# Can someone educate me about eunuchs in South Asia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-educate-me-about-eunuchs-in-south-asia/721937 "2015-06-08T00:14:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-educate-me-about-eunuchs-in-south-asia/721937/1 "2015-06-08T00:14:16Z")
> **[Hijra (South Asia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_%28South_Asia%29)** > > In the Indian subcontinent, hijra\[n 2\] are eunuchs, intersex people, or transgender people who live in communities that follow a kinship system known as guru-chela system. Also known as aravani, aruvani, and jogappa, the hijra community in India prefer to call themselves "kinnar", referring to the mythological beings that excel at song and dance.\[citation needed\] In Pakistan, they are known as khawaja sira, the equivalent of transgender in the Urdu language. > Hijras are officially recognised... I have traveled to India a few times; the most recent time (which was 5+ years ago) I noticed a very strange looking person . . . basically he looked like a man in a sari (something I had never seen before). I asked my mom what was up with that and she just shrugged and said he was a eunuch and acted like it was completely unremarkably. Since then I’ve done a little reading about eunuchs in this culture. The wikipedia article left me with a few questions . . . So this article was the first result when I googled “eunuchs in India.” However, this article refers to people who consider themselves transgender, and only in passing refers to the fact that some may become castrated. However, this practice seems really ancient, much older than Western practices of sex reassignment. Does anyone have any information on the history/basis of this practice (beyond what’s in the wikipedia article), role in society/religion and how newcomers are recruited? (the wiki article says runaway young boys are recruited, but I’m curious if there are other methods as well). ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-educate-me-about-eunuchs-in-south-asia/721937/2 "2015-06-08T03:58:33Z")
Funny thing, that Wikipedia page is the last page I looked at before firing up SDMB. Unca Cece [talked about _hijra_](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1041/why-are-indian-eunuchs-warned-about-unsafe-sex) about 20 years ago. I’ll come back tomorrow when I’m at my parents’ house, which is where I left my copy of Serena Nanda’s book ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-educate-me-about-eunuchs-in-south-asia/721937/3 "2015-06-08T04:03:12Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > Funny thing, that Wikipedia page is the last page I looked at before firing up SDMB. Unca Cece [talked about _hijra_](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1041/why-are-indian-eunuchs-warned-about-unsafe-sex) about 20 years ago. > > I’ll come back tomorrow when I’m at my parents’ house, which is where I left my copy of Serena Nanda’s book Thanks! That’s very helpful.