Burqa and history

During the Mughal rule, women did not wear the burqa. Yet, today, in most 
Islamic countries, they are required to wear the garment, says Vimla Patil

ALL across the westernised countries in the world, there is a huge debate on whether their Muslim women citizens or residents/visitors should be allowed to wear the burqa in public spaces. Australian politicians have been known to call for a ban on the burqa for the safety of society after bandits wearing burqas committed armed robberies. A national furore of protest arose, saying such veils had no place in Australian society. "The burqa is no longer a the symbol of Islamic culture. It is now emerging as the preferred disguise of bandits," a politician said. "New citizens or visitors to this country should not try to recreate the lifestyle of their own countries. They should opt for a better life based on our values."

These remarks naturally created a vociferous public debate on the freedom of religious practice and, finally, Australia did not ban the burqa, saying that in a diverse society, everyone had the freedom to live the way they wanted because 1.7 per cent of Australia’s population of 22 million was Muslim, and that racial/religious tensions had to be avoided for the safety of society.

Belgium, France and Italy have had similar experiences. In fact, Belgium recently became the only country to ban the burqa. The Italian police is known to fine women for wearing the burqa, and a few cities have even banned the burqa in public. In France, President Sarkozy has repeatedly said that the burqa is "not welcome in France because it shows the debasement of women."

However, with this background of a worldwide debate on the burqa, the fact that the grand monarchy of the Mughals — from Babur to Aurangzeb — did not require women to wear any burqa or hijab, chadar or naqaab opens up a new track of research. In a recent lecture-demonstration, Dr Asok Kumar Das, an internationally known art expert, showed that Muslim queens and court ladies as well as normal women in the Mughal regime did not wear anything to cover their heads, faces or bodies, except beautifully embroidered, gem-studded garments.

He says: "There is a great deal of research in the miniature paintings of the Mughal era where their queens and court ladies are seen in resplendent garments with exquisite jewellery. The question is who could have had access into the harems to paint these portraits? Historical records show that among all Mughal emperors, Akbar and Jehangir, were great patrons of art, and most of the paintings are done during their regimes. The Akbarnama has several paintings showing women engaged in social activities. A beautiful portrait of the powerful Queen Noorjehan shows that women could be painted by court artists in their regal splendour, or in situations where they were seen enjoying leisure activities.

"Indeed, in Akbar’s and Jehangir’s courts, several artists were brought from Persia and other places for doing portraits and illustrating texts like the Akbarnama as well as many Hindu epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Two well-known names among hundreds of artists at that time were Abul Hasan and Bishan Das, which shows that there were both Hindus and Muslims in the panel of painters. Most of the miniature paintings of this era are in city museums all over the world, including Teheran, Paris and London. In Akbar’s rule, painting was a totally secular art, and depicted court life, portraits of royal men and women, gardens with bird or animal life as well as love stories. However, strangely enough, there is not a single painting of Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved queen of Emperor Shah Jehan, for whom he built the fabulous Taj Mahal."

"Don’t forget that Aurangzeb, who was known to be an extremely strict Muslim, was the son of Shah Jehan," says Dr Das, adding: "During the Islamic rule of India, there is no known proof of women wearing the burqa. There is no certain date or event to mark the start of the practice, and its spread worldwide."

Yet it is true that most Islamic countries today require women to wear full-body clothing such as the burqa, naqaab, chadar or hijaab, and in other multi-cultural countries, it is considered their religious right.

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