Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c20.s5.1

v2.c20.s5.1

Prominent as has been the part which women played in the social, political, and literary life of the people, one may be justified in placing before the reader their picture, with the aid of the materials left to us both by foreign and Hindu writers. Abdur Razzāq writes in a thoroughly oriental vein the following about the dancing-girls. "The singers were for the most part young girls, with cheeks like the moon, and faces more blooming than the spring, adorned with beautiful garments and displaying figures which ravished the heart like fresh roses. They were seated behind a beautiful curtain, opposite the king. On a sudden the curtain was removed on both sides, and the girls began to move their feet with such grace, that wisdom lost its senses, and the soul was intoxicated with delight".³