The World of Courtesans c5.26

c5.26

Chanana is of the view that *vannadasi* was a slave in the establishment of a *ganika*, but in certain cases the word stood for a common prostitute. In the *Jatakas* her personal status was not always the same. Some *ganikas* were rich, others poor. Perhaps the *vannadasi*, as a slave woman in the establishment of a *ganika*, received less affluent visitors and thus earned money for her mistress. It is also possible that a *vannadasi* could attain to the position of a *ganika* The professional musicians who accompanied these women were known as *gandhabbas*. As a matter of fact a class of prostitutes in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar claims to belong to the *gandharab* caste.