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Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c20: Chapter IV. Women

Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c20

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Contents

Chapter IV. Women

Section I. Status in Hindu Society

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SINCE the days of Manu Hindu law has assigned to woman a dependent but by no means dishonourable position in society. Thus does he declare in his code: "By a girl, by a young woman or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own house. In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent. She must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband, or sons; by leaving them she would make both (her own and her husband's) families contemptible".¹ Then again: "Day and night women must be kept in dependence by the males (of) their (families), and, if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one's control. Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in her youth, and her (sons) protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence".² This has been implicitly followed by the later lawgivers, who are not tired of dwelling at length on the dependence of woman.³ It may be noted, however, that one or two authors of the *dharma-śāstras* qualify their statements in the following words: "A wife is not

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¹ *Manu*, V, 147-9, p. 195.

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² *Ibid.*, IX, 2-3, pp. 327-8. For further notices on the subject, see Ray, J. B. O. R. S., XIII, pp. 160-1, 169; Wilkins, Mod. Hind., pp. 327, 330, where we have the views of a Christian missionary on the subject.

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³ *Baudhāyana*, II, 2, 3, 44-6, p. 231; *Vasiṣṭha*, V, 1-2, p. 31.

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163, *seq.*, he deals with them. He says. ". . . We are not to look among them (i.e. "the Hindus") for the solid virtues, as integrity, humanity, truth or generosity... they know nothing of patriotism. India contains no Hindoo hospitals for the sick and the insane, no institutions for the relief of the poor and unfortunate, no charity schools, no benevolent societies of any kind; nor do the popular institutions, or the established superstition, contain any one operative principle capable of improving the moral condition of the people. How then can it be expected that the Hindoos should be virtuous?" pp. 286-7. Read also p. 288 *seq.* (3rd ed. 1820).

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independent with respect to the fulfilment of the sacred law".¹ But the verdict of Manu influenced even the writings of Śukrācārya: "Living with other persons, speaking with them even publicly, independence even for a moment, and residence in their houses should not be granted to females by the husband, father, king, son, father-in-law and relatives; nor leisure for anything besides domestic duties".²

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¹ Gautama, XVIII, 1, p. 270.

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² Sukraniti, III, II., 39-43, p. 103. How far this notion of the dependence of woman clung to the minds of men is seen in the following description by Lakshmīśa, the author of the well known (Kannada) *Jaimini-Bhārata*:

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The obdurate stand taken by the early canonists could not but have resulted in lowering the status of woman in purely legal matters. This explains why proprietary (and separate) rights were denied to her, why documents executed by her were declared invalid, why restrictions were imposed on her as a witness, and, finally, why she was even classed with the son and the slave. Nārada enjoins the following: "Three persons are declared to have no proprietary right: a wife, a slave and a son. Whatever property they acquire shall be made over to him to whom they belong."³ This rule held good even in the days of Śukrācārya, who says: "The wife, the son, and the slave—these three are *adhana*, *i.e.*, unpropertied (in the matter of family property). Whatever they earn is the property of those to whom they belong".⁴ In another connection Śukrācārya says: "Women have no separate right to the use of the means for the realisation of the threefold end, *e. g.*, virtue, wealth and

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³ Nārada, V, 41, p. 138.

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⁴ Sukraniti, IV, v. II., 579-80, p. 210.

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ಪತಿವಚನದಿಂದ ನಡೆವ ಸತಿಹುದು ಪರ |
ಗತಿಯಲ್ಲದಂಗನೆಯರತಿ ಸಾಹಸಿಗಳವರ |
ಕೃತಿಲೀಲಂಗಳಂ ನಂಬಲಾಗದು ಮೇಣ್ ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರಮಂ ಕೊಡಲಾಗದು ||
ಪಿತನಿಂದ ಬಾಲ್ಯದೊಳ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಪ್ರಾಯದೊಳ್ |
ಸುತನಿಂದ ವೃದ್ಧಾಪ್ಯದೊಳ್ಕುಲ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯರು |
ಕೃತಿಯೊಗದಿದೊಡದವಳಿಂದ ನಿಜವಂಶಕುಸಹತಿ ಬಾರದಿರದಿಳೆಯೊಳು ||

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Jaimini Bhārata, Sandhi 5, v. 52, p. 99 (Sanderson).

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desires".¹ As regards the invalidity of documents executed by women, we have the following in the *Institutes of Vishnu*: "Nor one executed by a woman, or a child, or a dependant person or one intoxicated or insane, or one in danger or in bodily fear".² Manu restricts woman as regards giving witness, thus: "Women should give evidence for women, and for twice-born men, twice-born men (of the) same kind, virtuous Śūdras, for Śūdras, and men of the lowest casts for the lowest".³ Vishnu clearly says: "The king cannot be (made a witness); nor a learned Brāhmaṇa nor an ascetic; nor a gamester; nor a thief, nor a person not his own master; nor a woman; nor a child. . ."⁴

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¹ *Sukraniti*., IV, iv, ll., 11, p. 161

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² *Vishnu*, VII, 10, p. 47.

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³ *Manu*, VIII., 68, p. 266.

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⁴ *Vishnu*, VIII., 2, p. 48. The illiberal views as regards women expressed even by Śukrāchārya, not to say of writers on morality and poets of the later ages, may perhaps be traced to these dogmatic assertions about the dependence of women. Thus in the *Sukraniti*: "One should not leave his place by making the young wife dependent on herself. Women are the root of evils. Can young females be left with others?" III. ll. 240-1, p. 111. This may be compared with the verse of Vēmana. "Though her husband be Cupid himself, and her home be agreeable, how shall the slippery footed woman change her nature? Though a dog be tamed and reared with milk, will it not still rove from place to place?" *Verses*, II., v. 10, p. 55; see also pp. 56-7, 69, 82. It is not surprising that under the influence of these ideas, the wife was made to walk behind her husband as depicted by Dhūrjati. *Hamsa-vimśati-Kathegalu*, p. 12, see also p. 54.

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Uncompromising as the attitude of the Hindu lawgivers certainly was, it is worth while to observe that their digests are not devoid of provision which definitely raised the dignity of woman in Hindu society. Manu himself has unequivocally stated the case for woman thus; "Women must be honoured and adorned by their fathers, brothers, husbands, and brothers-in-law, who desire (their own) welfare. Where women are honoured, there the gods are pleased; but where they are not honoured, no sacred rite yields reward. Where the female

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But we may say in the same breath that from the earliest times too in southern India, poets and moralists also spoke highly about the dignity and status of women. Read *Kural*, Ch. VI, pp. 10-11; *Nāladiyar*, Ch. XXXIX, p. 247, *seq*.

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relations live in grief, the family soon wholly perishes; but that family where they are not unhappy ever prospers. The houses on which female relations, not being duly honoured, pronounce a curse, perish completely, as if destroyed by magic. Hence men who seek (their own) welfare, should always honour women on holidays and festivals with (gifts of) ornaments, clothes and (dainty) food".¹

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¹ Manu, III., 55-9, p.

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Vishnu has removed certain disabilities placed on woman in the following words: "A woman (shall) not (be compelled to pay) the debt of her husband or son....”² As regards the six-fold property which a woman possesses, Manu says: "What (was given) before the (nuptial) fire, what (was given) on the bridal procession, what was given in token of love, and what was received from her brother, mother, or father, that is called the six-fold property of a woman".³ It is strange that Śukrāchārya, whose opinion we cited above, should qualify his statement in the following words: "Absolute right is given to women in the matter of wealth that is called women's wealth as regards sale and gift, even in immoveables".⁴

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Where one sees in unmistakable terms the latitude given to woman by the lawgivers is in the right which Manu gave her of choosing her husband, and the privilege which even the later writers allowed her of offering the piṇḍa to her deceased husband. Manu lays down the following rule as regards the choice of a husband: "Three years let a damsel wait, though she be marriageable; but after that time let her choose for herself a bride-groom (of) equal (caste and rank). If, being not given in marriage, she herself seeks a husband, she incurs no guilt, nor (does) he whom she weds".⁵

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In this connection we may add that Manu has also given equality to woman in religious matters. "To be mothers were women created, and to be fathers men; religious rites, therefore, are ordained in the Vedas to be performed (by the husband) together with the wife".¹

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⁸⁵ Cf. Yājñavalkya, I., 82, text p. 172 (V. N. Mandalik, Bombay, 1880). ² Vishnu. VI., 31, p. 45. ³ Manu, IX., 194, p. 370-1. ⁴ Sukraniti, IV., v, 595, p. 210. ⁵ Manu, IX., 90-1, p. 343.

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¹ Manu, IX., 96, p. 344.

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The importance of woman in social and legal matters is seen in the right she has of offering the piṇḍa (or funeral cake at the śrāddha to deceased ancestors). In the Dāya-vibhāga of the Vyavahāra-kāṇḍa of the commentary of the Parāśara-smṛti by Mādhavāchārya Vidyāraṇya, he seems to acknowledge the classical privilege which was given to woman as regards the offering of the piṇḍa. This may explain why Mādhava says: "the wife is a woman who has been sanctified by marriage, she takes first the wealth of her husband."² In the above words Mādhavāchārya seems to go further, to some extent, than Manu himself who has qualified, according to the former, the right of woman thus: "Vṛiddha Manu mentions difference regarding this case: 'A wife (i.e., widow) who has no son, who preserves inviolate the bed of her husband, and is steadfast in her duty, should offer the piṇḍa for him and take the whole share'".³ Whatever may be the legal aspect of the question, there cannot be a doubt that from the times of Manu down to those of Mādhava, the importance of the (legal) wife, especially as regards inheritance, was acknowledged by the lawgivers.⁴

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² Dāya-vibhāga, Burnell, p. 25.

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³ Ibid., p. 25. Cf. "(If the widow) of a man who died with-out leaving issue, raised up to him a son by a member of the family (sagōtra), she shall deliver to that (son) the whole property which belonged to (the deceased)." Manu, IX., 190, p. 369.

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⁴ Dāya-vibhāga, ibid., pp. 26-7.

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Alone among the classical canonists, Kauṭilya seems to advocate equality of women and men in legal matters, at least as regards the question of punishment. This is apparent in the following passage in the Arthaśāstra: "Women, when twelve years old, attain their majority and men when sixteen years old. If after attaining their majority, they prove disobedient to lawful authority, women shall be fined fifteen paṇas and men, twice the amount".¹

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¹ *Arthaśāstra*, Bk. III, Ch. III, p. 190.

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Domestic economy rests, according to the Hindu writers, entirely on woman. Hence Manu says: "Let the (husband) employ his (wife) in the collection and expenditure of his wealth, in keeping (everything) clean, in (the fulfilment of) religious duties, in the preparation of his food, and in looking after the household utensils".² In the detailed enumeration of the daily and occasional duties of a woman as given in his *Nīti*, Śukrāchārya reiterates, perhaps with undue vigour, the earlier notions of woman's importance in the regulation of household affairs.³

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² *Manu*, IX., 11, p. 329. See also *Viṣṇu* XXV., pp. 110-11.

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³ *Śukranīti*, IV., iv ll. 12-52, pp. 161-3 Cf. Vēmana: "The house of a virtuous young woman is orderly, she is like a light shining in a dark room. The house in which a first wedded wife dwells, is like as the place of divine worship". *Verses*, Bk. I., v. 71, p. 19. (Brown).

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The codes of ancient and mediaeval writers also contain provision for entertaining woman in royal service, industry, and agriculture. While dealing with the question of royal attendants, Manu says: "Well-tried females, whose toilet and ornaments have been examined, shall attentively serve him (the king) with fans, water and perfumes".⁴ Then again: "For women employed in the royal service and for menial servants, let him (the king) fix a daily maintenance in proportion to their position and to their work".⁵ Śukrāchārya extends the scope of work which women could perform. He says: "The women should be assistants in the functions of the males, *viz.*, agriculture, shopkeeping, etc."⁶

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⁴ *Manu*, VII., 219, p. 252 Cf. Kauṭilya's injunction cited below.

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⁵ *Ibid.*, VII., 125, p. 236.

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⁶ *Śukranīti*, IV, iv, l. 54, p. 163; Sarkar, *Pos. Back*, I, p. 181.

Section 2. Women in Historical Times

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Whether the clause relating to the participation of women "in the functions of the males" need necessarily be interpreted to mean agriculture and industry, as Prof. B. K. Sarkar seems to think, is indeed questionable, especially in view of the fact that Śukrāchārya himself, as we have said, has inflicted on women an infinite variety of household duties which, while no doubt assigning to them the premier position in the province of domestic economy, lower them in the world of activity related to the general well-being of the State. Śukrāchārya does not seem to have out-grown, as regards this question, the conservative attitude of the classical canonists. Nevertheless one may be permitted to repeat that, both according to law and custom, the lot of women, was not one of fundamental servitude. Manu's injunction that the king should employ women for royal service dispels the idea of an unqualified serfdom for women. When we examine, in a most cursory manner, no doubt, the status which women occupied in historical times, we may be better able to understand how practice had transgressed precept as regards the position of women in Hindu society.

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The earliest historical evidence seems to confirm the dictates of Manu. In the times of Megasthenes, the care of the king's person was entrusted to women.¹ The tradition of entertaining women in royal service continued in the days of Harshavardhana. Bāṇa gives us a detailed description of women who served as porters, royal attendants, lute-players and shampooing attendants in the royal palace.² He also tells us how women served in military camps. "Loving pairs", says Bāṇa, "were roused from sleep by the tramp of the women of the watch".³ But in the matter of performing household duties, the Queen herself set an example. In the course of his description Bāṇa speaks of Queen Yaśōvati, who is pregnant, thus: "Her household duties she had scarce strength to command, not to speak of performing them".⁴ The princesses who were thus versed in the art of domestic economy were also trained in singing, dancing, and other accomplishments. Rājyaśrī grew up amidst such an atmosphere of enlightenment.¹

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¹ M'Crindle, *Ancient India as described by Megasthenes and Arrian*, p. 71, (1877.); *Ancient India as described in Classical Literature*, p. 58, (1901). Cf. H. H. Wilson, *The Theatre of the Hindus*, II, p. 304.

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² Bāṇa, *Harshacharita*, pp. 61-3, 85, 125. Cf. Lakshmīśa, *Jaimini-Bhārata*, Sandhi, 6, v. 29, p. 120 (Sanderson), where Krishna silently orders a female attendant to stop Bhima from entering the dining hall.

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³ Bāṇa, ibid., p. 199.

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⁴ Ibid., p. 107.

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¹ Bāṇa, *Harshacharita*, p. 121, For other notices of women, see pp. 68, 77, 82-3, 104.

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The functions of women in southern India seem to have been more varied than those of their sisters of the north. In addition to their duties around the person of the king, they were entrusted, in a limited degree, with the work of administration in religious and political matters. We are told that women were entertained in a royal palace in the south in A.D. 1310.²

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² Wassāf relates thus the history of "*Kales Dewar*, the ruler of Ma'bar": "This fortunate and happy sovereign had two sons, the elder named Sundar Pandi, who was legitimate, his mother being joined to the Dewar by lawful marriage, and the younger named Tira Pandi, was illegitimate, his mother being one of the mistresses who continually attended the King in his banquet of pleasure; for it was customary with the rulers of that country, that, when the daily affairs of the administration were over, and the crowds that attended the court had gone to their respective homes, a thousand beautiful courtezans used to attend the king in his pleasure. They used to perform the several duties prescribed to each of them; some were appointed as chamberlains, some as interpreters, some as cup-bearers,....". Elliot, *Hist. of India*, III., pp 52-3.

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A notable example of a woman who conducted admirably the work of government is given in a stone inscription dated A.D. 918. In the reign of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa king Kannara Dēva Akālavarsha, "on Sattarasa Nāgārjjuna, who was holding the office of *nāḷ-gāvuṇḍa* of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Seventy, dying under the orders of Kaliviṭṭarasa, the king having given to his wife the grade of *nāḷ-gāvuṇḍa*, and Jakkiyabbe was holding the office of *nāḷ-gāvuṇḍa*,—and Nanduvara Kaliga was holding the office of *perraḍe*—and? the survivor of the Sundiga tribe was holding the office of *perrgaḍe* to Koḍangeyūr,—the Seventy and the Three Hundred granted Avatavūr to Jakkiyabbe as promised."

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What this woman *nāḷ-gāvuṇḍa* did with her dues is also told in the same interesting inscription. "And Jakkiyabbe, in giving away the dues of the *nāḷ-gāvuṇḍa* in Avatavūr on account of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Seventy, granted four *mattal* of rice land in Jakkili for the temple ". As regards the administrative work of Jakkiyabbe, the same inscription continues: "Skilled in ability for good government, faithful to the Jinēndra śāsana, rejoicing in her beauty, Jakkiyabbe, when having received the Nāgarakhaṇḍa Seventy, she was protecting it well, though a woman, in the pride of her own heroic bravery", she "performed the vow", and died in the orthodox Jaina fashion.¹ Queen Sōvala Dēvi is spoken of as a mantri in a record dated A.D. 1166.² A more famous example of a woman administrator is that of Queen Rudrāmbā who, under the name of Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara Rudradēva Mahārāya, ruled from A.D. 1260. It was because she took the name of a man that Vikrama Pāṇḍya of the south was advised not to go to the north where women under the guise of men ruled.³

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¹ E. C., VII, Sk. 219, pp. 130-1, text, p. 298.

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² E. C., XI, Dg. 5, p. 25.

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³ 365 of 1913; Ep. Report for 1914, p. 93; Ep. Report for 1916, p. 135. For an example of women encouraging men in a battle by making garlands of flowers for heroes, see E. C., VIII, Sa. 63, dated A.D. 1283 p. 104.

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Women in southern India could equally well carry on the administrative work of religious institutions. We gather this from a stone inscription dated A.D. 1255 which deals with the activities of a great merchant named Kuñje Seṭṭi and his family, in the times of the Hoysala king Sōmēśvara Dēva. One of the relations of Kuñje Seṭṭi was Kaṇḍanambi Seṭṭi, who made over all the lands which he had received as a gift from all the Brahmans of the Dāmōdara agrahāra, also called Nāgarahaḷḷi, to the temple of the god Kuñjēśvara, evidently of the same agrahāra. "And his daughter the Gaṇa-Kumāri⁴ Chandavve he made the proprietress (oḍeyalu) of the temple, for carrying out the ceremonies, and granted her hombaḷi land, with pouring of water in the presence of the god Kuñjēśvara, and in the presence of Rudraśakti, the rāja-guru of Dōrasamudra the capital of Tribhuvana, and in the presence of the Kampaṇāchārya of the 120 temple priests (sthānikaru), and of numberless mātra-gaṇagaḷu and in the presence of all the subjects, farmers and priests of the two Muttana-Hosavūr". That this appointment had to receive the confirmation of the prominent people of the agrahāra is clear from the following lines of the same inscription. "And that rāja-guru Rudra-śakti-dēva, the 120 temple priests, and Māda-Jiya of Arasiyakere, the Kaṃpaṇāchāri (capital) (rājadhāni), with other Jiyas (named), and numberless mahā-gaṇagaḷu uniting bound upon that Chandvve the vibhūti-paṭṭa, or crown of authority, and giving her the rank or place of a Gaṇa-kumāri," granted to her some specified dues in perpetuity.¹

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⁴ "Gaṇa-Kumāri, the daughter or princess of the gaṇas and the hosts of followers of Śiva, the Jangamas". E. C., V, P. I, p. 158, n. (1).

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¹ E. C., P. I., V., Ak. 108, pp. 158-9.

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Chandavve held the post of proprietress till A.D. 1258 when it is said a number of Gauḍas (named), along with others including Kaṇḍanambi Seṭṭi, granted lands to the same temple. The inscription relates that "the ceremonies, whatever they may be, for which these lands were given, Chandavve will herself cause to be carried out".²

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² Ibid., Ak. 109, p. 159.

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Some religious institutions had women pupils as well. An inscription dated in the fourteenth year of Rājakēsarivarma (Āditya I) relates that there were 500 women pupils in the Jaina monastery of Vidāḷ alias Mādēvi-Ārāndimaṅgaḷam.³

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³ S. I. I., III, P. III, p. 225. For women servants in a temple, ibid., p. 294. For a description of the ever praised and virtuous loving Karṇāṭaka women in A.D., 1160, E. C., XII., Ck. 21, p. 77.

Section 3. Women in Vijayanagara

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From the above sketch it is clear that women, especially in southern India, had practically transgressed the limits which the lawgivers had imposed on them as regards activities not pertaining to domestic life. Their traditions were maintained in Vijayanagara times. One of the functions to which women were accustomed was service in the royal palace. According to Barbosa: "... and they do all the work inside the gates, and hold all the duties of the household. They are all gathered inside the palaces, where they have in plenty all that they require, and have many good lodgings."⁴ It is these whom Paes evidently refers to in the following words : "The rest remains for him, over and above these expenses and of the expenses in the houses of his wives, of whom I have already told you that he keeps near him twelve thousand women...."¹

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⁴ Barbosa, Dames, I, p. 208; Stanley, p. 88; Sewell, For. Emp., p. 129.

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¹ Sewell, *For. Emp.*, p. 282.

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This number 12,000 is given by Paes on two other occasions. "Within, with these maidens, they say that there are twelve thousand women; for you must know that there are women who handle sword and shield, and others who wrestle, and others who blow trumpets, and others pipes, and other instruments which are different from ours; and in the same way they have women as bearers (boois) and washing-folk, and for other offices inside their gates, just as the king has the officers of his household."²

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² Ibid., pp. 248-9, 264.

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Paes has some more interesting details to give in connection with women. "After all this is over you will see issuing from inside twenty-five or thirty female doorkeepers, with canes in their hands and whips on their shoulders; and then close to these come many eunuchs, and after these eunuchs come many women playing trumpets and drums and pipes (but not like ours) and viols, and many other kinds of music, and behind these women will come some twenty women-porters, with canes in their hands all covered with silver, and close to them come women clothed in the following manner.... They carry in their hands vessels of gold each as large as a small cask of water; inside there are some loops made of pearls fastened with wax, and inside all this a lighted lamp. They come in regular order one before the other, in all perhaps sixty women fair and young, from sixteen to twenty years of age... These women are maids of honour to the queens, and so are the others that go with them..."³

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³ Ibid., pp. 273-4.

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Nuniz confirms Paes as regards many details but about the number of women entertained in the palace neither of these travellers agree, nor is Nuniz consistent with his own statements. Nuniz relates the following: "In his palace within the gates he is served by women and eunuchs and servants numbering fully five or six hundred; and these wives of the King all have their own officials for their service, each for herself, just as the King has within the gates, but these are all women. .... these porters do not go further inside than through four or five doors, because inside of these are none but eunuchs and women".¹ As regards women serving the king, Nuniz says : "Thus they deliver it (i.e. the water enclosed and sealed in vessels for the king's use) to the women who wait on him, and they take it inside to the other women, the King's wives".² The description of the maids of honour given by Paes is confirmed by Nuniz who writes thus: "...and with these women (i.e., the queens) come all the female servants and the other wives of the King, with canes in their hands tipped with gold and with torches burning; and these then retire inside with the King".³

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¹ Sewell, *For. Emp.*, p. 371.

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² *Ibid.*, pp. 375-6.

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 378.

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The number which Nuniz has given above does not agree with that which he has given on another occasion where he describes in detail the various positions held by women. "This King has also within his gates more than four thousand women, all of whom live in the palace; some are dancing-girls, and others are bearers who carry the King's wives on their shoulders, and the King also in the interior of the palace, for the king's houses are large and there are great intervals between one house and another. He has also women who wrestle, and others are astrologers and soothsayers; and he has women who write all the accounts of expenses that are incurred inside the gates, and others whose duty it is to write all the affairs of the kingdom and compare their books with those of the writers outside; he has women also for music, who play instruments and sing. Even the wives of the King are well versed in music.

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"The King has other women besides. He has ten cooks for his personal service, and has others kept for times when he gives banquets; and these ten prepare the food for no one save for the King alone. He has a eunuch for guard at the gate of the kitchen, who never allows any one to enter for fear of poison. When the King wishes to eat, every person withdraws, and then come some of the women whose duty it is and they prepare the table for him; they place for him a three-footed stool, round, made of gold, and on it put the messes. These are brought in large vessels of gold, and the smaller messes in basins of gold, some of which are adorned with precious stones. There is no cloth on the table, but one is brought when the King has finished eating, and he washes his hands and mouth. Women and eunuchs serve him at table. The wives of the King remain each in her own chamber and are waited on by maid-servants. It is said that he has judges as well as bailiffs and watchmen who every night guard the palace, and all these are women".¹

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¹ Sewell, For. Emp., pp. 382-3.

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We shall presently have an occasion of referring to the public women who accompanied the army. But it was not only women of this kind who went with the army. We have evidence of queens who accompanied the king during his campaigns. Chinnādēviammā and Tirumalādēviammā were with Kṛṣṇa Dēva Rāya when in A.D. 1515 he conducted the siege of Koṇḍavīḍu. It was in the company of these two that the Emperor visited the temple of Amarēśvara near Dharaṇikōṭa where he bestowed the munificent gifts known as tulāpurusha, sapta-sāgara, and presented some villages to it.² Women seem to have carried on fights in which they had lost their husbands. In A.D. 1386 or thereabouts, Bommambe, wife Mahāvīra Mādarakāḷa, continued the fight in which her husband died and lost her life too.³

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² A. S. R. for 1908-9, p. 178.

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³ My. Arch. Report for 1923, pp.90-1. The courage of the women of mediaeval times is described in the account of the siege of Tanjore by the forces of Trichinopoly. Achyuta Vijaya Rāghava Nāyaka had placed all the females in the Mahal. The forces of Trichinopoly entered the main fortress. "Meanwhile the whole of the royal females held in their hands drawn swords, and were constantly waiting, anxious to know if the king's mandate of death would come or not". And when they saw two messengers approaching them, "the royal females began immediately to cut each other

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There is an instance of a woman who personally interviewed Dēva Rāya II on behalf of a temple and secured from him a copper-plate grant embodying a *sarvamānya* gift of a village. This was Aramavaḷatta Nāchchiyār, the elder sister of a Kaikkōḷa, attached to the temple of Agnēśvara at Maḍam. The lady interviewed the king in Śaka 1355 (A. D. 1433-4), and in return for her services the *rudra-māhēśvaras* of the temple granted her one *padakku* of grain every day and two *paṇam* of money per month.¹

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¹ 229 of 1919; *Ep. Report* for 1919, p. 103.

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Women occupied a prominent place in literature in Vijayanagara times. We have had some occasions of mentioning the learned Gaṅgādēvī, wife of Kampaṇa, who wrote *Madhurāvijayam* or *Virakamparāya Charitam*. The Queen of Bukka I seems also to have been an accomplished lady. An inscription dated A. D. 1378 says the following about her: "The king Bukka's wife was Honnāyi, in accomplishments like the science of love, in wisdom like the Vēdas, and though the king possessed many wifes, she was the chief, and the fulfiller of his desires".² Instances are not wanting of learned women in later Vijayanagara history. Achyuta Rāya's gift of *suvarṇamēru* was commemorated in a Sanskrit verse composed by Vōḍuva Tirumalammā (A.D. 1533), and inscribed in the Viṭhṭhala temple at Hampe.³ It is suggested that this learned lady may be identified with Tirumalāmbā, the author of the *kāvya* called *Varadāmbikāpariṇayam* which describes the marriage of Achyuta Rāya with Varadāmbā.⁴ Another poetess was Mōhanāṅgī, who wrote a love poem called *Mārīchipariṇayam*. About this lady also it is conjectured that her name may have been the surname of Tirumalāmbā, the wife of Rāma Rāja and the daughter of the great Kṛishṇa Dēva Rāya.⁵

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² *E. C.*, V, P, I. Cn. 256, p. 232.

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³ 708 of 1922 which is a duplicate of 9 of 1904; *Ep. Report* for 1923, pp. 119-200; *My. Arch. Report* for 1920, p. 38.

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⁴ *Ep. Report* for 1923, ibid: *The Sources*, p. 170, n.

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⁵ *Ep. Report* for 1923, ibid.; Viresalingam Pantulu, *Andhra Kavula*

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in pieces with swords and axes; and some receiving deadly wounds, forthwith attained heavenly bliss". Taylor O. H. MSS., II, p. 196.

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In the galaxy of learned ladies mention must be made of Rāmabhadrāmbā, who wrote the *Raghunāthābhyudayam*. While describing the activities of Raghunātha Nāyaka of Tanjore, after his return to his capital, she tells us that he convened an assembly of learned persons to examine the accomplished ladies of his court. They are said to have been proficient in composing four kinds of poetry—*chitra*, *bandha*, *garbha* and *āśu*, and in explaining the works written in various languages. They were skilful in the art of *śatalēkhini* and filling up literary verse-puzzles (*padyapurāṇam*). They were able to compose verses at the rate of one hundred in an hour (*ghaṭikāśata*), and to compose poetry in eight *bhāshas* (Sanskrit, Telugu, and the six Prākṛits). They knew how to interpret and explain the poems and dramas (*kāvyas* and *nāṭakas*) composed by the famous poets, and to explain the secrets of the music of the two sorts (*Karṇāṭa* and *Dēśa*). They were able to sing very sweetly and to play on the *vīṇā* and other musical instruments like the *rāvaṇahasta*. Raghunātha examined the proficiency of all of them and presented them with *kanakābhiṣēka*.

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Rāmabhadrāmbā also tells us that Raghunātha Nāyaka heard the songs sung before him and witnessed the dances of the accomplished ladies of his court. Some of the *rāgas*, etc., that were sung before him were designed by Raghunātha himself, who was a master of the art of music. The chief *rāgas* that were sung were *jayamaṅgala*, *simhalalila*, *jayanissāru* (?) and *kachachcharitra* (?) Some of the *tāḷas* to which they were played were *ratilila*, *turaṅgalila*, *raṅgābharaṇa* and *anaṅgaparikramaṇa*, *abhinandana*, *nandanandana* and *abhimālā*. Among the dances that were exhibited before him there was one called *raghunāthavilāsa* named after himself.¹

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¹ Raghunāthābhyudayam, The Sources, Sargas, XI-XII, pp. 291, 301.

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An inscription dated only in the cyclic year Krōdhana, Māgha, Śu. 15, Monday but assigned to about A. D. 1446, confirms the evidence of Nuniz that women knew wrestling. It relates that "at the time when Māḍi Gauḍa, son of Nāga

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Charitramu, p. 197: Kavali Venkataramasamy, The Biographical Sketches of the Deccan Poets, pp. 77-8.

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Gauḍa, fighting with wrestlers (*palivānavara*) [pailavānavara] (*kūḍe*) went to *svarga*, laying in ambush for those who fought with her father, Hariyakka...went to the world of gods". This incomplete vīragal, which her junior uncle Chenna set up, evidently wants to commemorate the measures which Hariyakka took to avenge the death of her father by fighting with wrestlers.¹

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¹ E. C., VII, Sk. 2, p. 39, and Sk. 1, which speaks of the death of Mādi Gauḍa, p. ibid.

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There is evidence of Jaina women who seem to have died in the orthodox Jaina manner. An inscription dated A.D. 1395 tells us that in the reign of Harihara Rāya, Kāna Ramaṇa's wife Kāmi Gauṇḍi by means of *sannyāsana* expired and went to *svarga*. The same epigraph relates that she was the disciple of the *rāja-guru* Siddhānti-yatīśa, and that she was the niece of Bēcha Gauṇḍa, the master of Avale in Jiḍḍuḷige-nāḍ.²

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² E. C., VIII, Sb. 103, p. 15.

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No description of Vijayanagara women may be deemed adequate without mention being made of the courtezans. The public woman, according to Kauṭilya, was in charge of a great number of duties relating to the person of the king. We have the following in the *Arthaśāstra*: "Prostitutes shall do the duty of bathroom servants, shampoors, bedding room servants, washermen, and flower garland-makers, while presenting to the king water, scents, fragrant powders, dress and garlands; servants along with the above prostitutes shall first touch things by their eyes, arms and breast".³ Further Kauṭilya enjoins: "The superintendent of prostitutes shall employ (at the king's court) on a salary of 1,000 paṇas (per annum) a prostitute, whether born or not born of a prostitute's family, and noted for her beauty, youth and accomplishments".⁴ That such prostitutes were under the direct control of the Central Government is clear from the following regulations in the *Arthaśāstra*: "When a prostitute does not yield her person to any one under the orders of the king, she shall receive 1,000 lashes with a whip or pay a fine of 5,000 paṇas".¹ "Every prostitute shall pay every month twice the amount of a day's earning to the government. Those who teach prostitutes, female slaves, and actresses, arts such as singing, playing on musical instruments, reading, dancing, acting, writing, painting, playing on the instruments like vīṇā, pipe and drum, reading the thoughts of others, manufacture of scents and garlands, shampooing, and the art of attracting and captivating the minds of others shall be endowed with maintenance from the State".² Kauṭilya tells us for what purpose the prostitutes are to be maintained by the State: "The wives of actors and others of similar profession who have been taught various languages and the use of signals shall, along with their relatives, be made use of in detecting the wicked and murdering or deluding foreign spies".³

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³ Arthaśāstra, Bk. I, Ch. XX, p. 46.

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⁴ Ibid., Bk. II, Ch. XXVII, pp. 148-9.

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¹ Arthaśāstra, Bk. II., Ch. xxvii., p. 150.

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² Ibid., p. 151. Cf. Wassāf's description of Ma'bar cited above.

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³ Ibid., p. 151.

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Kauṭilya's injunctions help us to understand the state of affairs in Vijayanagara. But before we cite the evidence of foreign travellers about this question, we may note that the institution of public women had already become permanent in southern India long before the times of the Vijayanagara kings. Mahādēva, the general of the Western Chāḷukya king Vikramāditya VI, in A.D. 1112, raised a sanctuary to the god Chandaḷēśvara in memory of his mother Chandrikādēvi, to which he added to residence of public women.⁴ Turning to Vijayanagara we find that the capital was a great centre of courtezans. Abdur Razzāq describes their quarters in detail. "Opposite the mint is the Office of the Prefect of the City, to which it is said 12,000 policemen are attached; and their pay, which equals each day 12,000 fanams, is derived from the proceeds of the brothels. The splendour of those houses, the beauty of the heart-ravishers, their blandishments and ogles, are beyond all description. It is best to be brief on the matter.

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⁴ Barnett, Ep. Ind., XIII, pp. 37, 47, v. 69.

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"One thing worth mentioning is this, behind the mint there is a sort of bazar which is more than 300 yards long and 20 broad. On two sides of it there are houses (*khānahā*) and fore-courts (*safhahā*), and in front of the houses, instead of benches (*kursī*), lofty seats are built of excellent stone, and on each side of the avenue formed by the houses there are figures of lions, panthers, tigers, and other animals, so well painted as to seem alive. After the time of mid-day prayers, they place at the doors of these houses, which are beautifully decorated, chairs and settees, on which the courtezans seat themselves. Everyone is covered with pearls, precious stones and costly garments. They are all exceedingly young and beautiful. Each one has one or two slave girls standing before her, who invite and allure to indulgence and pleasure. Any man who passes through this place makes choice of whom he will. The servants of these brothels take care of whatever is taken into them, and if anything is lost they are dismissed. There are several brothels within these seven fortresses, and the revenues of them, which, as stated before, amount to 12,000 *fanams*, go to pay the wages of the policemen".¹

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¹ Elliot, *Hist. of India*, IV, pp. 111-12; Major, *India*, p. 29.

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The above description of the courtezans may be compared with that given by the Hindu poets. Poet Bhāskara, who wrote his *Jiwandhara Charite* in A.D. 1424, thus describes the public women:

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ಮರುಲ ಸರಸಯ ಹೊಸವ ಕೊರಡಿನೊ |
ಅಳಿಯ ಕೋಪ ಮರೀಚಿಕಂಗಳ |
ತಳಿವ ಧರೆ ಗಗನವನು ತಾಳವಮಾಡಿ ಬಾಜಿಸುವ ||
ಶಿಲೆಯೊಳಗೆ ಮರುಗುನ ತುಷಾರವ |
ನಳಿವ ನೀರೊಳು ಬೆಣ್ಣೆ ಗಳಿವ |
ಗ್ಲ ಲದ ವೇಶ್ಯಾಮಾತೆಯರನವನಿಕೇಕ್ಷಿಸದ ||²

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² *Kavicharite*, II, p. 48.

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As regards the street where they lived, we have the following from poet Adṛśya (about A.D. 1580), who wrote *Prauḍharā-yana Kāvya*:

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ಸಿಂಗರದ ತಾಣ ಸೊಬಗಿನ ಸಂತೆಯುತಿಕುಟಿಲ | ದಂಗಡಿ ದಶಾವಸ್ಥೆ ಗಳ ಸಂಜಿನಗರವು | ಕಂಗಳತಿಹಬ್ಬ ಕಾವನ ಸುಗ್ಗಿ ಯಾವೂಲಂ ಭಂಗಿಭಾವದೊಳೆ ಬೆಳೆವಾ || ಇಂಗಿತದ ಬೀಡು ಚೇಟಿದ ತೋಟ ಮೋಹದ ತ | ರಂಗ ತವಕದ ಗೊತ್ತು ಬಿಡಿಸುದ್ಧವ ಭೂಮಿ | ಯಂಗಜಸ ಅವಸರ ಸರಂಗಳಂತಿತಹ ಸೂಳೆವೆಂಗಳಾ ಕೇರಿಯಸೆಗು || ¹ ||

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¹ Kavicharite, p. 307.

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Poet Padmarasa (A.D. 1559) bluntly says: ಪಾಪದ ಗದಿ ದುಃಖದ ಸೀಮೆ ಬಹುವಿಧ | ದಾಸತ್ತಿನ ಪುರತೇಜ | ಪೋಪ ಮಹಾಲಯವೆಂಬಕೀರ್ತಿಯ ತಾ | ಪೋತ್ತು ಮೆರೆವೃದ್ರಾ ಕೇರಿ || ಗದಕಿನಾಲಯ ಶಕ್ಕಿನಚೇಡನ್ಯತದ | ಸದನ ವೈಸಿಕದ ಭವನವು | ಚದುರಿನ ಪೇಟೆ ವ್ಯಾಧಿಯ ತವಮನೆಯೊಂ | ದೆಡೆಗೊಂಡುಡಾ ಸೂಳೆಗೇರಿ || ² ||

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² Ibid., p. 316 Cf. Poet Sōmanātha's description (circa 1650). Ibid., p. 413; Poet Adiyappa's description (circa 1650). Ibid., p. 415.

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This evidence about the existence of prostitutes in the capital from ‘Abdur Razzāq and the Hindu poets may be compared with that given by other travellers. Paes, for example, visited the very quarters which ‘Abdur Razzāq has described but it is very interesting to observe that the Portuguese traveller has nothing to say about the character of the inmates of the houses. His opinion seems, in this particular instance, to run counter to that of ‘Abdur Razzāq. Paes writes thus: "Then going forward you have another gate with another line of wall, and it also encircles the city inside the first, and from here to the king's palace is all streets and rows of houses, very beautiful, and houses of captains and other rich and honourable men; you will see rows of houses with many figures and decorations pleasing to look at".³ If this description of the beautiful figures and decorations given by Paes refers to the same beautifully decorated houses about which the Persian ambassador has spoken, then, while the latter makes them houses of prostitutes, the former styles them as houses of rich and honourable men. That Paes is more intimately acquainted with the streets and parts of the city is clear from what he says in his chronicle, and especially from the manner in which he dwells on the question of streets. "That I may not forget to tell of the streets that are in the palace I here mention them. You must know that inside the palace that I have spoken of is the dwelling of the king and of his wives and of the other women who serve them, as I have clearly said, who are twelve thousand in number; and they have an entrance to these rows of houses so that they can go inside. Between this palace and the House of Victory is a gate which serves as passage to it. Inside there are thirty-four streets".¹

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³ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 254.

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¹ Sewell, *For. Emp.*, pp. 264-5, op. cit.

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But it is not to be imagined that Paes failed to notice the presence of the public women and the dancing-girls in the capital. He mentions the courtezans on specific occasions. While describing the great Mahānavami festival, which we shall see in detail in connection with other festivals in a subsequent chapter, he writes: "And the king withdraws to the interior of his palace by that gate which I have already mentioned—that which stands between the two buildings that are in the arena (terreyro); the courtezans and bayaderes (i.e., "the dancing-girls of the temple and palace") remain dancing in front of the temple and idol for a long time."²

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² Ibid., p. 267, and n. (1).

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The dancing-women were summoned during the feasts. We gather this from Paes: "For these feasts are summoned all the dancing-women of the kingdom, in order that they should be present; and also the captains and kings and great lords with all their retinues..."³

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³ Ibid., p. 262.

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It was during these feasts and festivals that dancing-girls enjoyed the rare privilege of eating betel in the presence of the king. Paes, while describing the wrestlers, says: "...for these (i.e., the wrestlers) are allowed to remain seated, but no other, howsoever great a lord he be, except the king so commands; and these also eat betel, though none else may eat it in his presence except the dancing-women, who may always eat it before him".¹

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¹ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 269.

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Nuniz also has got something to say about the dancing-girls. He describes the same famous festival called Mahānavami. While speaking about the decorations got ready for the Mahānavami festival, he says: "They are very lofty and are hung with rich cloths, and in them are many dancing-girls and also many kinds of contrivances".²

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² Ibid., p. 376.

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According to foreign travellers, therefore, the public woman was entitled to be present on certain occasions—at the time of feasts, when festivals were held, and during a campaign.³ Since foreign travellers are careful enough to differentiate between courtezans and the women who performed duties in the royal house-hold or under the State as judges, bailiffs, and the like, and since none of the contemporary witnesses tells us that prostitutes held the various posts mentioned by Nuniz in detail, one may accept with great reser-

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³ To these we have to add the presence of the *dēvadāsis* in the temples, about which we shall speak later on. In this connection I may add that the public women of Vijayanagara have also figured in the book entitled *Jehān Nümā* (or *The World of Mirror*) written by the Turkish geographer Katib Chelebi Mustafa Khalifah. From the Latin version of *Jehān Nümā* the following is taken—for the translation of which I am indebted to Dr. L. D. Barnett:

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"What is remarkable is that in this city there are not lacking courtezans so wealthy that single one of them from her own wealth pays for several thousands of soldiers and despatches them for war. And because, as Lorenzo relates, they themselves take part in the battle, they stimulate by love of themselves the spirit of the fighting men to fortitude." Katib Chelebi, *Jehan Numa, Geographia Orientalis ex Turcico in Latinum versa Math. Norberg, Londini, Gothorum (1818), t.i, p. 126. Katib Chelebi began his work of translating the Atlas Minor of Hondius in A. H. 1064, he died in A. H. 1068. The oriental part of Jehān Nümā was printed with additions by Ibrāhim Muteferrikah in A. H. 1145. The British Museum Catalogue of Turkish Mss. p. 111. (1888). In the above account of Katib Chelebi there is a mixture of details given by 'Abdur Razzāq and by the Portuguese travellers. B.A.S.

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vation the statement of Dr. Vincent Smith that the presence of the public women was essential in the court ceremonials of Vijayanagara. This does not invalidate the assertion we have made that the existence of a large number of prostitutes in the capital reflects sadly on the morality of the people, and, to a slight extent, on the nature of the Government itself. The fact that the State maintained a large police force on the earnings of the public-women suggests that the Vijayanagara rulers may have had the injunctions of Kauṭilya before them. But we cannot maintain that they consciously followed the regulations of the *Arthaśāstra* as regards patronizing public women only for the sake of political purposes.

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We may not end our remarks on this aspect of Vijayanagara life without noting the comments of foreign travellers on the immense wealth of the public women of Vijayanagara. Paes writes thus: "Who can fitly describe to you the great riches these women carry on their persons?—collars of gold with so many diamonds and rubies and pearls, bracelets also on their arms and on their upper arms, girdles below, and of necessity anklets on the feet. The marvel should be otherwise, namely that women of such a profession should obtain such wealth; but there are women among them who have lands that have been given to them, and litters, and so many maid-servants that one cannot number all their things. There is a woman in this city who is said to have a hundred thousand *pardaos*, and I believe this from what I have seen of them".¹ Duarte Barbosa also speaks about the extraordinary wealth of these women. "Some of them are so rich that a short time ago one of them, dying without son or daughter, made the King heir to all her property, who, when he sent to collect what she had left, found that a sum of seventy thousand *pardaos* remained as well as another twelve thousand, which during her life she had set apart and left to one of her handmaids whom she had brought up from childhood; wherein there is no great marvel, for this kind of merchandise is the greatest and richest found in this world !"¹

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¹ Sewell, *For. Emp.*, p. 270. Sewell has an interesting note on the *pardaos*. *Ibid.*, p. 270, n. (2).

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¹ *Barbosa*, Dames, I., p. 226. Dames calculates the amount at £32,000 in modern money. *Ibid.*, p. 226, n (1); Stanley, pp. 95-8, where the version is slightly different.

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How far these accounts of the wealth of the public women of Vijayanagara were based on extravagant reports it is difficult to say; but admitting the possibility of their having been rich, it is doubtful whether they could have failed to enliven their quarters by their bickerings and broils which formed a feature of their lives. We have to read the following description of a quarrel between public women as given by the poet Kumudendu to form an adequate idea of the scene. Although this poet lived in about A.D. 1275, yet his words are as applicable to the times of the Vijayanagara monarchs as they are to those of the Hoysala rulers :

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ಎಲೆಗುಂಡಿ ನೀಗುಂಡಿ ಬೀಟಿಯಾಯೆ ನೀ ನಾಯೆ |
ಅಲಿಯದಿರು ನೀಸಲಿಯದಿರು ಸಾಯ ನೀಸಾಯ |
ಉಲುಕದಿರು ನೀಸಲುಕದಿರು ಚಂಡಿ ನೀಚಂಡಿ ಸಿಂಚೆ ನೀ ಸಿಂಚೆಯೆಂದು ||
ತಲೆಯೆತ್ತಿಯೆತ್ತಿವೋರ್ವೋರ್ವರು ಕಚ್ಚಿ ತಾವು ಮುಂ |
ದಲೆವಿದಿದು ಹೊಡೆದ ಸೀರೆಗಳೊಯ್ದುದೇ ಬಿದ್ದು |
ರುಳುವ ಚೌವಟ ಬೇಟಿಗಾತಿಯರ ಜಗಳವಂ ಕಂಡು ನಗುತಿದರ್ಸಣುವ || ² ||

v2.c20.s3.73

² *Kavicharite*, I., pp. 319-20.

v2.c20.s3.74

Provision was sometimes made in inscriptions against the vociferous nature of women, as can be made out from the following curse in an epigraph dated A.D. 1482-3: "The women of those who abuse the ruler of the village or the king of the simā or endeavour to obtain the sovereignty will be given to Dommara villagers".³

v2.c20.s3.75

³ *Butterworth—Chetty*, *Nellore Ins.*, II. p. 951.

Section 4. The Seraglio

v2.c20.s4.1

As already remarked in connection with the description of sati, it appears almost certain that it was a fashion in those days for men, especially among the wealthy classes, to have many wives. Inscriptions contain notices of the many wives of rulers as well as subjects. Thus, for example, in A.D. 1120, Dēmiyakkā is said to have been the chief wife among the wives of the merchant Chāmuṇḍa Seṭṭi, "who was beloved by many kings," and "who protected the merchants from the rakshasa, the Kali age."¹ Śāntala Dēvī, the queen of the Hoysala king Viṣṇuvardhana, according to an inscription dated A.D. 1131, was "a furious elephant to her haughty co-wives."² The Hoysala king Narasimha Dēva, as an inscription dated A.D. 1161 relates, had 384 wives.³

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¹ E.C., II, No. 49, p. 128 (1st ed.).

v2.c20.s4.3

² Ibid., No. 53, p. 133.

v2.c20.s4.4

³ E.C., V, P. I, Bl. 193, p. 106.

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The harem of the Hindu rulers of Vijayanagara has received particular attention at the hands of foreign travellers. Nicolo dei Conti thus informs us: "Their king is more powerful than all the other kings of India. He takes to himself twelve thousand wives, of whom four thousand follow him on foot wherever he may go, and are employed solely in the service of the kitchen. A like number, more handsomely equipped, ride on horseback. The remainder are carried by men in litters, of whom two thousand or three thousand are selected as his wives on condition that at his death they should voluntarily burn themselves with him, which is considered to be a great honour for them".⁴

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⁴ Major, India, p. 6.

v2.c20.s4.7

‘Abdur Razzāq gives a more sober estimate of the inmates of the harem in his description of the properties of the betel-leaf. "It is probably owing to the stimulating properties of this leaf, and to the aid of this plant that the king of that country is enabled to entertain so large a seraglio; for it is said that it contains as many as 700 princesses and concubines." In the same passage the Persian ambassador has some further remarks to make on the policy adopted by the rulers in their seraglio. "With respect to all these establishments no male child is permitted to remain in them after attaining the age of ten years. Two women do not dwell together in the same apartment, each one having her concerns separate. When any beautiful girl is found throughout the whole kingdom, after the consent of her father and mother has been purchased, she is brought in great state to the harem, after which no one can see her; but she is treated with great consideration."1

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