Courtesans of Ancient India: Flirting with the Throne
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- čas přidán 20. 05. 2024
- Courtesans have played an important role in Indian history, but are often overlooked and misunderstood. This is a brief introduction into courtesan culture in ancient and medieval India -- and the influence that courtesans had. I've also attempted to dive into some related subjects, like birth control methodologies for courtesans and their clients.
Enjoy!
It's weird how courtesans were simultaneously respected and looked down upon
They were looked down only by prudish European invaders. It was the British who destroyed these courtesans by enacting laws that made their occupations illegal.
@@shunya1988 The video literally mentions that they were both respected/venerated and also looked down upon.
The "looked down upon" was only really in later periods of 17th-19th century
As video said, there were many types/category of courtesans.
So some respected by some people, others not.
@@Edward4Plantagenet Ganikas and Rupajivas were probably more respected I guess? the housewife and the ones doing it on ground might have been less respected?
6:48 this guy was a pretty badass military strategist, Scholar and a University (Taskshshila) teacher... He trained courtesans to be spies and assassins..
Acharya Chanakya, Vishnu Gupta
Bruh that's chanakya, literally the guy who forged the golden age of india by helping and training chandragupta.
@@treatoplease3479 ahh golden age is Gupta not Mauryan also Chanakya didn't "founded" it Chandragupta did none of the original text even talks of him the best he did was helping Chandra forming an alliance
@@fymwp9992 Bruh chanakya literally raised chandragupta after buying him from his abusive steparents, he knew he was the heir of the empire. He trained him, educated him, and helped him regain the throne. He also advised him in literally EVERY MATTER, including strategy in battles. Small contribution? Nah.
@@treatoplease3479 Lol who told you he did all of that..you cliche tv serials on Chanakya inreality nothing that sort if even happened no original text even mention and even the first one which mention him i.e a much later written historical fiction Mudrarakshas mention any of that things you told so stop with this exaggeration yup its a small contribution
Ancient India never ceases to amaze....
Until recent times, that is 19th century, parts of India where Indian powers like the Marathas, Mughals and their successors still existed, courtesans enjoyed rich lifestyles. This video does not cover the era of British colonialism and it’s impact on courtesans. The Victorian idea of morality severely misjudged the idea of a respectable courtesan not bound to a single man. A woman came to be respected only by her association with the kind of man she was attached to. Successive legislations passed over the 19th and 20th century eventually managed to relegate the once-skilled and respected courtesan to a lowly prostitute who was scorned upon by successive generations of Indians as well who forgot how courtesans were treated in older times
Indeed. Thank you for highlighting this later context!
@@OddCompass One major flaw in accuracy is that Dasa/Dasi translates to Paid servants, not slaves.
Well what about devdasis and the story of amrapali are u going to blame that on the Victorian era too?
@@EloraSelah And what about DevaDasis?
Servant of God, was also paid. When the custom started, it was about an empowered woman choosing to dance in Bhakti for God, & the system was even RESPECTFUL of her own needs & allowed her to CHOOSE any sexual partner she wanted, if she wanted any.
She could be in a relationship too.
And the man was allowed in her quarters.
Not like the celibate priest.
You should question how the Devadasi who had a higher status than kings, be suddenly reduced to be FORCED to be with people?
How did the exploitation start?
Question that.
Question why women can no longer be the most respected social class, & were exploited instead?
BECAUSE this pure, sacred practice (a lucrative job) started to force young girls into prostitution, that IS WHY an extremely respectable job, became a curse & a social evil.
Because Victorian era doesn't understand the concept of women choosing their partners, yet being devoted to God, praying, and yet being respected.
The identity of a woman not tied to a man, but to God.
And she was allowed to be not celibate?
This simply translates to prostitute in their limited minds.
@@dOVERanalyst dasa are not just servants . see rajiv malhotra video on "sanskrit non translatables"
Das/Dasi are not slaves they are servants. Everyone just translate das/dasi as slave when it is servant. A das/dasi gets paid and are not bonded they can leave if they want to.
Yeah, but it's hard to explain to these people who don't knkw the language
Also, in ancient India, it was norm and law of the land to not exploit your daas/daasi and treat them right. One was also responsible for taking care of their daas/daasis.
Thanks for saying that because India is the only country that never had slaves and these slave filled countries just cannot understand the translation
@William the conqueror it may have been mentioned there but there were many types of das/dasi some served in the royal palace (they held quite high position) they were free and given wages then there were surfs they too were called das/dasi and yeah they were treated like surfs
@William the conqueror if you'll keep reading English translations, you'll get nothing but confusion.
Learn indic languages or ask any Indian guru to explain, don't read indian scriptures on your own. Even we Indians can't understand them completely, they mean thousands of things at once.
I'm not sure how you're funding this. It must be expensive to make all that animation. Keep up the good work my friend. I always wait for your videos.
Thank you so much. It’s all self-funded. I make the animations, script, voiceover, and edit myself. Glad you enjoy the videos!
@@OddCompass i love it!
@@OddCompass did you learn animation through specific softwares? I am interested to learn motion design and animation and need credible sources to learn from. Please let me know if you can. Thank you.
@@OddCompass thats... i dont have any words. keep making such great videos!
Courtesans in ancient India were the true embodiment of femininity, intelligence and beauty. Their main function was to entertain kings, nobles, businessmen and foreign delegates; not necessarily through s*x (especially the high ended ones). Men loved spending time with them because their own wives were not educated enough or intellectually stimulated them as much as the courtesans did. I'd also like to mention that it is a very well known fact that kings would send their daughters to learn ethics and be educated in the divine art of femininity, dance, music and other things so that gives us a hint that s*x wasn't a primary duty - if at all.
Things changed when the British took over India. It was during the Victorian era, that british classified women into two categories - respectable housewives or wh*res. When they came across Indian courtesans who could win over men by their body language, seduction and energy, a concept they had been unfamiliar with, the courtesans were immediately branded as wh*res. With time their position in society deteriorated and today, their dwelling place which was once a respectable place where princesses were taught, now stand as unsanitary, poor brothels where the walls echo with stories of horror.
But technically those men used to cheat on their wives na . ( Don't say they didn't have sex with courtesan) . Is it a good thing ?? And why did men needed to see errotic dances of women to entertain themselves? If their wives were not educated then it's their fault na that why didn't they marry an educated and opiniated woman? Would they accept if their wives did the same. Engaged with some other hot , seductive, masculine , educated men?? No na . Everything was okay for men to do. To openly cheat on their wives . But women couldn't do the same . Why were there no male courtsean to entertain the royal women?? You can't deny that they were technically mistresses of those men . Thank God the British stopped this .
And btw brothels in India- sonagachi, kamathipura etc all were made by the British in India and are the main reasons for kidnapping and trafficking of girls in India, Nepal.
If there were feminine women made to dance to entertain royal men, why there were no masculine men used for royal women's entertainment.? So men could cheat but women couldn't. Slow claps 👏
Yes this is why most of your women are courtesans
@@user-go9kw6wf4m first become a historian then talk.
Wow…you sound like a bitter wife who’s husband is cheating on her…why are you so angry at people from 500 years ago?!
A little more info about Amrapali (the courtesan who became a follower of Buddha).
She was in an affair with the neighbouring king Bimbisara. But because her beauty was world known, Bimbisara's son, Ajatshatru, unaware of his father's affair, also became infatuated with her. He was so obsessed with her that he set her town on fire only to force her to come to his capital- where unbeknownst to her- he had seized his father's throne, put him into jail, and had made him starve.
Amrapali became a hermit because she was fed up of all the wrong attention. She was devastated of the tragedy her beauty had caused.
thanks for the extra info.
Source? Also Emperor not King
Hey man, don't want to go on a ramble, but your content is some of the best I view when it comes to History. Really cool you explore a wide range of topics and implementing different styles with your last few videos 😍
But this is not a good topic .
@@gnanaganesh5937 Why isn't it a good topic, what too salacious
@@gnanaganesh5937 Why not?
@@anirudh177 he is a randa
Fun-fact: The "Pompeii Lakshmi" actually shows a Satavahana courtesan and not Lakshmi herself. This is what you can conclude after looking at scenes from amravati stupa that shows Satavahana court rooms. :)
Commenting before watching, was very excited. I was feeling that a video was going to be dropped anytime soon.
Another fantastic video! I'm surprised when you show South Asia you don't include Afghanistan however, the birthplace of the Khaliji dynasty, the Lodis, which eventually lead to the Mughals, as well as the Durani empire and the Sur empire that defeated the Mughals and conquered Bengal. North India is linked to Pastun and Afghani culture even now the biggest bollywood dynasties are afghani descended families.
Pompeii Lakshmi was not a courtesan that was a statue of Goddess Lakshmi herself there are many many statues and sculptures of Gods and Godesses which are made in an open way our ancient India was much more open about sex, art, fashion, science, literature and architecture etc.
@@debodatta7398 well they are converts so i don't think so we can say that we have their culture they have our culture because we are the first one here
@@debodatta7398 lmao. mahmhud ghazni was a turk not afghan. his father was sebutkgin who was a central asian turk slave. afghanistan was first conquered by turks then they came to india. even muhammad ghori was a turk and qutub ud din aibak also was a turkic slave from central asia. read history. only pashtun or afghan was sher shah suri and abdali.
As an Indian it's really hard to find western channels with such deep knowledge here 99 percent content was true only thing that u were wrong was when you said slaves, it's called Dasi, or workers but bonded to same family and they get earnings and they do have freedom, someone working in your house as a maid can't be called slave.. Hope you find it interesting 😄🇮🇳🇮🇳
What are you talking about ??....If Das and Dasi have had freedom then why didn't Pandavas defend their wife Draupadi when Dushasan dragged her in Royal court , because they have no rights and if their master wants to do "Cheer Haran" of a Dasi in front of her 5 Daas Husbands then they have no rights hence no freedom.
@@adiver_ what are you even talking about? 😂😂😂 Pandavas were not Das 😂😂😂😂
@@vrajupadhyay9900 I guess you haven't read Mahabharat then , Shakuni and Duryodhan was jealous of Yudhishthir's Indraprasth , so they devised a plan to invite Pandavas to Hastinapur with the permission from his father , the King of Hastinapur. In the game of dice , First Yudhishthir lost all his wealth , then his Kingdom them all his brothers and then he lost himself in the game and became Daas and then he said I don't have anything , so Shakuni suggested that you still have wife Draupadi , then He lost his wife also then Duryodhan ordered Dushasan to bring her to him by dragging her with hairs and Disrobe his Dasi, in which the mighty Bheem and Arjun was sitting there itself as Daas and they couldn't save the honour of their wife cause they are the Daas of Duryodhan at that time , After Lord Krishna saved Draupadi from embarrassment , then Dhritarashtr fearing that she might curse his Vansh , He freed all the pandavas from slavery and gave everything back that they had lost at that time.
Shall I write the whole Mahabharat or maybe you can read it for yourself.
@@adiver_ just copy pasting comments now...
@@avinashs7571 well the points in both the comments are same then why not the answer is same ..... Btw the comments are different if you care to read it.....Whats 2+2 and what's 3+1 ? Why the answer is same
The way you dig out these topics is marvelous. Not picking the obvious but the rare. You are a gem 💎
Progressive, Libertarian and Reformist.
No, not today’s society. Ancient India.
Real sense of Equality. Ancient India✴️
I do not agree with the courtesan lifestyle, but how else could women of that era elevate themselves? This was a very intetesting video.
What are you talking about lol? no offence, but the status of women in modern India is far better than it ever was in ancient times. This applies to women in every country.
Hi Anirudh. I hope you’re safe and doing well.
I think there’s a lot for you to read, research and delve into.
The Rig Vedā, oldest scripture that is - has hymns written by women who were not only revered in ancient India but we’re worshipped in their purest forms, their names go as ‘Lopamudra’, ‘Maitreyi’ & ‘Katyani’. Tell me any other holy scripture which is revered in any other culture, written by a woman. There isn’t.
Up till the Invasions took a repetitive nature at around the 12th Century, women could part take in debate(vāad) and even competed against scholars, because- even they were scholars.
They had knowledge of the Vedas, and were very much involved in many socio-political activities. It is only after the Barbarians who invaded and plundered the country in a series of repetition, that the women were kept in protection. This is where ‘Ghunghat’ was made prevalent, in order to protect the women from the barbarians who took away and committed unimaginable atrocities to them.
-
We had women at positions of power. In fact, Ghori was first devastated in terms of a defeat by Rani Naiki Devi, the queen of Chalukyas. A Woman.
When you say Ancient, remember that you are talking before the 10th century. After it, we delve into The Medieval Age.
It certainly can be said that in the Medieval age, the position of women drastically got dumped down, which has its roots to the invasions and simply nothing else.
Ancient India, and the position of women that it carried was at a different level, than if we compare it to Medieval and even Modern India.
Read More. Find More. Go through reliable sources.
I hope this would help you in some way.
Keep Up Buddy. Cheers Anirudh.
@@vidhansharma6155
"The Rig Vedā, oldest scripture that is - has hymns written by women who were not only revered in ancient India but we’re worshipped in their purest forms, their names go as ‘Lopamudra’, ‘Maitreyi’ & ‘Katyani’."
Yes, I am aware of the Brahmavadinis, you've also forgotten to add Gargi Vachaknavi, Vishwawara, Sikta and Ghosha. None of these were worshipped however and they wrote a small minority of the hymns.
But I don't see how this indicates in anyway that women in the Early Vedic Period were better off compared to today's women.
During the Vedic Period, North Indian women could do upanayana and perform Vedic rituals on their own and read the Vedas. The age of marriage for women in India was also around 16 - 17, the Vedic period was probably the best time for the pre-modern Indian women.
This stopped happening from 300s and 200s BCE from the time of the Mahajanapada era. From this time the age of marriage among Indians decreased to puberty age, which meant that women were now restricted from education, and the education of women became restricted to only the Brahmins and Kshatriyas with higher ranking Vaishyas in there too, of course we still see many debates when women participate even during these times.
But its strange to see someone call an ancient conservative society as "progressive or reformist"
न जा॒मये॒ तान्वो॑ रि॒क्थमा॑रैक्च॒कार॒ गर्भं॑ सनि॒तुर्नि॒धान॑म् । यदी॑ मा॒तरो॑ ज॒नय॑न्त॒ वह्नि॑म॒न्यः क॒र्ता सु॒कृतो॑र॒न्य ऋ॒न्धन् ॥
“(A son) born of the body, does not transfer (paternal) wealth to a sister; he has made (her) the recptacle of the embryo of the husband; if the parents procreate children (of either sex), one is the performer of holy acts, the other is to be enriched (with gifts).”
इन्द्र॑श्चिद्घा॒ तद॑ब्रवीत्स्त्रि॒या अ॑शा॒स्यं मन॑: । उ॒तो अह॒ क्रतुं॑ र॒घुम् ॥
“Verily Indra said that the mind of a woman is not to be controlled, he declared also that her intellect was small.”
The Vedic women may have had it much better than her post-Vedic counterparts, but ancient Vedic society was still Patriarchal (like most societies and civilizations) and women generally had a lower status than men.
Tell me one thing that ancient Indian women could do that modern Indian women can't.
@@vidhansharma6155
"women could part take in debate(vāad) and even competed against scholars, because- even they were scholars."
Already addressed this earlier.
"It is only after the Barbarians who invaded and plundered the country"
Yes, Late Medieval Invasions by the Turks and other Islamic states regressed the position of women than they had already been in.
"and were very much involved in many socio-political activities."
They continued on being involved well into the Early Modern times and ahead.
Women in parts ancient India certainly could take up high positions in the administration, this was especially common in south India, where Kannadiga ladies seem to leading in this.
When we look at the military, women generally did not participate here, most of the times, it was female noblewomen and princesses who took up military positions if they did. The closest it came to female armies was the usage of female bodyguards and assassins.
"This is where ‘Ghunghat’ was made prevalent"
The Ghunghat evolved from the ancient "Avagunthana" (Sanskrit for veil/cloak).
Early Sanskrit literature has a wide vocabulary of terms for the veils used by women, such as avagunthana meaning cloak-veil, uttariya meaning shoulder-veil, adhikantha pata meaning neck-veil, and sirovas-tra meaning head-veil.
Sudraka, the author of the Mrcchakatika mentions that some females wore the Avagunthana. This was not used by women every day and at every time. It was worn on special occasions like marriage or at the time of going out. And Sudraka also mentions that a married woman was expected to put on a veil while moving in the public, while unmarried women were not expected to do so.
Although married women were expected to wear the veil in the public, it wasn't always strictly followed.
"and committed unimaginable atrocities to them"
rape, murder and slavery is hardly an unimaginable atrocity, it was a common visual of warfare worldwide sadly.
"When you say Ancient, remember that you are talking before the 10th century. After it, we delve into The Medieval Age."
Wrong, the Ancient period ends in 647 CE in India, and the Early Medieval period begins from 647 CE to 1206 CE.
Ancient Period = before 647 CE
Early Medieval Period = 647 - 1206 CE
Late Medieval Period = 1206 - 1498 CE
Early Modern Period = 1498 = 1857 CE
"It certainly can be said that in the Medieval age, the position of women drastically got dumped down, which has its roots to the invasions and simply nothing else. "
I agree, while the position of women in Indian society before the Islamic Invasions were way better than after it, it was still not as good as the position of women in the Republic of India.
Well developed courtesans system means high level of disposable income & high level of prosperity,
So much so that Nagar-sevika (one who serve city) became one of the most rich Women of state.
Yaasss queen. Fabulous content. Seems like ancient courtesans in South Asia were just like their counterparts in East & Southeast Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malay, etc). Really appreciate your work, sir. Keep educating us.
First of all its The Indian Subcontinent and second of all don't ever try to compare our greatest civilization and history to any other part of the world, thank you
We were the one who influenced, and civilized east and south east, and other part of the world since ancient times, never ever try to compare us to anyone
@@user-hq8wm8giyujcg LOL "never ever try to compare"...? I guess you've NEVER taken any comparative religious studies/ literature/ cultural classes nor do you see the need to. SAD. Enjoy your monolithic delusional life.
@@user-hq8wm8giyujcg It's this sort of overconfidence that keeps bringing down Indian society and makes us complacent.
@@theAraAra true
So impressive that a non indian made a truthful video about ancient india. Otherwise Westerners have a tendency of misinterpreting (often in a negative way) , everything that came out of india. But this video showed the truth that even thousands of years ago the state cared for these people and respected and made them an integral part of the administrative system. Also they were wealthy and masters of their own life in most cases. THANK YOU for showing the truth.
He is an NRI if I'm not wrong
He is of Indian origin
I find social and economic histories more interesting than battles and conquests these days. Good video man, I would only criticise the music a bit.
It always amazes me the sheer amount of hardwork you would've gone through to collect indepth details for your content.YOUR NARRATION and Animation is on point. Absolutely love all your content.. Keep up the good work ..
( I also highly doubt that you're a INDIAN because you know much more than we INDIANS DO)
Haha thank you! But yes, I’m of Indian origin!
@@OddCompass I could tell by the way you pronounced andhra pradesh
truly some of the best history content on CZcams . I have learned more history form your CZcams channel than my 10 years of schooling . true women empowerment in ancient India Southern Indian kingdoms . thank you so much can't truly amazing your videos . this is needed to be taught in our schools . such amazing history is never taught in our schools. thank you once again for bringing them to light ❤❤❤
When has schooling bought fruit and also this is not women empowerment.
Women empowerment!!!??
I want two wives 😔😔😔
Bigamy should become legal in India for non Muslim men
It is unfair if Muslim men can have upto to 4 wives.
Why can't non Muslim men have at least 2 wives it is better than going to prostitutes or other girls for sex simple it will be fun.
1st wife= 6 months
2nd wife= 6 months
Every year.
Watch Jay Vardhan Singh he's great for Indian history.
I am a woman and this is not fucking women empowerment.
Krishna and Rhada’s story is one of my favourites, and it influenced major art.
Amazing, well-researched content 👏 Keep it up, and may your channel reach the dazzling heights it deserves!
Wow,, this was the context missing from the movie, Bajirou mastani. This really helps me understand the sentiments of some of the characters. Thank you!!
You’re welcome, glad to have clarified!
you make some of the best videos about ancient india and ancient hindu culture and trade. thank you very much
Second comment: Overall great video, awesome to see you combatants improve your craft 😀 As a sidenote, if you want to hear any recommendations, I think it'd be cool to see you do a video about India's role in influencing world fashion with its textiles like muslin cotton, Cashmere, pajamas, etc👌
Combatants? Huh?
@@ArawnOfAnnwn sorry about that, meant to say constantly improving.
@@mylesjude233 ah okay
This is that nice channel that I always forget about but every time you upload it's great. It's so nice to have a channel dedicated to Indian history
Never seen a video regarding this topic, Greatly appreciate your work.
Damn, ok that is truly an underrrated channel doing underrated parts of indian history
For more awesome info on the livesof these extraordinary women, read,
Lifestyle as Resistance: The Case of the Courtesans of Lucknow, India
By Veena Talwar Oldenburg
One of the best content & research .
I loved this video.
Love from India.
You are doing great work. Most Indians dont know this much of their own history.
Excellent video as always! I was expecting you to elaborate on how the life of a courtesan changed(or didn't) with the emergence of Islamic empires. You used a lot of Mughal art in your video, so it's would be great if you could explain more on that!
Yeah mughals had some quite good history about the courtesans
Yeah! That would've been cool
Depends on the ruler to be honest, babur for example writes his relation with a boy called babri, clearly sinful, in his autobiography.
At the same time, he calls himself a Ghazi(one who fights non muslims).
It's clear that to most muslim nobility in india religion was something they'd alter to their benefits most of the time as it suited them.
Here comes anti-Muslim comments. 90% of the youth of India are no good for anything. They can't work on the fields, they didn't acquire much knowledge to serve as public officers. But they HAVE mastered in spewing their hatred towards their largest minority. No wonder the British left! India is no longer utile since 1947.
@@adibzinnurine7917 so you make it "utile"
Love your niche topics and your new animation style is amazing 👏 😍
Good that u hve ventured into an largely overlooked phenomenon, and made an engaging video out of it. Strangely, you haven't given sources of ur narration. Motichandra has a book on courtesans... "Enjoy" in ur description box seems to uncalled for.
There’s no such specific word for slave in Samskritam (Sanskrit)
Dasa/Dasi is a word for servants and has no connection with slavery and stuff.
@oddhistory
Biggest issue with ancient & medieval Indian history is that there aren't many Bollywood movies about them, most are set during the British Raj :(
We do have some Bollywood movies set in those times, but they're, well, Bollywood-ified. Frankly Bollywood is a terrible way to learn history, there's almost no concern for historical accuracy. So it's probably for best that they don't do it much.
@@ArawnOfAnnwn Bollywood always turns the protagonist into a perfect pure and a flawless hero, while the antagonist is portrayed as cartoonishly villanous
@@ArawnOfAnnwn That's issue: Just 'some'. There aren't lot of Indian movies set in ancient or medieval times compared to Japan, Korea or China. There's plenty of potential for filmmakers to cover this lost history, accuracy or not.
@@Germania9 Perhaps. Although tbh, I'd prefer it be left uncovered that to propagate false ideas about history. It's okay I guess if you do it like how 300 did it, where the film is so ridiculous that no one's gonna believe it (unless you're an idiot). But films like Kingdom of Heaven are more common, and more troublesome. Ideas about the past inform ideas about the present, and I'd rather have fewer ideas about it overall than more false ones. Especially in a country where our actual historians are already often attacked over politics, leaving them with very little capacity to correct anything.
And you need bollywood movies to know history?
Seriously! Go buy some history books
The word "Slave" in Indian context may have different meaning.
Megasthanese, prominent Greek writer in his book Indika, wrote, Slavery is not existent in India.
But the fact is it had existed at the time.
He knew about only Greek slaves.
Indian slaves were more like bonded labour.
They lived with Family,
get monetary sum for their work,
had respect & were cared unlike Greek.
What are you talking about ??....If Das and Dasi have had freedom then why didn't Pandavas defend their wife Draupadi when Dushasan dragged her in Royal court , because they have no rights and if their master wants to do "Cheer Haran" of a Dasi in front of her 5 Daas Husbands, then he can do it. Also remember that Draupadi was the Kul-Vadhu of Bharatvansh.
And if you consider Mahabharat as our History then it is correct to assume that same happened.
And if you consider Mahabharat as Poem written by Vyas 3000 years ago then also you have to admit to it because the Poem is from Dwapar Yug , where Lord Vishu came to Earth as Avataar, So after that the situation of rights and freedom of Das would have definitely worsen.
You just can not compare the ancient India with the standards of Today's society , but you like to believe that we treated Slaves(Das) very fairly. Wake up bro
@@adiver_ , I like history.
I stated what megasthanese wrote in his book.
If you have problem with that, please contact megasthanese.
Slavery was most probably banned some time before his visit. Because it was not widespread but it was there.
Other record - Hyecho 724 CE, written slavery was banned.
You are claiming things as fact even when Scholars are not agree on any one "most possible" meaning of Dasa.
Stop taking serials word to word.
As you said there is difference between today & ancient times.
All that Mahabharata, Yudhistir lost himself first so he had no right over others.
& It was duryodhan against him, do you expect him to follow things.
@@Edward4Plantagenet I haven't read any of the history by foreigners , I am just pointing out that Das in our history was not allowed any freedom and rights , that is my only point that Das were Slaves. They were not like maids and not like bonded labours , they were Slaves plain and simple. And the fact that Yudhishthir lost himself first and has no right over his wife and even he hasn't lost himself he didn't have right to treat his wife or his younger brothers or even his Kingdom Indraprasth as his personal wealth was well answered by Lord Krishna , yes he didn't have the right to do so, but the fact that all that happened in front of Bhisma , kripachary, Dronachary and the King himself of Hastinapur , tells us that having right to do that and not having right to do that was allowed in the particular Royal Court. Ye they were wrong but that's not my point that how they became Das , my point is that Das didn't have rights and freedom and they weren't like bonded labour or maids.
@@prasadchaturdesale5795 bhai , this plain and simple you are trying to say that Das system was better than slavery , well it was not. Remember when the queen of Virat nagar ordered her beautician(Draupadi during Agyatavas) to go to her brother Kichak's room to pleasure him and she did go there . Why did she go there if she had free will??.....There are tons of instances to indicate that Das system was not good and there are so many things you can be proud of in our history but don't say that Das system was better than Slavery.
@@adiver_ Do master listen to their slave?No, but a Swami does why not take example of Keikai from Ramayan. Were daas always free?No, but their right as a human is respected when going according to rules, either way there's gonna be people who will not and treat them as piece of shit the one who thinks of they are just people to be exploited.
No doubt we wrote KAMASUTRA 🤣
Shows ur ignorance, kamasutra isn't just about sex, it's only one chapter is about sex
Says someone who has never read Kamasutra or known about its acceptance
Excellent video. Very interesting, informative and worthwhile video.
As always amazing content and presentation
Quite well researched and superb presentation. Bravo!!
This is phenomenal work! to summarize such heavy texts into short videos without skipping critical bits, kudos to you! Sending you lots of "courtesan" love from 🇮🇳 💋😹
Never have i seen a comment where it it be more appropriate to describe it as "sus" than this one
@@mewmimo8465 I really do feel that I was a courtesan in my past life. Sus indeed💃
What a time to be alive !
pls make video about how much time it takes to build a highly successful unique culture, i mean there are lot of countries and region who are ancient, some are medieval and some quite modern, but all these categories have examples of there own cultures and high quality and unique art, literature, architecture and other tangible and intangible cultural things
Great video! Though adding your list of sources to the video description would be highly appreciated. :)
Wow man... I loved that u include a kashmir history aslo.. It shows how kashmir was and is connected with India and Indian culture. And deny the fake propaganda of the invaders who came to India and now claiming our land..
It's amazing to know how Indian culture was so advanced. ❤
Yes then why you are against russian invasion of Ukraine lol.
@@AaronBiswas who said I'm against lol...
@@AaronBiswas because it's wrong
@@tivo3720 bruh you support Russians killing kids?
@@leaveme3559 you and your father help us if some other country attack on india? During 1971 war Usa, Britain,turkey sent nuclear submarine, there is only one country in this whole world who send his own nuclear warships and signed a agreement with india that"who so ever attack india, soviet Union declared a war against that country
The things they don't teach you in school. 😎 great content.
their is a perfect time for everything , if kids listen to this its over
The only defect of this channel is very rare updates..
Just discovered this channel. Great work. It would be even cool, if you could post the references and further reading section.
Epic video man, please add the sources like u do in other videos
Some points I want to mention.
First of all, amazing presentation! There should be millions of subscribers to this channel.
Second of all, we should learn a lot from ancient india. I mean what a sophisticated society India was, now a days its degraded so much.
Thirdly, Dasis were bound to a particular person/family/institution but they were not slaves. They were given salaries and were treated like humans of course.
Finally, this proves that even a person of low caste/ Low social status when upskilled through talent, was respected and lived prosperously. But the so called civilized British let people believe that it's segregation and divided us, they also introduced their so called morality from their religion/society and started looking down upon all courtesans as only prostitutes.
Great video!!! I love your work!!! Regards from Argentina!!
Wow such a great information
😄😄😄😄😄
I never thought about this topic.
Great job 👏👏👏👏
ancient India was progressive as compared to today.
Well what can we do, times changed, after 1000years old experience
Thousand years Poverty Harm civilizations.
We survived Islamic invasions and the British.
After a 1000 years our society structures and civilization was harmed severely.
or, you know, we could allow women to be educated and hold positions of influence without sexualizing them and expecting them to still be subservient to men in some ways. Proud of these ladies but I'm still really glad I'm in modern India and can be in a monogamous marriage PLUS learn to read, do math, dance, etc...
That’s a fair point - it’s unfortunate that they were forced to navigate such a challenging system, but it’s certainly interesting to see the influence they managed to have despite these limitations.
Amazing videos..... highly researched it seems.....Keep up the good work.....thanks
where did you find these images? they’re beautiful
I like this video.🌺 It’s amazing how educated the courtesans were. They remind me of Japanese Geishas. But I think geishas are more strict in their practices.
Very fun fact and important video even by today's standard in some cases
As usual man awesome work as ever. Please make a video on Lalitaditya Muktapida (724-760).
very interesting video, reminds me a lot of courtesans in other cultures
One more thing: hope you do a video at something about The Golconda Diamond Mines, famous for supplying the world with some of the most splendid Diamonds ( as well as discuss those individuals who benefitted from it like Mir Jumla and Nizam Osman Ali Khan.)
All this developed probably in the Medieval age but let's get it straight, *status of women in "Ancient Bharat" : pre - Medieval times" was very very high.* - Women were clearly respected as educators, saviors, nurturers and foundation of society. The standard was very well set with the epics such as the Ramayana complemented by the Upanishads and Shastras which speak highly of women and their role in society. With declining civilization thus declines morals and intelligence..... In the Mauryan age - *one needed such forms of intrigue to down a powerful enemy - Dharma suggested "People above all and People and nature come first in line of protection" than one's own reqts.* Hence such posts were invented. Now it is obsolete and hopefully the status of women will not be put down in the future. We need to realize the true culture and preserve our civilizational values, traits and morals.
Brilliant!
Thank you for covering untouched topics
make videos on all indian achievements on arts, lit, science and math, humanities since ancient time, mention everything which has been survived and lost (like it is mentioned in other works but its mostly lost)
I knew about this, but not in this much detail. Thanks brother. And one correction, I think you are translating "dasi" as slave. A dasi is a servant, not a slave.
Great topic 👍 .
Please continue this art style in your videos
make video on every significant writings, and literature since ancient india to modern times, also mention our lost literatures
Sounds like a cool topic, if you don't mind recommending some for me to look into
I would love if he goes a bit into Sanskrit tragedy plays. Oorubhangam (The breaking of the thigh) and Karnabharam (The anguish of Karna) by the playwright Bhasa are the only surviving tragedies among the Sanskrit plays.
Bharata Muni's extremely infulential manual on performance arts, dancing and writing a play, Natyashastra makes it a strict rule that the play has to end on a happy note. Because of which, after him, there are very few Sanskrit tragedies.
Whatever pre-Bharata tragedies existed are mostly lost, except these two plays.
The Natyashastra was between 200 BCE and 200 CE btw
There's a lot of lost literature in India
India in the ancient days had a very liberal and advanced society but due to the colonization of mughals and British, indians became more conservative than their ancestors. Many of the thousands of caste we knew today only existed 500 years ago.
Rich men cheating with courtesan = liberal
@@noobieexplorer4697 don't confuse being liberal with immoral values. Women in the ancient days owned wealth given by their parents but was later called dowry demanded by the husband's family.
Wow! wonderful as always. The images used are stunning. Where can I get access to them?
Love your videos. Could you cite your sources or share some links so we know where the info is coming from?
Make one video on Samudragupta and Gupta Empire's golden age
Sounds like a cool video idea.
I want a video on the Guptas as a whole 😋
From the founding of the dynasty in the Late 200s, and its early kings and rulers, to Chandragupta I's expansion and establishment of the Guptas a regional player, the subsequent civil war after his reign, Samudragupta's campaigns and conquests which turned the Gupta Kingdom into an empire and the beginning of the Gupta Golden Age.
Chandragupta II Vikramaditya's conquests, and the peak of Gupta political and economic power and influence under him.
Kumaragupta I's consolidation of the empire and the establishment of the Educational Institution of Nalanda by him, the multiple major rebellions and hunnic raids in the last few years of his reign.
The destructive civil war between Ghatotkachagupta (Kumaragupta's brother) and Skandagupta (one of Kumaragupta's sons) and the other minor players in the game.
The reign of Skandagupta as the last great Gupta emperor and his victory against the Hunnic invasion in 455 AD.
And the decline under later rulers, the 2nd major Hunnic Invasion by Toramana, and the alliance of Guptas and various north Indian kings who defeated them at the battle of Sondani (528 CE) and pushed back Toramana's son Mihirakula and his Alkhon-Hunnic empire out of Indian territories.
@@anirudh177 From what you described, it sounds like an awesome video topic to watch
@@mylesjude233 It's a great topic to watch! although the scarcity of records mean that our knowledge of their campaigns are pretty low 😥, at least we know the routes/paths and the path they took to march in their campaigns and the kingdoms they conquered, other than perhaps 1 or 2 battles, we sadly almost know nothing about their pitched battle encounters.
The Gupta military was mostly cavalry and infantry archer-based army (considering that their closest neighbours - The White Huns and the Persians were horselords, this usage of cavalry and archers makes sense).
@@anirudh177 Thanks for the info 👍
Man just tell me from where did you learnt editing videos?
I love this channel ❤...
I really enjoy your videos. Could you make one about Rajah James Brooke of Sarawak ? I would really appreciate it .
Ohh, I lived in Malaysia so that’s an interesting topic for me! I’ll look further into it :)
Great video and no one can can miss the improvement
make videos about how india influenced different parts of the world since ancient times, linguistically, art, culture, mathematics, science, religion, philosophy, trade, literature, fashion etc
Gosh! Amazing content! I am subscribed of course!
Another great video
There were many European Courtesan in Indian court sold from Roman Empire.
No they weren't
They were not allowed
Please more videos on war and politics though this topic explaining society was also essential
I think some cool video ideas would be conflict shown between the Marathas and Mughals, as well as the growth of the Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh.
@@mylesjude233 better
The Islamic invasions and Indian influence in South east Asia.
@@khosrowanushirwan7591 That sounds interesting, especially the conqyest of Alauddin Khalji or Mahmud of ghazni
@@mylesjude233 yeah and a reminder war doesn't harm life only but knowledge gathered over 100 of years
@@khosrowanushirwan7591 Would be nice if he mentions the initial defeats and difficulties faced by Ghazni and Ghori before winning and conquering the North.
And yeah it would be nice to see a video on Indian influence on SE Asia
I personally want him to make vids on Indian maths, medicine and philosophy.
The amount of research is unbelievable.
I'm not sure but I think s Rajasthan king abdicated and sent off to live in seclusion with a courtesan! Enjoyed your commentary!💐
Vagyna makes da world go round!
Ummmm…Vikramaditya needs to be a movie…I mean NOW! Thanks for sharing such a love triangle story!
Fantastic video
Very nice research.
Sparrows, Honey trapping and many things were already going on in Ancient India. 😶.
2:50 रांड
Itna nahi bolna tha..lala
Excellent video!
Jha Daal Daal pr sone ki chidiyaa krti hai bsera wo bharat desh hai mera wo bharat desh hai mera
You shoul also read Shilpadikaaram. U can find how rich was our culture. Every one was equally respected. Kamasutra is very rich text of indian culture. The thought process the intellect was so high. Iam proud of my country. And thanks to make this video.
Old compass time and again you mention that the Telugus were always ready to fight. I am a Telugu and I know my ancestors and contemporaries are similar in a sense of brutality thanks to factionalism. The problem is we are so wrapped up in internal conflicts that we as a people don't represent ourselves much, unlike other South Indian states. That has become a problem so much so that we are forgetting our history and still fighting amongst ourselves. The political landscape of the whole state is very toxic and bloody. Please make a video or give me your sources so that I can confirm what sort of people we were and what we are now. Thank you.
what crap are you talking about? He never mentioned the word telugu once!! FYI, Krishnadevaraya's father was Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, whose mother tongue was tulu. However, like a good king he did not discriminate against languages
Amazing video. Really appreciate. Would love to hear more as to why this perfect system of courtesans crashed eventually? Was it due to colonialism?
A lot of prosperous communities in India went to shit because of Colonialism. The Kinnar community for example were similar to these courtesans, they were renowned musicians and artists. Colonial laws criminalised this community because of which they had to live like beggars and they do so till this day. It won't be a surprise if Courtesan culture in India met the same fate. It's really shameful that our government had to wait this long to decriminalise Gays and Kinnars after independence.
@@el_iron_duke They more accurately "went to shit" because of India's 🪷 bad luck at getting extremely low crisis shock from mass disasters filled with human agony.
Meanwhile, Britain ☕ got absurdly lucky, with multiple crises that make pretty much the entire population cry 😭😭😭 and ground all their hopes into fine dust.
Excellent video! Please do mention the source of your information that will really be helpful 🙏
very good, remind us💜💐💜💐👍
With your talent, I can't help but request you a video on a topic only very few people (including you) are capable of making a video on. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to try to present the common roots of Hinduism and Zoroastrianism, maybe also talking about the Indo-Iranians (before they split into Iranians and Indo-Aryans, highlighting their cultural similarities).
That is indeed a fascinating idea! I’ll look into it for sure.
There are no such things as western Aryans. The only Aryans(noble men) are the people who lived in "Aryavarta"(ancient India)
@@phoenixj1299 My friend, search the meaning of Iran's name. I will help you find the answer faster - Iran means "land of the Aryans".
@@MrTrickFM The word "Arya" is closer than "Iran". The reason is because Aryans( Noble people from ancient India) from specific tribes migrated to Greece, Persia and other parts of Europe (mainly in central Asia) after a huge war that took place several years before the events of ramayan. It's called "battle of 10 kings". The defeated tribes where driven out of ancient India. And that's how "Aryan" became "Iran" because "pashwa" tribe settled in Persia.
Damn, is the "battle of ten kings" mentioned in rigved ?
Would love to know more about slavery in ancient india
Well Devdasis(female slaves of god)Still Exist In Some Parts Of South India I knew a temple but forget it's name
@@boomshakalakaboom543 dasi is not slave. It's servant
@@Sticklemako das or dasi literally means slave
Read Arthashastra and you can know all about "slaves", In ancient India "Slaves" had property rights and state protection, the are many laws in Arthashastra relating to "slavery" which show the complicated social structure of ancient India, its not all black white as it was depicted in popular media take the following sloka for example
"Employing a slave to carry the dead or to sweep ordure, urine,
or the leavings of food; keeping a slave naked; or hurting or
abusing him; or violating (the chastity of) a female slave shall
cause the forfeiture of the value paid for him or her. Violation (of
the chastity) of nurses, female cooks, or female servants of the
class of joint cultivators or of any other description shall at once
earn their liberty for them. Violence towards an attendant of high
birth shall entitle him to run away. When a master has connection
with a nurse or pledged female slave against her will, he shall be
punished with the first amercement; a stranger doing the same shall
be punished with the middlemost amercement. When a man
commits or helps another to commit rape with a girl or a female
slave pledged to him, he shall not only forfeit the purchase value,
but also pay a certain amount of money (sulka) to her and a fine of
twice the amount (of sulka to the Government)"
Yes its bad but not as inhumane as westerners wants us to believe, its not like slavery of Greek, Rome or Arab world like based on race (as much the media wants us to believe Indians endorse in slavery based on race or skin color its not true) the "slaves" in India are more like wage less workers for certain amount of time depending on the debt they owe.
@@playhard719 Its indentured labour then, slaves are owned as property and can be transacted like any other goods. Not so with indebted servants
Best thing to see today.