The custom of hiring wives still prevails in Persia, though strict Mohammedans abhor and condemn the practice, which was prohibited by Omar, the successor of Mohammed. In operation, it is an agreement made by a man and woman to cohabit a specified time for an agreed sum of money. The children springing from this union must be supported by the father. If the man terminate the connection prematurely, he must still pay the whole stipulated amount, and the woman is restrained from accepting any other protector until a sufficient time has elapsed to prove whether she is pregnant by the former. Although these contracts are ranked as marriages, few readers will be inclined to think them any thing but systematic prost.i.tution.
Formerly there were numerous open and avowed prost.i.tutes in Persia, among whom the dancing girls were conspicuous for the beauty of their persons and the melody of their voices. They had considerable sway until the time of Futteh Ali Khan, who crowded his palace with concubines, and from among them issued edicts to suppress immorality, prohibiting the dancing girls from approaching the court, and exiling them to the distant provinces.
Social life was most depraved under the Sefi dynasty. Public brothels were very numerous, and largely contributed to the national revenue, no less than thirty thousand prost.i.tutes paying an annual tax in Ispahan alone.
The governors of provinces allowed similar privileges for money, and there was scarcely a town which had not one licensed brothel at least, whose inmates (also licensed and taxed) were known as _Cahbeha_, or the worthless. As soon as the shops were closed these houses were opened, and the women repaired to particular localities, where they sat in rows, closely veiled. With each company was an old harridan, whose business was to show the faces of her troop to any man desiring a companion, and to receive his payment when the selection was made. Under the reigning family this system has been checked; no licenses are now given, and prost.i.tution has retired to secrecy. But the vice has in no way decreased, and public brothels abound in all the cities of Persia.
AFGHANISTAN.
Marriage in Afghanistan is a commercial transaction, the women being sold for prices varying according to circ.u.mstances. This system is carried to such an extent that if a widow marries, the friends of her first husband can recover from his successor the amount originally paid for her. The necessity of purchasing a wife renders many of the poorer cla.s.ses unable to marry until well advanced in years, in opposition to the custom of their wealthy neighbors, among whom bridegrooms of fifteen and brides of twelve years old are common.
The prior intercourse of the s.e.xes is regulated by various circ.u.mstances.
In crowded towns men have little opportunity of a.s.sociating with women, and there professional match-makers exist. Their functions are, in the first place, to see and report upon any girl whom a man may wish to marry; then to ascertain if her family would agree to the match, and, finally, to make arrangements for a public proposal. This is made by the suitor"s father, in company with a number of male friends, to the father of the girl, while a similar deputation of females waits upon the mother.
Presents are made, the selling price determined, and the couple are betrothed. Soon after, the parties sign a mutual contract; stipulation is made for provision for the woman if divorced; a festival is given; the bridegroom pays for his wife, and she is delivered at the dwelling of her future master. Similar formalities take place in the country, but, as the social intercourse is less restricted there, marriages frequently spring from attachment, and the negotiations are mere matters of etiquette.
A romantic lover may obtain his mistress without the consent of her parents by tearing away her veil, cutting off a lock of her hair, or throwing a large white cloth over her, and declaring her his affianced bride. These proceedings do not release him from the obligation to pay for her, which is only evaded by an elopement, a serious step, considered by the girl"s family as equivalent to murder, and revenged accordingly, unless the couple secure shelter and protection from some neighboring tribe. Sometimes a man never sees his bride until the marriage is completed. In certain districts where this rule nominally exists it is practically violated, secret interviews between the bride and bridegroom being tolerated, and called "the sport of the betrothed." The young man steals after dark to the house of his charmer, affecting to conceal his presence from the men, and is introduced by the mother to her daughter"s room, where the couple are left till the morning undisturbed. The ordinary result of this is the antic.i.p.ation of nuptial privileges, and cases have been known where the bride has borne several children before she has been formally delivered to her husband.
Polygamy is allowed, but is too expensive to be practiced by the majority of the people, although some rich men maintain a large number of concubines in addition to the four legal wives.
The social condition of females is low in Afghanistan. Among the more barbarous tribes they labor in the fields. With the poor all the drudgery of the house falls upon them, while the rich keep them secluded in the harems. The law allows a man the privilege of beating his wife, but custom is more chivalrous than the code, and considers such an act disgraceful.
Of avowed prost.i.tutes in this region we know but little beyond the bare fact that such a cla.s.s exists, and that their profligacy is materially aided by the ignorance and insipidity of the wives and concubines, when contrasted with the knowledge of the world and comparatively polished manners exhibited by courtesans, whose society is frequently sought as a relief from the monotony of home.
KASHMIR.
Unoppressed by any rigid code of etiquette, and naturally addicted to pleasure, the people of Kashmir find much of their enjoyment in female society, and from the earliest times have been noted for their love of singers and dancers. In former days the capital city was the scene of constant revels, in which morality was but a secondary consideration, and now the inhabitants relieve the continual struggle against misfortune and despotism by indulging in gross vices, and drown the sense of hopeless poverty in the gratification of animal pa.s.sions. The women of this delightful valley have long been celebrated for their beauty, and are still called the flower of the Oriental race. The face is of a dark complexion, richly flushed with pink; the eyes large, almond-shaped, and overflowing with a peculiar liquid brilliance; the features regular, harmonious, and fine; the limbs and bodies are models of grace. But all writers agree that art does nothing to aid nature, and it is not unusual to see eyes unsurpa.s.sed for brightness and expression flashing from a very dirty face. Among the poorer cla.s.ses filth and degradation render many women actually repulsive, notwithstanding their resplendent beauty.
Travelers always remark the dancing girls who have acquired so much renown in Kashmir. The village of Changus was at one time celebrated for a colony of these women, who excelled all others in the valley; but now its famous beauties have disappeared, and live only in the traditions of the place.
The dancing girls may be divided into several cla.s.ses. Among the higher may be found those who are virtuous and modest, probably to about the same extent as among actresses, opera singers, and ballet girls in civilized communities. Others frequent entertainments at the houses of rich men, or public festivals, and estimate their favors at a very high price, while the remainder are avowed harlots, prost.i.tuting themselves indiscriminately to any who desire their company. Many of these are devoted to the service of some G.o.d, whose temple is enriched from the gains of their calling.
The Watul, or Gipsy tribe of Kashmir is remarkable for many lovely women, who are taught to please the taste of the voluptuary. They sing licentious songs in an amorous tone, dance in a lascivious measure, dress in a peculiarly fascinating manner, and seduce by the very expression of their countenances. When they join a company of dancing girls, they are uniformly successful in their vocation, and have been known to ama.s.s large sums of money. Now that the valley is in its decadence, their charms find a more profitable market in other places. The bands of dancing girls are usually accompanied by sundry hideous duennas, whose conspicuous ugliness forms a striking contrast to their charge.
The Nach girls are under the surveillance of the government, which licenses their prost.i.tution. They are actual slaves, and can not sing or dance without permission from their overseer, to whom they must resign a large portion of their earnings.
In addition to these, who may be styled poetical courtesans, there exists a swarm of prost.i.tutes frequenting low houses in the cities or boats on the lake; but of them we have no distinct account. It is certain that they are largely visited by the more immoral of the population, and an accurate idea of their _status_ may be formed from a knowledge of the fact that the traveler Moorcraft, who gave gratuitous medical advice to the poor of Serinaghur, had at one time nearly seven thousand patients on his lists, a very large number of whom were suffering from loathsome diseases induced by the grossest and most persevering profligacy. In short, there can be but little doubt that the manners of the inhabitants of this interesting and beautiful valley are corrupt to the last degree.
INDIA.
India exhibits, in its different communities, many aspects of social life, but it may be said, in general terms, that the state of woman is degraded, as she is absolutely dependent upon man, and can do nothing of her own will. She must approach her lord with reverence; is bound to him so long as he desires it, whatever his conduct may be; and if she rebel, is liable to be chastised with a rope or a cane in a cruel manner. Debarred the advantages of education, not allowed to eat with their husbands or to mix in society, women are yet not treated as abject slaves; and from the few revelations of the zenana which have been made, it may be inferred that its inmates receive considerable deference and attention.
Polygamy is permitted in India, but not encouraged by the religious law, and only sanctioned in certain cases, such as barrenness, inconstancy, or some similar cause, and then the wife"s consent must be obtained before a second and subordinate wife can be added to the household.
Marriage is viewed as a religious duty by the Hindoos, only a few being exempt from the obligation. It is forbidden to purchase a wife for money; but the girls have little choice as to their destiny, being usually betrothed while young. A father has the right to dispose of his daughter until three years after the age of p.u.b.erty, when she may choose a husband for herself: not many remain single till that time, as celibacy would be accounted disgraceful, and few men would marry a maiden so old. In Bengal, betrothal takes place with many rites and much ostentation. The girl-bride is taken to her future husband"s house, and remains there a short time, when she returns to her parents until mature. The anxiety to dispose of a daughter as young as possible arises from the fact that her birth is regarded as inauspicious, and even as a domestic calamity, from which her parents are glad to escape. Hence the character of the bridegroom is a secondary consideration, and marriage often results unhappily. In fact, little else can be expected where the parties are absolutely strangers to each other until the union is effected. The uneducated wife, without a gleam of knowledge, amuses herself by a thousand trivial devices, such as adorning her person, curling her hair, or listening to the gossip of her slaves. It is, nevertheless, generally admitted that the majority of Hindoo women are faithful to their marital vows. The severe laws against unchast.i.ty are framed more for preserving _caste_ than morals, and severely punish any woman detected in an intrigue with a man of different grade to herself.
Divorce may be easily effected by the husband, but the wife has no corresponding power. A man who calls his wife "mother," renounces her by that act. A barren wife may be superseded in the eighth year: she who bears only daughters, or whose children die in the birth, in the eleventh year; and one of an unkind disposition may be divorced without any delay.
The customs that prevail in different provinces respecting wives and their treatment may be described in a few words. In Arracan, when a man wants money, he p.a.w.ns his wife for a certain sum, or else sells her altogether.
In the southern parts of the peninsula polygamy is largely practiced. The Shaynagas of Canara are not allowed to take a second wife unless the first be childless. The Corannas, the Panchalura, and other tribes, permitted polygamy and the purchase of wives. Among the Woddas every man had as many wives as he pleased; all worked for him, and a lazy one was divorced _sans ceremonie_. The Carruburru took no notice of an act of adultery if the wife was a hard-working woman; otherwise she might live with any man who chose to keep her. In Rajpootana woman holds a higher position, and exercises considerable influence on the actions and tastes of men, for a Rajpoot consults his wife on every important occasion. The estimation in which they are held is indicated by a national proverb, which says, "When wives are honored the G.o.ds are pleased; when they are dishonored the G.o.ds are offended." This district exhibits the Hindoo women in the most favorable circ.u.mstances, and even here they hold but a subordinate place, as must always be the case where polygamy is tolerated. It is scarcely necessary to review all the local peculiarities of so extended a people: enough has been said to show the social condition of married women. It remains to give some account of prost.i.tution.
Some of the dancing women and musicians of Southern India were attached to every temple; a portion were reserved by the sensual Brahmins for their exclusive pleasures, and the rest hired themselves out indiscriminately.
Each troop was under a chief, who regulated their performances and prices.
In the temple of Tulava, near Mangalore, a curious custom existed. Any woman could dedicate herself to prost.i.tution by eating some of the rice which had been offered to the idol, and was allowed her choice to live within or without its precincts. In the former case, she received a daily allowance of food, and her prost.i.tution was limited to the priests; in the latter, her amours were unrestricted, but a stipulated portion of her profits must be given to the temple. In Sindh every town has a troop of dancing girls, many of whom are very handsome. Before the British conquest the vice was largely encouraged; numbers of the women acquired considerable fortunes, and their political influence was potent in the _durbars_ of the debauched Amirs. An evident reform has taken place of late years.
The lascivious scenes of the southern country are not enacted, at least to the same extent, in Hindostan proper, where the interest of the English government has been directed against immorality. Toward the close of the last century an official report was made on the morals of British India.
It was bad enough: much laxity prevailed in private life; receptacles for women of bad character abounded; prost.i.tutes had a place in society, made an important figure at great entertainments, and were admitted to the zenanas to exhibit their voluptuous dances. Contrasted with former years, a great improvement is now perceptible, and the profligacy of large cities scarcely exceeds the vices of European communities. Thus Benares, with a population of 180,000, had 1764 prost.i.tutes; and Decca, with nearly 67,000 inhabitants, had 770 prost.i.tutes.
Apart from governmental influences, it can scarcely be denied that Europeans have contributed to the advance of vice by taking temporary companions. These _liaisons_ were scarcely considered improper. The custom was to purchase girls from their mothers. Many of them were faithful and attached to their protectors, but their extravagance and propensity for gambling made them very costly adjuncts.
The religious ceremonies originated by the Brahmins were often but scenes of the wildest debauchery, rivaling the ancient Egyptian festival of Bubastis, and no good would result from an extended description of dances performed by nude or semi-nude women, of the desecration of wives by a licentious priesthood, or of the disgusting polygamy of the Brahmins.
Suffice it to say that such customs existed, but are now yielding to more refined observances.
The general profligacy of the country has introduced syphilis in most parts of Hindostan. Some a.s.sert that it was carried there after the discovery of America, but neither history nor tradition warrants this opinion. It may be noticed that it is not called by any Sanscrit word, but is known by a Persian appellation.
Our notice of India would be incomplete without an allusion to the _suttee_, or burning of widows, and to infanticide. The Shastres are full of recommendations to perform the first of these shocking observances, and promise ineffable bliss to the voluntary victim. It was carried to such an extent that fifteen thousand women are reported to have perished in one year in Bengal. This is doubtless an exaggeration, although the number was confessedly very large. Among the horrible details of the practice we find that betrothed children of eight or ten years old, and women of eighty-five, have alike been thrown into the burning pile. Fearful scenes have been witnessed on these occasions. A miserable wretch has twice escaped from the fire and clung to the feet of a traveler, vainly imploring him to save her; and then, naked, and with the flesh already burned from parts of her body, has been bound and thrown into the flames by the frantic relatives. Let British rule in India be what it may, no man, no "Aborigines Protection Society," can regret its spread, in conjunction with the services rendered to our common humanity by the abolition of the _suttee_.
Infanticide formerly prevailed to a great extent, but is now almost extirpated from British India. The crime was sanctioned by custom, but not by religion or tradition. Its victims were chiefly females, and their murder was in consequence of the difficulty of marrying them within the required bounds of _caste_, or of the ruinous expenses which fashion required should be incurred at the wedding ceremonies, rather than from any other cause. It appears to have been the custom among the ancient dwellers on the banks of the Indus for the father of a female child to carry it to the market-place, and publicly demand if any one wanted a wife. If the reply was in the affirmative, it was betrothed at once, and carefully reared, but otherwise it was immediately killed. Wilkinson a.s.serted twenty-five years ago that twenty thousand children were annually murdered in Malwa and Rajpootana, but by the system of rewarding parents who reared their offspring, and the gradual introduction of salutary laws, a mighty reform has been effected.
CEYLON.
Under the original inst.i.tutions of the Singhalese, they never licensed public prost.i.tution, nor made brothels of the temples, as in India.
Whatever effect the Buddhist religion produced was in favor of virtue, but the character of the people is naturally sensual; profligacy among men and want of chast.i.ty among women are general characteristics, and even those who profess Christianity and acknowledge the moral law of England are not free from this stain.
In Ceylon, as, indeed, in most parts of Asia, marriage is contracted at an early age. A man "attains his majority" at sixteen, and a girl as soon as marriageable by nature is marriageable by law, at which time her parents or relatives give a feast, inviting a number of single men. Soon after, a man who may desire to marry her sends one of his friends to her parents to mention, in apparently a casual manner, that a rumor of the intended marriage of his friend and their daughter is in circulation. If this announcement meets a favorable reception, the father of the bridegroom calls, inquires the amount of the dowry, and carries the negotiation a few steps farther. Mutual visits are then exchanged, preliminaries settled, and an auspicious day fixed for the wedding, which takes place with much ceremony. The stars are consulted in every step, and should the bridegroom"s horoscope differ from the bride"s, his younger brother may act as his proxy at the ceremony. The whole Buddhaical ritual is a tedious succession of formalities, entails enormous expenses, and can not be followed by the poor. To those of low caste it is positively forbidden, even if they are rich enough to meet the outlay, and with these marriage is limited to a simple agreement between the parents of the young couple.
Among the Kandians polyandrism prevails to a great extent, a matron of high _caste_ being sometimes the wife of eight brothers. The people justify this custom upon several grounds: among the rich, because it prevents litigation, saves property from minute subdivision, and concentrates family influence; with the poor, because it reduces expenses, and frequently where one brother could not alone maintain a wife and family, the a.s.sociation of several can command the means. This plurality of husbands is not necessarily confined to brothers, for a man may, with his wife"s consent, introduce a stranger, who is called an "a.s.sociated husband," and is ent.i.tled to all marital rights. This practice does not extend beyond the province of Kandy, although it was formerly prevalent throughout the maritime districts of the island.
Another Kandian peculiarity was a kind of marriage called "Bema," in which the husband lived at his wife"s house. He received but little respect from his relations, and could be ejected at once if unpopular. There is an ancient proverb in reference to this dubious arrangement, which says that a man married according to the Bema process should only take to his bride"s house a pair of sandals to protect his feet, a palm leaf to shield his head, a staff to support him if sick, and a lantern in case he should be expelled in the dark, so that he may be prepared to depart at any hour of the day or night.
In Ceylon, women frequently seek for divorces for the most trivial causes, and as separation can be attained by a mere return of the marriage gifts, it often takes place. If a child is born within nine months from this separation, the husband is required to support it for three years. If a married woman commits adultery, and the husband is a witness, he may kill her lover. When a man puts away his wife on account of an intrigue, he may disinherit her and the whole of her offspring, even if the latter were born before any crime had been committed by their mother. If he seeks a divorce from caprice, he must relinquish all his wife"s property, and share with her whatever may have acc.u.mulated during their cohabitation.
The Singhalese do not always exercise their privileges, but are frequently indulgent husbands, and forgive offenses which most people hold unpardonable. In proof of this, a Kandian asked the British authorities to compel the return of an unfaithful wife, pleading his love for her, and promising to forget her frailty. English jurisdiction did not extend so far as this, and the woman coolly turned her back upon her husband and accompanied her paramour, whom she soon after deserted for a third partner. Many instances of this kind have induced the native poets to produce a number of satirical effusions upon woman"s inconstancy, and a traveler translates the following specimen:
""I"ve seen the adumbra-tree in flower, white plumage on the crow, And fishes" footsteps on the deep have traced through ebb and flow;"
If man it is who thus a.s.serts, his words you may believe, But all that woman says, distrust; she speaks but to deceive."
To understand the first clause, it will be necessary to remember that the adumbra is a kind of fig-tree, and the natives a.s.sert that no mortal has ever seen it in bloom.
Infanticide was at one time common in Ceylon, and all female children, except the first-born, were liable to be sacrificed, especially if born under a malignant planet; but latterly the British government have denounced the crime as murder, and punished it accordingly. This has had the effect of gradually abolishing it, and the population has increased in consequence.
The social condition of the Singhalese women is not so degraded as in other parts of the East, but their moral character does not correspond.
Profligacy is prevalent. Open and acknowledged prost.i.tution is rare, excepting in the sea-port towns, and of its extent there we have no reliable particulars. Under the Kandian dynasty a common harlot had her hair and ears cut off, and was publicly whipped in a state of nudity.
ULTRA GANGETIC NATIONS.
In this division we include the immense tract lying between Hindostan and China. Although these countries present some variety of customs and degrees of progress, yet, generally speaking, their manners are uniform.
In all, the condition of women is extremely low. They are held in contempt, are taught to abase themselves in their own minds, and employ their license by degrading themselves still farther. The effect of Asiatic despotism is plainly visible: every man is the king"s serf, and the support of the community devolves upon the women, who, in Cochin China especially, plow, sow, reap, fell trees, build, and perform all the other offices civilization a.s.signs to the stronger s.e.x.