Raja Harsa one day had seen Kayya, a devdasee, on the dancing stage of a temple & he took her into his royal seraglio. The devdasees dancing stage was an important institution in the social life of Kashmir.

The actresses sometimes came from the troupe of temple dancers. Ranga, a famous singer & musician of Domba/ Dumb caste performed in the court of Raja Cakravarman [936-937 AD]. His troupe, which included his two daughters, Hamsi & Nagalata, wearing necklaces, golden bracelets on arms & hands, had come from abroad, performed before Raja Cakravarman.

The Raja was completely enamoured with singing & dancing skills of two sweet-eyed daughters of low caste Domba, Ranga, so much that he took both girls, Hamsi & Nagalata, as concubines in his seraglio.

The high caste Raja being blind with passion raised the low caste, Hamsi, to the position of chief queen in his seraglio & granted Agrahara, jagir, of a village to Ranga, writes the chronicler.

Sanskrit antah-pura or ava-rodhana or ava-rodha-yana, is tantamount to seraglio or Arabic harem & Persian zenana. The idea of seraglio among Brahman & Buddhist Rajas existed long before the dawn of Islam in Kashmir.

Originally posted here:

Music and dance of Kashmir: A Historical Perspective - Part 1 - Greater Kashmir