Zenana (Persian: زنانه, Urdu: زنانہ, 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 are the inner apartments of a house in which the women of the family live. The outer apartments for guests and men is called the Mardana.
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 against colonial medicine in India.
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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
ZENANA (Persian zanana), the apartments of an Eastern house in which the women of the family are secluded (see Harem). This is a Mahommedan custom, which has been introduced into India and has spread amongst the Hindus.
The zenana missions are missions to Indian women in their own homes.
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