The other woman, as the term goes, has quite a connotation. But many of these women leave history behind them, for they have quietly and surely carved a niche for themselves in its annals. Many of these women are famous including Mastani, Amrapali, Begum Sumroo, and Mughal Jaan.

They have been responsible for making the man they loved famous. These women may have been gold-diggers, devils and witches in disguise or immoral but they have set their own way of life in the society, demarcating the good from the bad and made it clear that even bad people have rules to play by. And that they were quiet capable of sacrificing themselves, for the greater good of greater numbers.

Amrapali

A woman appeared in the mango grove of Vaishali city; nobody knew who she was. She was beautiful and a good dancer. Everybody was eager to win her love, but she declared that she would not marry anyone. She agreed to be the property of the city and to make everyone happy with her dance. She was named 'Amrapali', the one found in a mango grove.

Bimbisara, the king of Magadha, set about to conquer Vaishali. All the soldiers went to the warfront. One day a stranger visited Amrapali. He was young and handsome and he demanded that she perform for him. Soon enough, the man was living with her for some days. At the time of his departure, he asked her to accompany him.

But Amrapali refused, as it would go against her promise to the city. The stranger revealed his identity as Bimbisara, but Amrapali would not not change her mind. She requested him to go back and leave the city alone, if he had true love for her.

Bimbisara walked away from the battle and is named a coward in history - a man who ran away from the war field. Disturbed at the turn of events, Amrapali eventually went to Lord Buddha and became his disciple, denying the true love of a king for a city.

Mughal Jaan

Ghalib's verses became famous only after his dancer friend Jaan sang his couplets, giving them a life of their own. Many poets and kings of the time refused to acknowledge him, because of his choice of Persian over Urdu in his poems. Disappointed with family life, and unable to hold onto much work, he found himsef at the door of Jaan, who gave up her career as a dancer and started on singing and dancing only for him. The death of Jaan left him a completely broken man, and he died soon there after.

Mastani

Considered one of the most beautiful women in the history of India, it is said that she was the daughter of the king Rana Chhatrasal of Bundelkhand, through his Muslim mistress. Between 1727 and 1728, Mohammad Khan Bangash invaded his kingdom with an army of Afghans, taking Jaitpur and imprisoning him and his family within the Mughal camp. The 80-year old Chattrasal sent a distress message to Bajirao, who was on a military campaign in the vicinity. Bajirao and his mighty Maratha army help Chhatrasal and his Bundela Rajput forces to retake Jaitpur.

The old Bundela king re-entered his capital in full regalia. In gratitude, Chattrasal gave his young and beautiful daughter Mastani to Bajirao along with a third of his kingdom, including Jhansi, Sagar and Kalpi. Bajirao was 31 and Mastani soon became the love of the young Peshwa's life. She resided with him at his Shaniwar Wada Palace at Pune and rode with him on horse-back on his numerous military campaigns. Texts mention that "people would gather on the road to see their brave king Bajirao and his beautiful mistress, Mastani" They also say, "Behind the success of every successful man is a woman".

Mastani inspired Bajirao to win and to extend the Maratha Empire in North India, gaining control over the Mughals. A worthy daughter of an illustrious Rajput father, Mastani was a skilled horse-rider. She rode a tall horse and accompanied Bajirao on all his campaigns. This often meant riding hundreds of miles over rugged country, living in camps under canvas and sharing his rough fare. She was said to be a good soldier as any in horsemanship, spear-throwing and swordplay. She also had a talent for dancing and singing and Bajirao was deeply infatuated with her.

On one occasion, the Peshwa went so far as to forget protocol and took her with him to Satara, when he went to pay his respects to his King Shahu. This apparently drew an indignant reprimand from the Maratha monarch.

The Brahmins of Pune, who had a strong influence over Hindu rulers, could never accept Mastani as Bajirao's wife. She became the centerpoint in Pune politics, when Bajirao openly declared Mastani as his wife and their son a Brahmin.The couple faced severe resistance from Bajirao's mother, Radhabai, his wife Kashibai, his brother Chimnaji Appa and the entire Brahmin community. The Brahmins refused to carry out the sacred thread ceremony of his son Shamsher Bahadur.

Bajirao was forced to take Mastani out of Shaniwar Wada. He built a separate residence for her at Kothrud. He never really recovered from this setback, and finally died of a flash fever in an army camp at Khargon, near Indore close to the banks of the Narmada, pining for Mastani.

Bajirao's wife Kashibai, his brother Chimnaji and his son Balaji, came to Khargon with Mastani to consign Bajirao's mortal remains to the flames at Raverkhed on the Narmada. At the cremation ceremony, Mastani broke from the crowd with a fearless smile on her face, and walked into a sea of flames of her love's pyre. Had Bajirao's family supported the great warrior and the orthodox Brahmins accepted Mastani as a wife of Bajirao, Indian history may have gone differently. The stories of Bajirao-Mastani are among the few enduring love stories in the world, between bravery and beauty.

Begum Sumroo

Daughter of a petty nobleman and a courtesan, Farzana married a German adventurer, Reinhard Somers (Samru or Sumroo) and converted to his faith. At Sardhana, gifted to them by Shah Alam II, they established a multicultural court where the Begum ruled for 50 years after her husband's death.

A cunning, highly-intelligent and intrepid woman who regularly led her troops into battle, her life inspired several biographies and an official verse narrative, The Ornament of Histories, with formal portraits, pictures of troops in battle formation and so on. Bhagirath Palace is said to be Asia's largest market for electrical goods, medical equipment and allopathic medicines. Locals know this place as Chooriwali ki Haveli. This was originally the mansion of Begum Sumroo, a Kashmiri nautch girl with the most accomplished band of dancers in her troupe.

A soldier of fortune, Sumroo moved from Lucknow to Rohikhand, then to Agra, Deeg and Bharatpur and back to the Doab. Farzana helped him in those times of intrigue and counter- intrigue. Her palace survives, but the garden in which it stood has vanished. A similar palace built by her in Sardhana is now a college. Farzana was courted by some of the European officers who were associated with her husband.

Among them were Le Vassoult, a Frenchman, and George Thomas, an Irishman. The Begum favoured the Frenchman and in 1793, when the rumour spread that she had married him, her troops mutinied. The couple sought to escape secretly by night - Le Vassoult on horseback and the Begum in a palanquin. Misinformed that Le Vassoult had been shot, she stabbed herself but survived. Her lover, however, died of a self-inflicted wound to the head. When Lord Lake met the Begum in 1802, in a fit of enthusiasm he gave her a hearty kiss, which appalled her troops. But with her customary tact, Begum Sumroo pacified them by saying that it was only "the kiss of the Padre to a repentant child''.

Though only 4-1/2 feet tall, the Begum wore a turban and rode on horseback as she led her troops to battle. She died at the age of 90 in 1836 and her adopted son, Dyce Sombre, in 1851 at London, from where his body was brought to Sardhana and buried beside the Begum in the imposing church she had built there. Now known as the Basilica of Our Lady of Graces, it is the center of two annual pilgrimages in March and November, when thousands come to bless the Begum and pray to the Virgin Mary.

Many of these women have been the quiet inspiration behind great literary works like Kamasutra by Vatsayana; Mrichakatika 'the clay cart' the novel by Shudraka was inspired by the kings courtesan, who falls in love with a poor boy who drives a cart and pitying him leaves behind her precious jewels given by the king but lands into trouble.

It is impossible to determine if these women from as early as Indus valley were involved in any form of temple prostitution. The ninth and tenth centuries saw the most glorious period of temple architecture, and their beauty was complimented by the devadasis. These women were held in high regard, housed in luxurious quarters and granted tax-free lands.

They therefore, became an accepted part of Indian society, even after it became a Muslim society in the Mughal era. Even tavaifs were sophisticated courtesans and repositories of culture and refinement. The institution was so accepted that no respectable wife would admit to training in singing and dancing. Nevertheless, these women have been responsible for preserving much of Indian culture, dance and song as it exists today.