Kaneez / Rakassa

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Posted: 6 years ago

Hey everyone!!!

Though I am not new to watching historicals I always had a doubt on something.Are Kaneez and Rakassa the same thing? Above all what do they exactly mean?

Anarkali was called a kaneez in the old Mughal E Azam movie and here the promos also refer to her as one.So is a kaneez basically a slave or just a court dancer? They do seem different from the dasis or servants.

Then the Jodha Akbar show on Zee termed Anarkali as a Rakassa.Now what does that term mean? In Razia Sultan,Shah Turkan was also called a rakassa and she was Iltutmish's concubine.

Can anyone please shed some light on this?

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Shaavi

@Shaavi

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Posted: 6 years ago

Originally posted by: LawlessLawyer
Hey everyone!!!
Though I am not new to watching historicals I always had a doubt on something.Are Kaneez and Rakassa the same thing? Above all what do they exactly mean?
Anarkali was called a kaneez in the old Mughal E Azam movie and here the promos also refer to her as one.So is a kaneez basically a slave or just a court dancer? They do seem different from the dasis or servants.
Then the Jodha Akbar show on Zee termed Anarkali as a Rakassa.Now what does that term mean? In Razia Sultan,Shah Turkan was also called a rakassa and she was Iltutmish's concubine.

Can anyone please shed some light on this?

Kaneez means a slave, a servant girl only. But Rakkasa is used almost exclusively with the women of the market: a rakkasa (the dancer) a tawaif (courtesan). Like Amrapali. A kameez was not expected to entertain the members of the court, but a rakkasa was expected to make the members of the court happy.

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SunflowerField

@SunflowerField

Navigator

Posted: 6 years ago

She is a kaneez who also happens to be a rakassa. In other words a house maid who also specializes in dance. 😊

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Suchi_Ejf_fan

@Suchi_Ejf_fan

Rocker

Posted: 6 years ago

Kaneez means only slave

Rakassa is slave plus dancer

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jalalak

@jalalak

Explorer

Posted: 6 years ago

Originally posted by: LawlessLawyer
Hey everyone!!!
Though I am not new to watching historicals I always had a doubt on something.Are Kaneez and Rakassa the same thing? Above all what do they exactly mean?
Anarkali was called a kaneez in the old Mughal E Azam movie and here the promos also refer to her as one.So is a kaneez basically a slave or just a court dancer? They do seem different from the dasis or servants.
Then the Jodha Akbar show on Zee termed Anarkali as a Rakassa.Now what does that term mean? In Razia Sultan,Shah Turkan was also called a rakassa and she was Iltutmish's concubine.

Can anyone please shed some light on this?

Raqs means dance n raqqasa means a dancer n kaneez means slave or a female servant .

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MsChanadlerBong

@MsChanadlerBong

Rocker

+ 5

Posted: 6 years ago

Kaneez means slave or servants. They are basically maids. Where as Raqasa are dancers or entertainers. As far as I know, Kaneez are little more dignified than Raqasa.

Anarkali and her khala was claimed as Kaneez by Salim's grandmother. How does she turn out to be Raqasa would be interesting to watch. Or is it the same thing here? 😕

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myviewprem

@myviewprem

Sparkler

+ 3

Posted: 6 years ago

Rakasaa means courtesean

They are not maids

They do not do any work

They only dance and pleasure royals and ministers

Maids can marry but not a rakasssa

Like some maids of mughals married and had kids (some maids became milk mothers too and they had husbands and kids). Not all maids remained unmarried. Like Salim's mother Jodha had a maid who was rajputh, she was married and had a daughter and Salim considered her daughter as his sister. Even jahanara had a maid who was married and had kids. So maid can marry. Maid in some cases became like a family. Like jahanara considered one elderly maid like a mother because she took care of her and her siblings during and after mumtaz death. Salim too considered some of his mothers maids with high respect although they are not milk mothers etc. Same is case of many prince and princesses.

But a Rakassa cannot marry anyone. Rakassa is not respected in society or by royals. They are used for pleasure apart from dance. Not all rakassa were dancers. They do not have respect of even a cocubbine. They are lowest rung of society. When Salim became emperor he passed order that Rakassa and their houses should be shifted to outside city. So you can understand how demeaning a Rakassa was in those times. Even today a Rakassa is the lowest strata of society. In 15th century it must be even more worst. Rakassa need not dance always. Even today no one marries a Rakassa etc.

Edited by myviewprem - 6 years ago

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Kaneez / Rakassa

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