Rarely do we acknowledge a life of glory and power that they had once lived in the subcontinent centuries ago. Click here to join our channel indianexpress and stay updated with the latest headlines.
Adrija Roychowdhury Adrija writes long, researched features on history, world and national Home Research When eunuchs were the mid-rung of power in the Mughal empire When eunuchs were the mid-rung of power in the Mughal empire The faith placed by the Bihar government in transgenders is largely reflective of a time when they were not just trusted as guards of imperial harems and chambers, but were also privy to intimate details of the court and the household.
Express Archive photo The faith placed by the Bihar government in transgenders is largely reflective of a time when they were not just trusted as guards of imperial harems and chambers, but were also privy to intimate details of the court and the household. The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards. Bengaluru news Live: Karnataka reports Covid infections; Orange alert in 6 districts 2 hours ago.
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If eunuchs were living with a male child, they risked fines and jail. Many of these children were actually disciples. Others appeared to have been orphans, adopted or enslaved as children. There were also children of musicians who performed with eunuchs and appeared to have lived alongside them with their families.
Some eunuchs even lived with widows who had children. British officials saw the children as "agents of contagion and a source of moral danger". According to records, there were between 90 and male children found living with registered eunuchs between and Very few of them had been emasculated and most of them were living with their biological parents. The explicit, long-term ambition was limiting, and thus finally extinguishing, the number of eunuchs," says Dr Hinchy.
The British also began policing other groups which didn't fit the binary gender categories - effeminate men who wore female clothing, performed in public and lived in kin-based households, men who performed female roles in theatre and male devotees who dressed as women.
In many ways, the attitudes of the British and the English-speaking Indian elites to eunuchs echo aspects of Hindu faith that colonial rulers found abhorrent. Indologist Wendy Doniger has written about the British rejection of the sensual strains of Hinduism as filthy paganism.
However, religion was not a factor in the colonial rejection of eunuchs - it was more about "contamination", "filth", their sexual practices and public presence. Yet, despite this dark history, eunuchs survived these attempts to eliminate them by evading the police, continuing to have a visible public presence and devising survival strategies. Dr Hinchy writes that they became skilful at law breaking, evading the police and keeping on the move.
They also kept their cultural practices alive within their communities and in private places, which was not illegal. They also became adept at hiding property, so that police could not register it. Their success is clear by the fact that despite being often defined as deviant and disorderly, Dr Hinchy says eunuchs "remain a visible presence in public space, public culture, activism and politics in South Asia".
In India, they continue to make a living by dancing at weddings and other ceremonies despite facing discrimination and living on the margins. Theirs is a stirring story of resilience and survival. Read more from Soutik Biswas.
Transgender gurus in landmark Hindu procession. Yet, they remain a neglected part of our population. Although they have obvious endocrine dysfunction, no systematic attempt has been made to evaluate, assess, and improve their endocrine health. This is in sharp contrast to the yeoman work done by other scientists, from allied disciplines, to destigmatize the eunuchs.
A concerted effort is needed by endocrinologists, and allied specialties, to understand the endocrinology of eunuchs and to optimize it. Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: None declared. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Indian J Endocrinol Metab.
Sanjay Kalra. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Department of Endocrinology, Bharti Hospital and B. E, Karnal, Haryana, India. Corresponding Author: Dr. E-mail: moc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract There are established guidelines for the endocrine and overall treatment of transsexual persons.
Keywords: Eunuchs, gender identity disorder, gender role, India, sex reassignment, transsexual. S URGERY While Western recommendations recommend genital sex reassignment as a final step of transsexualism, Indian eunuchs have often undergone crude surgery before presenting to the endocrinologist.
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