Third Gender and the Mughal Court
Image: “Babur meeting a princess.” AD 1598 - National Museum, New Delhi
If you pay attention to this historic painting, members of the khwajasara community can be seen near the tent entrance. They are in service of the princess. There are ample new insights on the often overlooked and erased lived experiences and roles of khwajasaras, within Mughal banquet and court discourse.
Khwajasaras did not only manage the affairs of the harems, as several European historians and scholars have noted, but they also held highly significant positions within the Mughal courts and participated in political, public and cultural spheres.
“Foregrounding this largely unexplored aspect of Mughal history and, in that process, exploring the under-studied aspect of services provided by the ‘third gender’ seems important to develop a complete picture not only of the Mughal private life but also its public, political and cultural dimensions. The administrative and political role played by the khwajasaras has been underplayed or ignored in most writings on the Mughal state. For example, K.S Lal, Gavin Hambly and others, while acknowledging the multifaceted role played by khwajasaras, exclusively highlight their involvement in the harem. It is because of this narrow historical characterization that today the only space associated with the image of a Medieval Indian khwajasara is that of a Mughal harem. A perusal of the contemporary sources reflect that khwajasaras used to perform administrative, religious and managerial duties. Sometimes, the nature of the duty was similar to the ones usually undertaken by important nobles.” ~Scholar Lubna Irfan: ‘Third Gender’ and ‘Service’ in Mughal Court and Harem (Aligarh Muslim University)