Among the poorer orders exist a swarm of prostitutes, frequenting low houses in the cities or boats on the lakes; but of their modes of life we have no account. Probably the manners of prostitutes differ little throughout the world. It is certain that they are largely patronised by the more demoralised part of the population. The traveller Moorcroft, who gave gratuitous advice to the poor of Serinaghur, had at one time nearly 7000 patients on his list. Of these a very large number were suffering from loathsome diseases, induced by the grossest and most persevering profligacy. Altogether the manners of Kashmir appear very corrupt[72].
Of Prostitution in India.
We shall have to view the Hindus under two aspects—as they were under their former oppressors, and as they are under the administration of the Company. The change of rule has wrought, and is working, a change in the manners and institutions of the people perfectly wonderful to contemplate. Climate and position have much to do with national characteristics, but government has more. India under the English no more resembles India under the Mogul, than the England of the nineteenth century resembles the England of the Heptarchy. A beneficent revolution in her fortune has occurred, which is developing an extraordinary reform in the customs and ideas of her native race. Consequently a distinction must be observed between the old and the new state of things. It will be necessary, also, to distinguish those provinces which are absolutely under our sway from those which are independent, or only related to us by subsidiary alliances. A strong contrast is exhibited by these different communities, which, as far as the welfare of the people is concerned, differ as much from each other as the slave states of western Africa differ from the population of Cape Colony. In the one a wise and beneficent government is administered for the happiness of the people; in the other, an imbecile yet savage tyranny makes them look with jealousy on their more fortunate neighbours. This is an important consideration, and by no means irrelevant to our subject, for it illustrates the influence of laws and institutions upon the manners and morals of a nation.
The state of women among the Hindus is not elevated, and as long as their ancient teachers of religion are revered, such must be the case. The female sex is held absolutely dependent on the male, and, as among the Chinese, the father before marriage, the husband afterwards, and the son in widowhood, are the natural protectors assigned by the sacred law. Nothing is to be done by a woman of her purely independent will. She must reverence her lord, and approach him with humble respect. She is bound to him while he desires it, whatever his conduct may be, and, if she rebel, is to be chastised with a rope or cane on the back part of her person, “and not on a noble part, by any means.”
Writers with a particular theory to support frequently quote the institutes of Menu, to show that a contempt of women is inculcated, and hard usage of them encouraged by the precepts of that singular code.
Indolence, vanity, irascible humours, evil dispositions, and lasciviousness, are enumerated as the vices which are declared natural to them. “A woman is chaste, when there is neither place, time, nor person, to afford her an opportunity to be immoral,” says the “Hetopadera,” which is quoted in application to the whole sex, though it applies only as Professor Wilson—the great authority on this subject—observes, to that class of idle, intemperate, profligate females, to be found in every society. Passages undoubtedly occur in the laws and in satirical compositions levelled at the whole sex; but the Hindus themselves usually describe them as amiable, modest, gentle, chaste, full of wit, and excelling in every grace. They are allowed to inherit property; they are permitted under certain circumstances to exercise power, though by indirect means; and they certainly exert great influence over the men. In no state of ancient times, except the polished republics of Greece and Rome, were women held in so much esteem as among the Hindus.
Debarred as they are from the advantages of education, not allowed to eat with their husbands, and forbidden from mixing in society, the Hindu women, of course, are degraded below their just position; but it is not true that they are abject slaves, or are generally treated with barbarity. Among the more wild and barbarous tribes, as well as the more ignorant classes in all parts of India, men frequently beat their wives; but, from the few revelations of the Zenana which have been made, it would appear that its inmates are generally treated with considerable deference and attention. The contact of Mohammedan with Hindu manners has certainly, however, had an effect on the latter, which has depreciated the rank and estimation of the female sex.
Nowhere, indeed, where polygamy is allowed, can women hold their true position. In India, however, though permitted, it was not encouraged by the religious law, and sanctioned in particular cases only, as barrenness, inconstancy, aversion, or some other similar cause. The wife, also, must be consulted, and her consent obtained to the second match. She still held the principal rank in the family, for the new comer could not take her place while she remained in the household.
In various parts of India, different customs of marriage prevail. There are, indeed, four prescribed forms—all honourable, and various only in detail. A fifth is, when the bridegroom, contrary to the sacred law, traffics for a girl. Another is, when a captive, left helpless in a man’s power, is forced to become the companion of his bed. And a last is, when a girl is ravished, when surprised asleep, and taken off or deluded to the house of a new master.
Marriage is viewed as a religious duty by the Hindus. A few are exempted, under special circumstances, from the fulfilment of this sacred obligation. The rules of law enacted with respect to it apply chiefly to affairs of caste, with which we have here little to do. It is forbidden to purchase a wife for money, except under particular conditions; but the young girls have little share in their own destiny, being usually betrothed while very young. The father has the disposal of them until three years after the age of puberty, when it is reckoned disgraceful for her to be single, and then she may choose a partner for herself. Few, however, will marry a maiden so old. In Bahar the girl, betrothed while an infant, is not permitted to enter her husband’s house until mature, when she is conducted thither with as much ceremony as the circumstances of the family will allow. In Bengal the couple are pledged with many rites and a profusion of expense. The bride is taken to her husband’s house, remains there a little while, and then goes home for a short period, but the whole is consummated as soon after ten years of age as practicable. The timid effeminate Bengalee appears of a sensual character, and regards his wife as little more than the instrument of his pleasure. A better state of things is now beginning to prevail there, in consequence of the efforts made by the Company; but under the old system, not one female in twenty thousand was allowed to acquire the least particle of learning. The natives excuse or justify this fact,—first, by the prohibition against educating girls which are contained in their sacred books; and secondly, by declaring that many women would, did they possess those means of intrigue, run riot in profligacy and vice.