Contents: Preface. Introduction. I. Sexual apartheid: 1. Islam and the seclusion of women. 2. Seclusion and social stratification. 3. Women in India. 4. Pirzada women and seclusion. II. Priestly power: 1. The public and the private. 2. The men’s world of the shrine. 3. The economic dependence of the Pirzada women. 4. Privilege and dependency. III. Hearth and home: 1. Housework. 2. Replenishing the labour force. IV. Legitimacy and concord: 1. Syed wives, dependent mothers. 2. Modesty and distancing. 3. Polluting women. 4. Ideological subordination. V. Complaining and complying: the tribulations of life at home: 1. The ignorance of women. 2. Life in the home. 3. Marriage. 5. Motherhood. VI. Complaining and complying: the trials of going out: 1. Alien territory. 2. The Burqa. 3. Facilities for women outside their homes. VII. The two faces of Purdah: 1. Men as an obstacle. 2. The women divided. 3. The women’s interests. 4. Purdah: a negotiated privilege. Statistical appendix: tables . Bibliography. Index.
