IDEAS FOR NAMING A QUILT USING ATTIC WINDOWS AS THE THEME
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HAREM, gynęceum or gynęcium, seraglio, zenana [India], purdah [India].
SERAGLIO
se•ragl•io n., pl. -ragl•ios.
1. the part of a Muslim house or palace in which the wives and concubines are secluded; harem.
2. a Turkish palace, esp. of the sultan. Also called se•rail
[1575–85; < It serraglio < Pers sary palace; sense development in It perh. influenced by serrare to lock up]
ZENANA—noun
A harem on the Indian subcontinent, a part of their house reserved for high-caste women; a system of segregating women into harems.
Etymology: From (Pers.) | (Urd.) (fa-Arab, UUU) (ZanAnah), from (FAchar, U) (zan) “woman”.
“LADIES first,” we say in the West; in the East it is “Ladies last.” That sums up succinctly the difference in the domestic ideas of the two civilizations.
Five sixths of the upper ten millions of Indian women live secluded in hareem or zenana; the terms are synonymous for the “women’s quarters,” but the former is only applied to Mahomedan households.
PURDAH
In the lands of India the actual translation of the word purdah is screen or veil. Purdah is the practice that includes the seclusion of women from public observation by wearing concealing clothing from head to toe and by the use of high walls, curtains, and screens erected within the home. Purdah is practiced by Muslims and by various Hindus, especially in India. The limits imposed by this practice vary according to different countries and class levels. Generally, those women in the upper and middle class are more likely to practice all aspects of purdah because they can afford to not work outside the home.
It is also spelled Pardah, Hindi Parda (“screen,” or “veil”) practice that was inaugurated by Muslims and later adopted by various Hindus, especially in India, and that involves the seclusion of women from public observation by means of concealing clothing (including the veil) and by the use of high-walled enclosures, screens, and curtains within the home.
A sikh writes:
http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Purdah
With the Muslims came purdah, the veil, and zananah, confinement of womenfolk to the interior apartments. The female became a greater liability for the male of the invaded populace who, weakened economically, had not only to feed his female dependants but also to be ready to protect their honour and chastity in those troubled times. This, among other causes, social as well as cultural, led to the practice of female infanticide, as also of child marriage. The state of a widow was the most pitiable. Polygamy was permissible for man, but a woman could not remarry even after the death of her husband. The smrtis enjoined upon the widow to practise sahamarana, literally simultaneous death, commonly known as sati, by burning herself on the funeral pyre of her husband. Where concession was made and the widow allowed to live on, being pregnant or having infant children, for instance, she remained ostracized from society, submitting herself to rigorous discipline of self-denial.