‘At all marriages, (the ceremonies of which will be hereafter detailed,) or on the occurrence of much-wished-for events, such as the return of a son safely from the wars, the recovery of a lost child, &c., or when a lady wishes to be enrolled among the naik zuns, or pure matrons, a feast is given in honor of Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, which is termed kundooree, a word implying off-falls.—No woman can partake of this feast, unless she be of the purest morals; and it is generally imagined, that an impure person, even tasting the sacred food prepared on that occasion, would surely die. The lady who gives the feast, performs menial offices to the guests, such as washing their feet, &c. The victuals served up, consists of such articles as Fatima is supposed to have preferred, viz. rice, ghee, sugar, pulse, and vegetables. A share is sent to the men; but not of that set apart for the offering; of which the pure matrons may alone partake. To be considered as such, a woman must have regularly kept all the annual feasts, and be married; or, if a virgin, she must then at least disclaim all intentions of changing her condition. No woman contracted in marriage only for a time, such as the moota[[7]] of the Sheeaus, and the nekaw[[7]] of the Soonees, can be admitted. The word nekaw, among the vulgar, implies, but improperly, the secondary kind of marriage. No woman, who has married a second time, though she may not have conversed with the first husband, can partake of the kundooree.
[7]. A loose state of irregular matrimony, sanctioned by the Mahomedan law.
‘The females are seldom married before the age of fifteen. (I wish it to be understood, when I speak indefinitely of the Mussulmans, that I allude to those of the upper provinces; for the manners of the Bengal Mussulman partake so much of the Hindu, as to leave but few traces of their original character perceptible). An earlier period is frequently fixed on, where purposes of interest and policy may be answered. Old maids, at least among the great, are not at all uncommon; caused by a kind of false pride, or I know not what to term it, of the parents, who cannot bear that their daughters’ nakedness should be known to any one. Nadir Shah, it is said, either from a prejudice of this nature, or more probably from a jealousy of too highly honoring any of his subjects, destroyed all his female children, which were extremely numerous, immediately on their birth, except one; who was concealed from him till she had attained her thirteenth year. It was then contrived that she should be brought into his presence. She is said to have been all that was beautiful in nature! She flew to his embrace, which he fondly returned, ignorant that he clasped his own daughter. But, when this devoted child addressed him as her father, the hardened monster seized the innocent victim by the legs, and kept her head immersed in a fountain till she expired! Such an account, even of the unfeeling Nadir Shah, is scarcely to be credited; but the story may shew the name he has left behind him in Hindostan.
‘The late vizier, Asoph ul Dowlah, left about thirty sisters unmarried; not that I believe his delicacy would have suffered from any such fastidious notions as above alluded to; their celibacy was owing to the difficulty of obtaining suitable matches for women of their rank; which, in the present state of the country, must be almost impracticable.
‘Reading and writing are not usual accomplishments with the ladies of Hindostan. Among the great, there are, however, some who read such books as the Koran, &c. and some few who write; but of all delightful intercourse by letter they are entirely debarred; it being deemed indecent even for a wife directly to address her husband; therefore, whether she employ an amanuensis to pen a letter, or be capable of transcribing it herself, it must be written as from a third person; such as a son, or near relation.
‘Among the better order, about ten in a hundred can read the Koran; but it must not be understood by reading, that they thence comprehend one single word of it; that book being to them, what our Bible, in a Latin version, must formerly have been to our common people. The mode of passing their time, though apparently not affording all that variety which an European lady enjoys, is not devoid of amusement. They generally rise, or should do so, at daybreak; that they may have time to purify themselves before the rising of the sun, at which time the first prayer is repeated.—After prayers, the important business at the toilette commences, in which, as is usual among ladies, two or three hours, at least, are profitably spent. The missee is applied to the feet and sweet-smelling oils, &c. to the body; while their flowing ringlets (those nets which entangle unhappy lovers, and which their poets are so fond of describing) are now nicely adjusted. In short, the toilette is become with them a perfect art, and much of a young lady’s time is engrossed in attending to instructions on this head. After the toilette, comes the breakfast; which does not, like ours, consist of fixed articles, but varies agreeably to the taste of the parties, and to the management of the mistress. It will not appear unnecessary to observe, that they never use knives or spoons; and, indeed, they seem to think that we lose much of the relish of the food by the artificial aids we employ on such occasions.
‘After breakfast, and having issued the necessary orders for dinner, the lady of the house, attended by her daughters and slave-girls, sits down to needle-work; an excellence on which, as well as all kinds of embroidery, they greatly pride themselves. Among the middle ranks, such as can write, often employ themselves in copying the Koran, which, when compleated, is either sold for, or given to, some poor person, to be converted into property more needful to him.
‘The sound of the cherky, or spinning wheel, is always considered indicative of poverty, and is therefore seldom heard in the houses of the great; but women of a middling class, often spin large quantities of cotton-wool into fine thread, intended to be wove into mulmuls, &c. for their own apparel. The coarser skeans being allotted to their baundees, or female slaves.