The World of Courtesans c4.30

c4.30

The Madras had once settled in Bahlika, though later they migrated to Sialkot They were a pleasure loving people who drank beer, rum, and grape wine and ate beef spiced with garlic, cakes (*apupa*) and *kababs* (*mansavati*). They danced and sang with abandon in their city halls (*nagaragaravapreshu*), decked themselves with garlands, and were heavily perfumed. Their music resembled the "braying of asses and the grunting of camels". The women without husbands (*svamibhartrihata*) were known as *hahate*. According to Dr. V.S. Agrawala this word conceals the Greek word *hetara* which stands for courtesan.