ABSTRACT

A common subject of travel accounts by visitors to pre-colonial and British India is the nautch, the performance by a troupe of dancing girls and their accompanists who at times enchanted and frequently offended the sensibilities of the foreign spectator. Either way, many early travellers were sufficiently affected by these dance performances to refer to them in their writings. The term ‘dancing girl’ described various types of entertainer, from bazaar prostitutes to highly skilled songstress-courtesans. One of the more respected classes of courtesans was that of the kañcanīs (‘the gilded ones’), who had special rights and privileges at the courts; they have been described by Bernier as

not indeed the prostitutes seen in bazaars, but those of a more private and respectable class, who attend the grand weddings of Omrahs and Mansebdars, for the purpose of singing and dancing. Most of these Kenchens are well-dressed, and sing to perfection.