Zenana

Zenana

Zenana (Persian: زنانه, Urdu: زنانہ, Hindi: ज़नाना) refers to the part of a house in South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan reserved for the women of the household. The Zenana is the apartments of an Eastern house in which the women of the family are secluded. This is an Islamic custom, which has been introduced into India and has spread amongst the Hindus.

Zenana missions

The zenana missions are missions by women missionaries to Indian women in their own homes, with the aim of converting them to Christianity. The Baptist Missionary Society inaugurated Zenana missions to India in the early 19th century. The concept was later taken up by other churches and extended to other countries.

By the 1880s, the "zenana missions" became dedicated to providing Indian women with medical help in their own homes. This involved recruiting female doctors, both by persuading female doctors in Europe to come to India and by encouraging Indian women to study medicine. As a result, the zenana missions helped break down the male bias of colonial medicine in India.

ee also

*Harem
*Purdah


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  • zénana — [ zenana ] n. m. • 1812; mot hindi, d o. persane 1 ♦ Appartement des femmes, chez les musulmans de l Inde. 2 ♦ (1892) Étoffe cloquée employée pour les vêtements d intérieur. ● zénana nom féminin (mot d origine hindī) Étoffe cloquée, de soie ou de …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • zenana — ZENANÁ, zenanale, s.f. Ţesătură cu urzeală de mătase şi băteală de bumbac sau de vigonie, pe o parte lucioasă şi pe cealaltă scămoşată, utilizată la confecţionarea unor obiecte de îmbrăcăminte pentru femei. [var.: zananá s.f.] – Din fr. zénana.… …   Dicționar Român

  • Zenana — e*na na, n. [Hind. zen[=a]na, zan[=a]na, fr. Per. zan[=a]na, fr. zan woman; akin to E. queen.] The part of a dwelling appropriated to women. [India] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Zenana — Zenana, in Indien so v.w. Harem …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Zenana — Zenāna (Senana, pers.), die von Frauen bewohnte Abteilung eines ind. Hauses; dann auch s.v.w. Frau …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • zenana — zenána ž DEFINICIJA etnol. dio kuće (u Indiji i Iranu) u kojem su izdvojene žene koje pripadaju porodici ETIMOLOGIJA hind. ← perz.: ženski ← zan: žena …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • zenana — [ze nä′nə] [Hindi zanāna < Pers < zan, woman, akin to Gr gynē, woman: see GYNO ] in India and Iran, the part of the house reserved for women …   English World dictionary

  • Zenana — Harem Pour les articles homonymes, voir Harem (homonymie). Un harem (arabe : حريم [ḥarīm], « harem » ou « gynécée ») désigne à la fois la suite de femmes (concubines ou simples « beautés ») qui entouraient un… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Zenana — El zenana o zanana, en persa, hace referencia a la parte de la casa reservada para las mujeres y su séquito en países como la India o Pakistán; por extensión, se usa para referirse a un grupo de mujeres o una habitación donde se reúnen aunque no… …   Wikipedia Español

  • zenana — noun /zəˈnɑːnə/ a) A harem on the Indian subcontinent, a part of the house reserved for high caste women; a system of segregating women into harems. Depend upon it, Solomon would never have built altars to Ashtaroth and all those ladies with… …   Wiktionary

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