Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s5.12

c7.s5.12

1. *Beauty and charm of person.* Babur complains of the lack of beauty and charm. We have pointed out elsewhere how physical accomplishments were prized above everything, even at the expense of other qualities of heart and mind. Beauty of person was cultivated with a scruple and devotion worthy of a nobler cause. The students of contemporary literature are familiar with the 32 (or according to others 16) approved qualities of an ideal female beauty. These cover almost every aspect of the feminine figure, namely, the hair, neck, nose, lips, eyebrows and eyelashes, the fingers and the rest of the body. The literature on the science of erotics gives this ideal of perfect feminine beauty the well-known name of *Padmini* which has passed into household proverbs to-day.² Persons whose opinion of men and things should carry weight have not neglected to deal with this interesting question. Amir Khusrau, for instance, after a comparative examination of all popular types of contemporary beauty—the Turkish, the Tartar, the Persian, the Chinese, the Greek, the Russian, and several others—comes to the conclusion that the female of Hindustan was incomparably beautiful. While all others excelled in some respects and grievously lacked in other qualities, the Indian female alone combined all moral, physical, and intellectual virtues in her person. Though Khusrau betrays a certain amount of patriotic prejudice, his estimate cannot be dismissed as altogether biassed.¹ Other evidence is not wanting to support his contention.²