#The British Raj

[kumrattourism]

Historical Heritage of Pakistan: Exploring the Rich Cultural Legacy of the Land of Pure

Pakistan is a country with a rich and diverse cultural history that has been shaped by centuries of influence from various civilizations and empires. From the ancient Indus Valley Civilization to the Mughal Empire and beyond, the land of Pakistan has a plethora of historical sites and artifacts that showcase the rich cultural heritage of the country. In this article, we will explore the…

[local-limebug]

ok so real talk do you guys think charles makes colonizer jokes at edwin's expense or not

[chicago-geniza]

Is Bridgerton "good"? Absolutely the fuck not. Is it the most INTERESTING show I've watched in recent memory, a propos the creative decisions that make it so bad? You have no idea

[trexalicious]

Omid supposedly is an investigative journalist so why isn't he investigating how the names got into his latest book? 🤔

[seraphimumbra]

The Dozen were in a tough spot. There were traitors among them. Several had died due to said betrayals. People with low status within the dozen could easily be forced to be sacrificial lambs as was the case with Ian's former fiance. So, I do see how Kamal thought that Raj was his safest bet. Being a Doobay, he definitely wasn't a traitor (Vimal laughs in the distance but you get my point!) and with his position, not only would Amrita live a materially comfortable life with the man she thinks she wants, she would also be as safe as she could hope to be.

But he knows about the Radha situation and thus about Raj's selfish and irresponsible nature. He must know how unlikely it is for Raj to ever develop geniune feelings for Amrita especially now when he must be bitter about the coercion too. He also knows Amrita well enough to know she could hardly be truly happy with such a life.

Perhaps he should have at least informed Amrita of her true circumstances and let her decide? But then her decision would have been obvious. She wouldn't have gone through with it and knowing this, he made the decision for her, completely overruling her wants. I will admit that telling this to Amrita is a particularly risky bet. As an overwhelmed child, it is very possible for her to let this secret reach dangerous ears.

Add in that there is no guarantee that should he be able to find another powerful enough groom for her, said groom would be any better than Raj. Here, at least he has some cards to hold over Raj should he ever dare mistreat his sister in particularly heinous ways.

So Kamal prioritised her safety and what he perceived as her well-being over her wants and happiness. I understand his decision but it would doom her all the same, he betrayed her all the same.

[mat2modblog]

Bruh.

[astraswades]

Have you seen RRR? Thoughts on it?

Yes! I loved that movie. I mostly loved the storyline and how the characters were introduced. My favorite might be Seetha because of how she's played by Alia, but the casting wad perfect !! I got half of my family to watch it and they loved it (yippee).

drew this back in december 2023 : D

[rosekasa]

being bengali is so funny because you'll have 3 generations and we're all were technically born into different nationalities, despite only ONE of these generations being born outside the homeland

[hoarder-of-dragons]

Genuine question for all the Britishers out there, do y'all learn about the colonization of India (and other countries) in your School syllabus??

Like do y'all know about the importance of the Indigo plantations, Jallianwala Bagh or the freedom fighters or anything?

[SORRY FOR THE SPELLING ERRORS]

[historical-beauty-lily]

Devdas (2002) dir. Sanjay Leela Bhansali

[nickysfacts]

Sari is basically like be swaddled, but in a feminine way with style and beauty!

🥻🇮🇳🥻

[paletapessoal]

Copper and silver coffee and tea service, 19th Century, Raj period, Kashmir region.

[vox-anglosphere]

Reflections of India's most famous building, bathed in evening light.

[dailyhistoryposts]

On This Day In History

March 29th, 1849: Punjab is annexed into the United Kingdom.

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Tawaif - a highly skilled courtesan (skilled in: music, dance, poetry, and singing) who catered to nobility in South Asia. Similar in respects to Geisha in many ways, including that sex was NOT obligatory. It occurred, but the primary function was entertainment.

Most commonly romantic poetry like Ghazals -a form of Arabic poetry that made its way over to South Asia: odes of long lost lovers, tragedy, separation, stuff to pull at your heart strings. And, shairi, another Arab/Persian kind of poetry that is built on monorhymed quatrains or four sixteen syllable lines (keeping to the same rhyme scheme) with a caesura used between lines 8//9 to break up the first half from the second. During the British Occupation, they were simply called, Nautch girls or dance girls. But this is far from all they did or were capable of. The name itself, Tawaif, is the term for a HIGHLY SKILLED courtesan. They were trained to the upmost of artistic forms.

They were not there to perform sex acts - that was often incidental and not contractual. And the women had the power to rebuff men's advances.

The Tawaifs of India were regarded as some of the greatest performing artists of their time with documented praise and examples from travelers such as Xuanzang, a Chinese pilgrim, notable traveling Buddhist Monk and scholar who frequented India, remarking on the Tawaifs skill, beauty, and performances during once such visit to the Sun Temple in Multan. Al-Biruni, often regarded as the father of Comparative Religion studies, an Iranian polymath and scholar, regarded on their skill and larger numbers during the 11th century CE upon a visit, Ganikas, another entertainer, are a public dancing girl (very common in cities from the Vedic period upward) who received classical arts training (most obviously dancing) and often performed from public settings up to royal private ones - and would compete to become Nagarvadhu - the most beautiful woman and most highly talented in forms of art (dance mostly).

Many young girls would leave or were taken to be taught these skills, and yes, there were schools for this too as well as private tutelage. People don't often realize this, but Ancient India was a place of extreme learning with all kinds of schools for different disciplines. A place of academies. Something I've talked about, like places like Nalanda, the world's oldest residential university that attracted people from far as Greece to Japan.

Anyways, Tawaifs were so successful and sought after, that records show they were consistently among the highest tax payers. Records also show that their wealth was used (by their consent/given) to help fund rebellions against the British Raj - enough so that the British passed laws to strip them of their ability to work as courtesans and left them only with sex work, which is sadly why some stories today only speak of them as prostitutes and not knowing their full, complex, and impactful history It's said the art of all this came from Urvashi, an Apsara (celestial being of dance, song, seduction/temptation, art, music).

[fatimajpeg]

the red shoes (1948) will always be better than black narcissus (1947) like don’t play with me first of all the red shoes indulges in fantasy, artifice and theatrical tragedy in a way that black narcissus is absolutely incapable of. also the orientalist and colonialist gaze that permeates throughout black narcissus just blindsided me honestly why does the beauty of the Himalayan valleys need to be contextualised as alien, hostile & hypnotic exotic forces that compels the missionaries on a path of obsession and self-destruction (also how it’s this exotic land where the nuns want to break their vow of celibacy like ok lol). why can’t it just be set dressing to the story in the same way as the idyllic EURO sceneries were in red shoes. also the brownface ew