2011. https://www.census2011.co.in/transgender.php. Legally recognized as the third gender in April 2014 by the Supreme Court of India, the hijras are a highly stigmatized minority group with an estimated population of half a million according to the Census of India 2011 (Census of India 2011). Distinct from transgender and intersex identities in other countries, hijras occupy a unique and contradictory place in Indian society. Pikoo, a castrated migrant hijra from Bangladesh at the Shashtri Park Theka area in New Delhi said: This is a matter of confidence and trust alone. Within the prestige economy system, the upward mobility of hijras is also measured by the number of chelas the hijra gurus have under their patronage. [2] The Mughal's are well known for their effective administrative organization that aided them in ruling much of India for more than two centuries. Consequently, the hijras are elevated to the status of demigoddesses with spiritual abilities to confer fertility and good luck on those seeking their blessings. These dropped surnames are often associated with those caste identities that need hiding in order to protect them from caste-based discrimination in India (see Goel 2018). Indian Historical Review, 40 (1), 2013, pp.17-40. Addressing this confusion are classifications made by the hijra communities themselves on who real hijras are and how they are differentiated from those who are fake. One such way to demarcate the difference between the two is by affiliation to a hijra house. Real hijras have a house affiliation whereas fake hijras do not have this affiliation. 2012. There is no other way of skipping it. The Taj Mahal houses the jewelled tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, much loved wife of emperor Shah Jehan . By the end of this chapter students should be able to. Other hijras who have higher caste privilege by birth often retain their surnames. Mughal: early modern empire in South Asia founded in 1526 that spanned two centuries. This insistence of the religiosity of a castrated hijra body is rooted in three key factors. Although the CTA was rescinded in 1952, a collective memory still paints hijras as historical gender deviants with a criminalized sexual variance. The guru selects the chelas and nati-chelas based on several factors. This essay is part of a volume dedicated to the study of the representation of early modern siege warfare. Sharmilis colleagues continued to bully her. Sharmilis colleagues continued to bully her. Sharmili felt that it was because of her lower-caste status that her hijra guru did not allow her to be a part of the auspicious dances associated with collecting ritual blessings. A hijra, Saloni in the Seelampur area of east Delhi, reflecting on the relationship with gurus, said that, sometimes the guruchela relationship is as sweet as a mother-child relationship, but you know how it is these days. The failure of the Mughals to cope with them after the reign of his son Bahdur Shh I led to the collapse of the empire in the mid-18th century. Champa, a chela hijra says the following for a senior guru in the Laxmi Nagar area: What is it that we have except our gurus? Economic and Political Weekly 52, no. Behind this imposing facade, however, were serious weaknesses. Ruby Lal and Rosalind O'Hanlon have investigated women and gender roles in the sixteenth-century Mughal harem and the broader imperial court respectively.1 Mehmed Kalpakl, Walter Andrews, and Khaled El-Rouayheb have studied the nature or the implications of sexual relationship among men in Istanbul as well as the Arab provinces of the . New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Here we see how hierarchy and caste also shape third-gender hijra communities. Aurangzebs absence in the south prevented him from maintaining his former firm hold on the north. If a chela does not obey this form of kin performativity, then a monetary fine or dand is imposed upon the chela by the guru for the infringement of this rule. In this chapter, the author looks at the organization and functions of a third-gender group in India: the hijras. Michel Conan, Washington D. C.: Dumbarton Oaks, Transcultural Imaginations of the Sacred, edited by Margit Kern and Klaus Krger. Request Permissions. The Mughals were a powerful Turkic-Mongol tribe that originated from Central Asia. Therefore, hijra kinship functions as an androgynous institutionalized system of discipleship-lineage based on power relations and further legitimized by internal hijra councils. Consequently, if one is higher in rank, the workload for them is less. Most dangerous of all is the point in the negotiation when a hijra threatens to shame those who refuse to pay by lifting their skirts and exposing whatever lies beneath the hijras petticoat. Dutta, A. It argues that by narrating these sieges in a particular way and by deploying a specific language and set of tropes, the chroniclers contributed towards the development and dissemination of the Mughal imperial ideology of universal sovereignty. Omissions? In this process, there is an implicit understanding of an asexual and castrated hijra body. When Aurangzeb died after a reign of nearly 49 years, he left an empire not yet moribund but confronted with a number of menacing problems. Pre-Modern Europe and India in Comparison (13th to 17th Centuries), Berlin, De Gruyter, 2018, p. 116-141. The Deccan kingdoms of Bijapur and Golconda were conquered in 168687, but the insecurity that followed precipitated a long-incipient economic crisis, which in turn was deepened by warfare with the Marathas. Heritage of the Mughal World. of being an outstanding journal in social sciences and humanities. also known as third gender in India; can be understood as subaltern forms of trans-queer identities existing within a prestige economy system of kinship networks. They also look after those who have been victims of sexual harassment, rape, and police violence. There is no written constitution that the hijra gharanas have to abide by. Indian kinship is always grouped around a system of social stratification based on birth status known as the caste system, and the Dalits are a historically oppressed caste, formerly known as untouchables in India. , by her hijra contemporaries. The hijra guru initiated Sharmili into the hijra community through a reet, or a ritualistic ceremony. These greater chiefs are mostly responsible for maintaining kin relations among different gharana networks of hijras within one state or across different states in India. Gender & History, 24, no. These were the reasons, perhaps, that the above mentioned leading Rajput clans regarded the Bundelas as socially . Historically those coming from the Valmiki community have been denied priestly jobs and even barred by the upper castes from entering temples for the fear that lower castes will pollute the sacredness of those spaces. The Mughal emperors displayed immense wealth and the ceremonies . Agrarian discontent often took the form of religious movements, as in the case of the Satnamis and the Sikhs in the Punjab. Mustering courage, Sharmili showed up at work in a salwar-kameez, a traditional style of clothing typically worn by women in north India, coordinating her outfit with a dark color shade of lipstick and a long scarf called a dupatta. 2019. kinship pattern for those who identify on the gender spectrum outside the male-female binary. Within hijra communities, those born intersex are considered natural hijras who are born that way. There are also many Indian folktales about intersex children being donated by the birth parents to hijras who adopt those children with pride and increase the membership of their community. Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices. Resources for Further Exploration. Beyond Emasculation: Being Muslim and Becoming Hijra in South Asia.. Most people in Sharmilis natal family work as safai karamcharis, or sanitation workers, a job that is socially bound to those in the lowest castes in India. [3] The empire was founded by Babur, a Muslim warrior. The nayaks of the hijra community are often those who are financially better off, compared to the rest of the hijra kin under their patronage. Despite the harassment at her job, Sharmili continued to come to work because at that point this was the only means of income available to her natal, One day, the bank manager and some senior colleagues gave Sharmili an ultimatum that if she wanted to continue her job as a. , she must not dress as a woman and must return to her male disguise. He routed two advance parties of Ibrhm Lod's troops and met the sultan's main army at Panipat. 2015. New York:Routledge, https://thewire.in/lgbtqia/caste-religion-hijra-community, Part V: The Global North (North America and Europe), https://www.census2011.co.in/transgender.php, Next: Chapter 6: The City and The Easy Life: Work and Gender among Sherpa in Nepal, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 2020. Conquest of Hindustan Having secured the Punjab, Bbur advanced toward Delhi, garnering support from many Delhi nobles. Aurangzeb maintained the empire for nearly half a century and in fact extended it in the south as far as Tanjore (now Thanjavur) and Trichinopoly (now Tiruchchirappalli). Yet it also provides the intellectual contexts of Islamic cultures which inform our perceptions of how this visual language works. Hijra kin relatedness is based on a system of informality not recognized by Indian law but, contradictorily and unknowingly, recognized in some aspect by the Indian government through issuing voter ID cards for hijras that carry the names of their gurus either as fathers or husbands. In this ceremony, Sharmili was adopted by the guru to the hijra house or, to which the guru herself belonged; in this way, she became a new member of the house. Why is kinship so important to the hijra community? Thus there has been a growth of papers on womens history, environmental and regional history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Not only that, Sharmili was considered a threat by the bank management, especially to the women colleagues working there, and more so for the female customers and their accompanying children visiting the bank. The general trans population in India does not adhere to such an internal social system but subsequently has a less tight-knit community than hijras. It was during this process that the name Sharmili became the only name she wanted to identify with: she did not want to use her natal family surname, which also revealed her caste origins. For students aged between 11 to 14. early modern empire in South Asia founded in 1526 that spanned two centuries. to the Mughal empire or against it like those of Sisodias of Mewar, Rathors of Marwar and Kachchwahas of Amber who strongly observed their kinship ties and solidarity which proved vital for attracting the attention of the Mughals. Long Slow Burn: Sexuality and Social Science. The new Islamic policy alienated Hindu sentiment and undermined Rajput support. Thus, Shivaji was defeated, called to Agra for reconciliation (1666), and given an imperial rank. As an outcome, kin relatedness within the hijra prestige economy system then also forms a kind of economic bond based on financial debt. The Mughal Empire in the 17th century continued its conquest and territorial expansion, with a dramatic increase in the numbers, resources, and responsibilities of the Mughal nobles and manabdrs. Jodido, Philip, editor. The lineage-based family . Kapila, another castrated migrant hijra from Bangladesh at the Shashtri Park Theka area in New Delhi said: This is why we Hijras are considered to be god-like as we undergo such pain that ordinary men and women cannot even think of bearing. Humayuns Sojourn at the Safavid Court. A. Panaino and R. Zipoli (eds. Le Mncarit ( Biographie de Man Singh , 1585)dAmrit Rai, un des plus anciens exemples de littrature rajput concernant un manabdr moghol, offre de fascinantes perspectives sur le pouvoir moghol du point de vue de la cour de Man Singh Kachhwaha, un des principaux royaumes rgionaux de lpoque dAkbar. Saxena, Piyush. One explanation for this confusion over the differences between other third-gender identities, transgender persons, and those born intersex could be that the Hindi word hijra has been used as a catchall term for all these identities. 2005 Indian History Congress Life of a Eunuch. Pande, Alka. Hijra Communities of Delhi. Consequently, often the hijra gurus pay for the castration of their chelas, in exchange for which the chelas pay the guru a portion of their income. Aurangzeb is known for being the emperor of India from 1658 to 1707. 2015. We Refuse to Be Subjects of Experiment for Those Who Do Not Understand Us: Transgender Persons Bill. Indian Painting: Themes, History and Interpretations; Essays in Honour of B.N. SPICE CHART - Mughal Empire Social Structures Development & Transformation of Social Structures Gender Roles & Relations Family & KinshipRacial & Ethnic Constructs Social & Economic Classes Akbar encouraged syncretic religion called divine faith, focused on emperor as ruler common to all groups of India, rather than imposing Islam Aurangzeb . In consolidating his power, Aurangzeb caused one brothers death and had two other brothers, a son, and a nephew executed. Sharmili felt that it was because of her lower-caste status that her hijra guru did not allow her to be a part of the auspicious dances associated with collecting ritual blessings. The gurus have the privilege of choosing who will accompany them for ritual blessings, or toli badhai. They mediated between people belonging to the different religious communities to ensure peace, stability and justice. 2004. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. By the mid-17th century, the concept had become a part of the political discourse and the language of Mughal sovereignty. The social standing is based on a number of factors contingent on the power relations between and among different individual hijras and their gharana networks. (Saloni, interview by author). It is all a part of life. Shikhandi and Others Tales They Dont Tell You. Define the hijras, a third gender community in India. . The ongoing teasing at work made Sharmili believe that at least she was being recognized for who she really is, even if that came at a cost. Bien quil existe un riche corpus de textes en vieil hindi (dans les dialectes rajasthani et brajbhasha) datant de la priode de la premire modernit, ceux-ci demeurent une archive sous-exploite de lhistoire moghole. The Invisibles: A Tale of the Eunuchs of India. Also, conventionally, trans men are not a part of the hijra community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzhf29NBWbw, https://culanth.org/fieldsights/impact-of-covid-19-on-hijras-a-third-gender-community-in-india, edited byRuth Vanita,6176. Those hijras who have positive kin relations within the overall community, a large number of people in their gharana networks, and superior wealth and rank as compared to the rest of their hijra kin are then voted as greater chiefs, or maha nayaks of the community within the internal council of the hijras. The imperial household during Mughal was the 'harem' which frequently used to define the domestic world of the Mughals. The hijra guru initiated Sharmili into the hijra community through a, , or a ritualistic ceremony. However, Nanda (1990, 40) briefly mentions that hijra houses function as divisions between different hijra groups to facilitate intracommunity organization, replicating the patterns of the Indian caste system. As a result of this colonial baggage, the mainstream society conflates hijras with homosexuals despite hijras being a gender identity and not a sexual identity. The nati-chelas may work as beggars in the morning and as sex workers in the evening; the chelas might works as ritual workers in the morning and sex workers in the evening. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress Despite the harassment at her job, Sharmili continued to come to work because at that point this was the only means of income available to her natal joint-family. . half-(wo)man half-god. It represented a distinct imagination about the region and emerged as a literary imaginary in the late 16th century and over the early part of the 17th century, entering into the imperial chronicles. Eventually, Sharmili made contacts in another hijra group, in the Trilokpuri area of New Delhi that let her accompany them in their group for toli badhai. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. While most of the Muslim Mughal rulers were known for religious tolerance and coexistence, Aurangzeb discriminated against Hindus and destroyed many of their temples. Therefore, Sharmilis presence in itself was considered a bad influence that was perceived as threatening to women working and visiting in the bank. hijras: also known as third gender in India; can be understood as subaltern forms of trans-queer identities existing within a prestige economy system of kinship networks. For many lower-rank hijras, it is difficult for them to perform gender the way they would like to, due to the prohibitive costs of makeup, fine clothing, and body transformations. The second section will focus on the prestige economy system of the hijra community and the various ranks within it. It does so on the basis of three imperial biographies of Akbar. During this period he was much occupied with safeguarding the northwest from Persians and Central Asian Turks and less so with the Maratha chief Shivaji, who twice plundered the great port of Surat (1664, 1670). Mughal ideas on kingship were designed to legitimise a dynastic rule. In her coming days of apprenticeship with the hijra guru, Sharmili learned the hijra ways of being. The chela is not allowed to participate in the hijra activities or earn through their hijra networks until the dand is paid in full by the chela to the guru. However, in the context of Muslim hijras, Hossain (2012, 498) argues that despite having Hindu practices, those hijras born Muslim can situate themselves into a Hindu cosmological frame of reference because Islam as a religion is open to this transcendence. Mughal empire family tree: Mughal dynasty, also known as Mogul or Moghul (sometimes written "Mongol") in Persian, was a Muslim dynasty descended from Turkic Mongols that governed the majority of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th centuries. During the Mughal period, the court eunuchs in India were known as Khwaja Seras (Jaffrey 1996, 29). Conventionally, the senior gurus do not engage in sex work openly or visit cruising areas to solicit prostitution. In exchange, they maintain social relations, order, and harmony within the hijra community by serving on the internal governing councils, known as panchayats or jamaats. So much so that when Sharmili started showing visible signs of becoming herself by growing her hair and wearing light makeup to work, other colleagues at the bank did not like it. Hinchy, J. Corrections? The history paintings created for Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58), the builder of the Taj Mahal emerge as highly complex creations, which in their ambition and dialectic reach out far beyond their apparent function, to illustrate a historical narrative in the tradition of Islamic and Indian book painting. In 2018 India also decriminalized homosexual sex, overturning a 160-year-old law instituted by the British. Therefore, rising in rank within the hijra hierarchy of social systems also entitles the hijras higher in rank to have more bargaining power in choosing their livelihoods. in the hijra community, that person [from the community] does not have (honour/respect), and is not recognised as a hijra. Furthermore, Reddy, in another study (2006, 151), argues that the hijra affective bonds of guru-disciple are assigned [by the guru] rather than chosen and are in contrast with the concept of chosen families described by Kath Weston (1991, 1998) in the context of American gay and lesbian relationships. In India, an authentic hijra identity is based on its affiliation to a hijra gharana (house society) (see Goel 2016). Describe the pattern and complexity of hijra kinship. Historically those coming from the Valmiki community have been denied priestly jobs and even barred by the upper castes from entering temples for the fear that lower castes will pollute the sacredness of those spaces. Therefore, those engaged in toli badhai are automatically considered to be higher in rank within the hijra hierarchy. 2017. Imperial household is the household of royals and elite families, basically it covers the living arena of the ladies and the court of the emperor. In the struggle for power (165759), Aurangzeb showed tactical and strategic military skill, great powers of dissimulation, and ruthless determination. Within a Hindu cosmological frame of reference, desire is seen as the root of all evil, and renouncing desire through asexuality and castration is seen as a way of being associated with rising above the material pleasures and becoming spiritual. What was Aurangzeb like as a child? Ardhanarishvara, the Androgyne: Probing the Gender Within. New York: Columbia University Press. formerly untouchable community in India. He was convicted and transported to Rangoon, to spend the remainder of his life on alien soil. Scholars have found that the hijra community is legitimized by these councils, also known as hijra jamaats or hijra panchayats, which are formed by an internal governing body comprising higher ranked members within the hijra community (Nanda 1990; Reddy 2006; Jaffrey 1996; Goel 2016). A majority is considered similar to that of a mother-in-lawdaughter-in-law relationship, which is both sour and sweet at times. The term harem is originated from Persian which means . Sharmili inherited this job from one of her dying relatives, her maternal uncle, and worked at a national bank in New Delhi as a safai karamchari. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Updates? Beyond diversity: Mughal legal ideology and politics, in T. Ertl and G. Kruijtzer (ed. Fake hijras are men who are cross-dressed beggars and not legitimate hijras but are often mistaken as having a hijra identity by the mainstream public (Dutta 2012, 838). joint-family: a household system in which members of more than one generation of a unilineal descent group live together. Sharmili felt fortunate to be accepted by her hijra guru for her chosen gender identity but also felt discriminated against due to her caste identity. Empire in Asia: A New Global History, Patronage as Power, Power in Appropriation: Constructing Jahangir's Mausoleum. It was during this process that the name Sharmili became the only name she wanted to identify with: she did not want to use her natal family surname, which also revealed her caste origins. This spiritual status of the hijras is publicly acknowledged and accepted as part of their gender role, which entitles them to rise to the spiritual level of others who are nonhijras. Aurangzebs reign falls into two almost equal parts. Bachelors thesis, Wesleyan University. He grew up as a serious-minded and devout youth, wedded to the Muslim orthodoxy of the day and free from the royal Mughal traits of sensuality and drunkenness. Also read, Akbar's Successors Humayun 1530 -1556 Important dynasties and kingdom of Ancient India Mughal Emperors - Sample Questions & Answers Where was Aurangzeb buried? . Currently, there are both Nirwana (castrated) and Akwa (noncastrated) hijras in India. 2012. It is also considered a sin to refuse hijras money, as their curses are considered highly potent and dangerous. Mumbai: Shanta. Medieval and 3. The hijras therefore function as a closed social group, tied by their kin relatedness and guided by an internal council that helps to maintain the social order within their prestige economy system. Please select which sections you would like to print: Also known as: lamgr, Aurangzib, Awrangzb, Mu-ud-Dn Muammad, Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge; Lecturer in History, University of Cambridge, 196369. The theoryof kingship, in literal terms, meant the doctrines upon which royal and politicallegitimacy of a regime rested. The term eunuch in reference to hijras in India is now considered pejorative; however, historical research finds the terms eunuch and hijra used interchangeably. a household system in which members of more than one generation of a unilineal descent group live together. The word Khwaja Sera comes from Persian (Khwaja: honorific, meaning real master; sera, to decorate), which reads as male members of the royal household decorating the real master (Jaffrey 1996, 29). She was a recipient of a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship at the department of epidemiology and international public health at Bielefeld University and the INLAKS scholarship at the department of gender and sexuality studies at University College London. New York: Pantheon. London: Routledge. There is pressure on those lower in rank to be castrated, despite the fact that castration is not a prerequisite for becoming a hijra. Sharmili felt violated. Those lower in rank often have multiple jobs. ), Proceedings of the 5th Conference of the Societas Iranologica Europaea. Second, the British colonialists criminalized hijras by banning them from public areas under the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871. BBC News - Aurangzeb: Why is a Mughal emperor who died 300 years ago being debated on social media? Hijras higher in rank, like gurus, are often those delegating work assignments to the hijra ranks subordinate to them. They were now more open and outwardly bullying Sharmili by calling her derogatory names like chakka and gandu (asshole or giving ass) (Bhaskaran 2004, 95). . (Saxena 2011, 55). This in turn was followed by a Rajput revolt in 168081, supported by Aurangzebs third son, Akbar. kotis: effeminate men who are mostly gay or bisexual and are not affiliated to any hijra gharana. Historical evidence reveals that there were internal relationships among the court eunuchs themselves, like that of a master (guru) and disciple (chela) (Hinchy 2015). He showed signs of military and administrative ability early; these qualities, combined with a taste for power, brought him into rivalry with his eldest brother, the brilliant and volatile Dr Shikh, who was designated by their father as his successor to the throne. The Maratha campaign continually drained the imperial resources. The plan broke down, however; Shivaji fled to the Deccan and died, in 1680, as the ruler of an independent Maratha kingdom. Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India. Palaces, Gardens and Property Rights under Shah Jahan: Architecture as a Window into Mughal Legal Custom and Practice, The Power of the Mughal Padshah: Appropriation as Revenge in the Seventeenth Century, A Princes Eye: Imperial Mughal Paintings from a Princely Collection; Art from the Indian Courts, Francesca Galloway sale catalogue, London, 2013, MPhil Thesis 2010 "LOOKING AT MEN: A study of the role played by portraiture to shape the image and identity of Mughal emperors and their subjects between mid 16th century and late 18th century" (Introduction and Chapter 1: Portraits - Shaping Image and Identity), Akbar and the Dargah of Ajmer, PIHC, 2010-11, pp.226-235, The genealogical seal of the Mughal Emperors of India, An Imperial Mughal Tent and Mobile Sovereignty in Eighteenth-Century Jodhpur, Shii polemics at the Mughal court: The case of Qz Nrullh Shshtar, "South Asia, 1400-1800: The Mughal Empire and the Turco-Persianate Imperial Tradition in the Indian Subcontinent" in Brian P. Farrell and Jack Fairey eds. Some examples include offering unconditional service (seva) like pressing and massaging the gurus feet, which is always instrumental for becoming the gurus favourite disciple. Many aspects depend on the relationship hijras have with their gurus. 2011. In general, Aurangzeb ruled as a militant orthodox Sunni Muslim; he put through increasingly puritanical ordinances that were vigorously enforced by mutasibs, or censors of morals. Recognized experts and brilliant young minds write on economic policy, social An example of multiple descriptive terms to refer to the bonding between two ranks of hijrasguru and chelaare teacher and student, master and disciple, husband and wife, mother and daughter, and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, respectively. Not only that, Sharmili was considered a threat by the bank management, especially to the women colleagues working there, and more so for the female customers and their accompanying children visiting the bank. History and origin During the time of the Mongol Empire in the 13-14th century, the army of Genghis Khan swept across Central Asia and into Persia. London: Lexington. Through kinship, hijras sustain their ordered rankings within their cultural enclaves by justifying their logic according to the rules made by the internal governing councils of the hijra community, and this renders their community a closed social group. He was their third son. It is now going to hold its 77th annual session at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on 28-30 December 2016. In addition, Hindu idols, temples, and shrines were often destroyed. Ritual work is considered to be of the highest prestige within the hijra community. 2004. Through their gender uniqueness, the eunuchs were allowed to travel freely between the mardana (mens side) and the zenana (womens side), guard the women of the harems, and care for their children (Jaffrey 1996, 53). However, this figure is widely disputed as the census counted trans people, the hijras, and intersex births under the third-gender category.