The changing fortune of Baijee tradition in colonial Bengal
Author(s): Sonia Mondal
Abstract: The utmost visible transformation that occurred during the colonial period was the erosion and degradation of traditional performing communities into the colonial categorization of the common prostitute class. This article addresses the changing fortune of one of the traditional performing communities in pre-colonial period: the Baijee tradition. It has highlighted the sequential factors of British colonialism and its effects on the scenario of socio-economic reality where the so-called pre-colonial traditions of women performing community or public entertainers like baijees of Bengal who had once a glorious past but were coalesced or merged into "prostitute category" during colonial times.
