saigal, Master Madan, Pankaj Mullick, Begum Akhtar, Malika Pukhraj, Kanan Devi, Khurshid, Jahanara Kajjan, Noor Jahan, Suraiya and Geeta Dutt also find mention which makes the well-researched book a prize memento.