From self-discovery to self-assertion: The musical journey of Janki Bai challenging the courtesan’s liminal space

Abstract

Among the most prominent vocalists of Hindustani music and stars of the gramophone era, Janki Bai Ilahabadi stands out not only as a fine singer and poet but also as a legendary artist whose life was marked by travel as the dominant trigger of change. In this article, I focus on the three journeys that, from songstress courtesan, led Janki Bai to become an accomplished artist who challenged stereotypes. The first journey represented for Janki the opportunity to debunk the cliché of the attractive gānevālī and to assert her autonomy as an artist. The second coincided with the transition of music from mahfils to the living rooms of the middle class through the gramophone. The third was crucial in solemnising Janki’s iconic image. The twilight of her career ran in parallel to the end of the golden era of the tavāyafs, the emergence of the Anti-nautch movement fostered by reformists, and the decline of courtly patronage. This article explores the function of the journey as a catalyst in Janki Bai’s life, emblematic of the broader condition of female performers in colonial India. It also examines how tavāyafs, like Janki, used their journeys to articulate and extend their agency and autonomy beyond the limited spaces they inhabited. As Janki’s story demonstrates, the construction of the female artist’s identity challenges societal expectations of a woman’s image and role. Finally, her journey is framed as one of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and self-assertion in a complex social milieu.