Zenana

For the alternative use of this word in the Urdu-language to describe effeminate males, see Kothi (gender).

Prince or noble visiting the zenana or women's quarters

Zenana (Persian: زنانه‎‎, Urdu: زنانہ‎, Hindi: ज़नाना). The literal meaning of the word zenana is "of the women" or "pertaining to women". It contextually refers to the part of a house belonging to a Hindu or Muslim family in South Asia which is reserved for the women of the household. The Zenana are the inner apartments of a house in which the women of the family live. The outer apartments for guests and men are called the Mardana. Conceptually in those that practice purdah it is the South Asian equivalent of the harem.

Christian missionaries were able to gain access to the zenanas through the zenana missions; female missionaries who had been trained as doctors and nurses were able to provide these women with health care and also evangelise them in their own homes.

External links

The dictionary definition of zenana at Wiktionary