 Ladies of Caubul (1848 lithograph, by James Rattray) showing the lifting of purdah in zenana areas. Oriental and India Office Collection, British Library Purdah or Pardaa (Persian/Urdu: پردہ, Hindi: पर्दा literally meaning "curtain") is the practice of preventing men from seeing women.This takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and requiring women to cover their bodies so as to cover their skin and conceal their form. Purdah is evident in the Islamic world and in India. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (469x609, 230 KB) Ladies Of Caubul (1848) This lithograph is taken from plate 24 of Afghaunistan by Lieutenant James Rattray in 1848. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (469x609, 230 KB) Ladies Of Caubul (1848) This lithograph is taken from plate 24 of Afghaunistan by Lieutenant James Rattray in 1848. ...
Kabul, Kâbl (locally: کابل), is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan with a population of approximately 3 million people. ...
In India, a zenana is the part of a house reserved for the women among Hindu families of good caste. ...
Look up Persian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
(اردو), historically spelled Ordu, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to Indo-European family of languages. ...
Hindi (Devanagari: हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€ or हिंदी; IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is the official language of the Union government of India [1][2]. It is part of a dialect continuum of the Indic family, bounded on the northwest and west by Punjabi, Sindhi, Urdu, and Gujarati...
The Islamic world is the world-wide community of those who identify with Islam, known as Muslims, and who number approximately one-and-a-half billion people. ...
Physical segregation within a building can be done with walls, curtains, and screens. A woman's withdrawal into purdah may restrict her personal, social and economic activities outside her home. The usual purdah garment worn is a burqa, which may or may not include a yashmak, a veil to conceal the face. The eyes may or may not be exposed. Woman in an Afghan burqa A burqa (also burkha, burka or burqua) (Arabic: برقعة, burqʿah) is an all-enveloping outer garment worn by most women in Afghanistan, and some in Pakistan, and northern India. ...
The yashmak (also spelled yashmac or yasmak) is a type of veil worn by many Muslim women to cover their faces in public. ...
The muslim niqab is an example of a type of veil. ...
Purdah was rigorously observed under the Taliban in Afghanistan, where women had to observe complete purdah at all times when they were in public. Only close male family members and other women were allowed to see them out of purdah. In other societies, purdah is often only practised during certain times of religious significance. Flag flown by the Taliban. ...
In historically Islamic Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, purdah has more cultural than religious significance, being a custom. Even in the United Arab Emirates, where women can wear skirts and similar modest garments, Arab women often observe purdah. It is important to differentiate between purdah and hijab. Hijab is an Islamic tradition that is based on physical and psychological morality, while purdah does not necessarily conform to Islamic teachings. Islam (Arabic: ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ...
For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ...
Hijab or ħijÄb () is the Arabic term for cover (noun), based on the root Øجب meaning to veil, to cover (verb), to screen, to shelter In some Arabic-speaking countries and Western countries, the word hijab primarily refers to womens head, face, or body covering. ...
 Photograph of a silver zenana carriage for Hindu women. From the collection of the Gaekwad of Baroda, Gujerat. 1895, Oriental and India Office Collection, British Library Image File history File linksMetadata Silver_zenana_carriage1895b. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Silver_zenana_carriage1895b. ...
The Gaekwad (or Gaekwar) were a Maratha dynasty that ruled as Maharajas of Baroda (Vadodara) from the mid-eighteenth century to 1947. ...
Vadodara, also known as Baroda, is the third-most populated town in Gujarat after Ahmedabad and Surat (the three towns with a population of over 1 million in Gujarat). ...
Gujarat (Hindi: गुजरात) is the most industrialized state in India after Maharashtra and is located in western India, bordered by Pakistan to the northwest and Rajasthan to the north. ...
Examples of Purdah in the early 20th Century
The following reminiscence from C.M. Naim, Professor Emeritus of Urdu and South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago describes the evolution of purdah during the first third of the 20th century among Muslim women in the region of Lucknow, United Provinces, British India:[1] C. M. Naim (Choudhary Mohammad Naim, b. ...
(اردو), historically spelled Ordu, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to Indo-European family of languages. ...
Map of South Asia South Asia is a subregion of Asia comprising the modern states of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, . It covers about 4,480,000 km², or 10 percent of the continent, and is also known as the Indian subcontinent. ...
The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ...
Lucknow (Hindi: लखनऊ, Urdu: لكهنو, ) is the capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. ...
United Provinces, 1903 The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, mainly referred to simply as the United Provinces, was a former province of British India, which existed from 1902 to 1947. ...
The flag of British India Map of British India, 1855 The British Raj (Raj in Hindi meaning Rule from Sanskrit Rajya) refers to the British rule between 1858 and 1947 of the Indian Subcontinent, or present-day India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Myanmar, during the period whereby these lands were under...
| “ | The word ‘Hijab’ is relatively new for me. It was not a part of my vocabulary as I was growing up. I learned it much later, when I began to read literary and religious Urdu texts. That is how I also learned other such culturally potent words as Ishq (Passion) and Siyasat (Politics), and Tasavvuf (Mysticism). The relevant word that I learned growing up was purdah. And I learned the word and its many meanings in the observed practice of the various female members of my middle-class family in Bara Banki, a small town in north India. For Ammi, my grandmother, purdah meant almost never venturing out of the house. On the rare occasions when she did, it was always an elaborate ritual. Visiting a family in the neighbourhood -- only on the occasion of some tragedy, as I remember -- she used a doli. The little stool slung from a pole that two men carried would be brought to our back door -- the door to the zanana or the ladies’ section -- and the two carriers would step away behind the curtain wall. Ammi would wrap herself in a white sheet and squat on the flat stool, and a heavy custom-made cover would be thrown over her and the doli. The two bearers would then come back and carry the doli away on their shoulders.
When Ammi traveled in my father’s car, she covered herself the same way, while the back seat of the car where she sat was made completely invisible by pieces of cloth hung across the windows. Years earlier, she had traveled all the way to Mecca with her daughter and son-in-law to perform the Hajj. I don’t know how she covered herself during the journey itself, but in the holy city she must have done what all Muslim women are required to do: perform the many rituals together with men while keeping their hair and bodies covered but faces fully exposed. She acted in Mecca the way it was required of her by Islam, her religion, while in Bara Banki she did what was demanded by her culture -- the culture of the sharif or genteel people of Avadh. This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ...
The Hajj (Arabic: ‎, translit: ; Turkish: ; Ottoman Turkish: Øاج, HÄc; Malay: , Bosnian: ) is the Pilgrimage to Mecca in Islam. ...
Location of Awadh Awadh (Devanagari अवध) (also known in various British historical texts as Oudh, Oundh or Oude) is a region in the center of the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before Independence known as the United Provinces of Oudh and Agra. ...
Apa, my mother belonged, to the next generation. She used a burqa. Hers was a two piece ‘modern’ outfit, as opposed to the one-piece -- derisively called ‘the shuttlecock’ by my sisters -- that was preferred by the older or more conservatively spirited in the family. I also remember that the older generation’s burqas were usually white, while the new burqas were always black.
Apa’s burqa’ consisted of a skirt and a separate top throw -- one that covered her from the head to the thighs. The two pieces allowed for easier movement of both arms and legs. The top had a separate veil hanging over the face, which Apa could throw back in the company of women, e.g. while traveling in the ladies compartment on a train, or hold partly aside to look at things more closely when she went shopping. Apa wore a burqa all her life, except of course when she went to Mecca for Hajj. There she wore the same sheets of ihram that Ammi had to were earlier. Like all women pilgrims then and now, she too exposed her face to everyone’s sight but not her hair.
... I should not neglect to mention that in those days -- I’m talking about the Forties -- it was considered improper even for Hindu ladies of certain classes to be seen in public with their hair and faces uncovered, particularly the married women not happenen.They never wore a burqa -- that was for Muslims alone. Instead, they used a shawl, a plain white sheet, or the palloo of their saris to cover what was not for strangers to see. They too lived in houses that had separate women’s quarters. Their daughters traveled to school daily in a covered wagon that was pushed by two men, just like their Muslim counterparts. (The school was exclusively for girls and had a very high wall surrounding it.)
| ” |
Other meanings - Purdah also means "curtain" in Persian, Urdu and Hindi.
- In colloquial English, 'purdah' is used as a synonym for isolation.
- Purdah is used by the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer to refer to the period after plans have been prepared but before his annual budget is announced when he refrains from discussing any matters which have relevance to the forthcoming budget.
- Purdah is also a term used in the UK to refer to the time between the announcement and holding of an election. During this time any governmental activities that may be construed as potentially benefiting or promoting a specific political party or prospective candidate are halted or suspended.
This does not cite its references or sources. ...
Persian (local name: FÄrsÄ« or PÄrsÄ« ) is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, India, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ...
(اردو), historically spelled Ordu, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to Indo-European family of languages. ...
Hindi (Devanagari: हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€ or हिंदी; IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is the official language of the Union government of India [1][2]. It is part of a dialect continuum of the Indic family, bounded on the northwest and west by Punjabi, Sindhi, Urdu, and Gujarati...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British cabinet minister responsible for all financial matters. ...
Budget generally refers to a list of all planned expenses and revenues. ...
Criticism of Purdah Social criticism of purdah is complicated by the context of the overall status of women in a society. For example, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, a social reformer and the chief architect of the Constitution of India, who was born as an untouchable Hindu and later converted to Buddhism, imputed many evils existing among the Muslims of British India to the system of purdah. In his 1946 book, Pakistan, or The Partition of India:[2] Ambedkar implied that physical conditions such as anaemia were caused by purdah and that purdah adversely affected the sexual mores of Muslim society. It should be pointed out that although the practice of purdah is greatly reduced in the countries of the former British India—modern-day Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan—anaemia is still overwhelmingly prevalent among women of all religious communities in these countries[3][4] and sexual violence towards women remains a major social problem among all religious communities.[5][6][7] Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (April 14, 1891 or 1892 - December 6, 1956) was the most prominent Indian Untouchable leader of the 20th century. ...
The Constitution of India was passed by the Constituent Assembly of India on November 26, 1949, and came into effect on January 26, 1950. ...
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The flag of British India Map of British India, 1855 The British Raj (Raj in Hindi meaning Rule from Sanskrit Rajya) refers to the British rule between 1858 and 1947 of the Indian Subcontinent, or present-day India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Myanmar, during the period whereby these lands were under...
| “ | As a consequence of the purdah system, a segregation of the Muslim women is brought about. The ladies are not expected to visit the outer rooms, verandahs, or gardens; their quarters are in the back-yard. All of them, young and old, are confined in the same room. No male servant can work in their presence. A woman is allowed to see only her sons, brothers, father, uncles, and husband, or any other near relation who may be admitted to a position of trust. She cannot go even to the mosque to pray, and must wear burka (veil) whenever she has to go out. These burka women walking in the streets is one of the most hideous sights one can witness in India. Such seclusion cannot but have its deteriorating effects upon the physical constitution of Muslim women. They are usually victims to anaemia, tuberculosis, and pyorrhoea. Their bodies are deformed, with their backs bent, bones protruded, hands and feet crooked. Ribs, joints and nearly all their bones ache. Heart palpitation is very often present in them. The result of this pelvic deformity is untimely death at the time of delivery. Purdah deprives Muslim women of mental and moral nourishment. Being deprived of healthy social life, the process of moral degeneration must and does set in. Being completely secluded from the outer world, they engage their minds in petty family quarrels, with the result that they become narrow and restricted in their outlook. ... The physical and intellectual effects of purdah are nothing as compared with its effects on morals. The origin of purdah lies of course in the deep-rooted suspicion of sexual appetites in both sexes and the purpose is to check them by segregating the sexes. But far from achieving the purpose, purdah has adversely affected the morals of Muslim men. Owing to purdah, a Muslim has no contact with any woman outside those who belong to his own household. Even with them his contact extends only to occasional conversation. For a male there is no company of, and no commingling with, the females, except those who are children or aged. This isolation of the males from females is sure to produce bad effects on the morals of men. It requires no psychoanalyst to say that a social system which cuts off all contact between the two sexes produces an unhealthy tendency towards sexual excesses and unnatural and other morbid habits and ways. | ” |
Notes - ^ Naim, C.M. 2004. "The Hijab and I." Outlook Magazine
- ^ Ambedkar, B.R. 1946. Pakistan, or the Partition of India, 3rd edition, Thacker and Co. Bombay. Chapter 10.
- ^ UNICEF India. 2006. Nutrition: The Picture in India. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
- ^ Chatterjee, Meera, and Julian Lambert. 2006. Women and Nutrition: Reflections from India and Pakistan. United Nations.
- ^ United Nations. 2001. Women in India. How free? How equal?, pp. 8-9.
- ^ Violence against women in Pakistan,Human Rights Watch
- ^ Violence Against Women: Bangladesh Context
UNICEF Logo The United Nations Childrens Fund or UNICEF (Arabic: ; French: ; Spanish: ) was established by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946. ...
See also Hijab or ħijÄb () is the Arabic term for cover (noun), based on the root Øجب meaning to veil, to cover (verb), to screen, to shelter In some Arabic-speaking countries and Western countries, the word hijab primarily refers to womens head, face, or body covering. ...
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