Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s1.45

c7.s1.45

We have numerous historical records of the Pardah during our period. The custom of ‘ghoonghat’ among Hindus and the lower classes of Muslims is described by Malik Muhammad Jaisi, Vidyapati, and others who write about the life of common people.³ The other, more developed form of Pardah with its elaborate code of rules, came into existence almost from the beginning of the Mulsim rule in Hindustan. Fakhr-ud-din Mubarak Shah relates the amusing story of the Hindu slave girl of Bahram Shah, the Ghaznawid ruler of Lahore. She fell ill and had to be treated by a physician who insisted on examining her person and feeling her pulse. This was reported to the monarch who was very much upset at the situation, and only after many convincing arguments did he agree to the physician’s viewing her face and arms ‘if they were not too far exposed to his view’.⁴ The example of Raziya is well-known and we mention it only to prove the existence of Pardah in the royal haram.⁵ Before the time of Firuz Shah Tughluq no attempt was made to enforce the pardah on the subjects of the kingdom. Firuz Shah was the first monarch to forbid the visit of Muslim women to mausoleums outside the city of Delhi, as, according to him, Muslim Law (Shari‘at) forbade such outdoor movements.¹ Nothing is said about the movement of women within the city; probably no restriction was put on them within these bounds. By this time the custom had spread into outlying provinces.² A responsible lady therefore went about in closed litters (dolis) and accompanied by male attendants.³ Poorer or non-aristocratic women probably went about ‘wrapped up in long garments covering their heads’ or what is now known as Burqa.⁴ Heavily covered and even locked litters were used by the ruling chiefs and the higher nobles⁵ for their women. The Hindu nobility was not slow in adopting the ways of the Muslim rulers.⁶