Begum Rokeya

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Begum Rokeya

Born Rokeya Khatun

9 December 1880

Pairaband, Rangpur District, Bengal

Presidency, British India

Died 9 December 1932 (aged 52)

Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India

Resting place Sodepur, India

Occupation Writer, educator, activist

Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hossain

Spouse(s)
 (m. 1898–1909)

Relatives Karimunnesa Khanam Chaudhurani (sister)

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain[a] (Bengali: রোকেয়া সাখাওয়াত হোসেন; 9 December 1880?[b] –

9 December 1932), commonly known as Begum Rokeya,[c] was a Bengali feminist
thinker, writer, educator and political activist from British India (present
day Bangladesh). She is widely regarded as a pioneer of women's liberation in South
Asia.
She advocated for men and women to be treated equally as rational beings, noting that
the lack of education for women was responsible for their inferior economic position.
[3]
 Her major works include Matichur (A String of Sweet Pearls, 1904 and 1922), a
collection of essays in two volumes expressing her feminist thoughts; Sultana's
Dream (1908), a feminist science fiction novella set in Ladyland ruled by
women; Padmarag ("Essence of the Lotus", 1924) depicting the difficulties faced by
Bengali wives;[5] and Abarodhbasini (The Confined Women, 1931), a spirited attack on
the extreme forms of purdah that endangered women's lives and self-image. [2]
Rokeya held education to be the central precondition of women's liberation, establishing
the first school aimed primarily at Muslim girls in Kolkata. She is said to have gone from
house to house persuading the parents to send their girls to her school in Nisha. Until
her death, she ran the school despite facing hostile criticism and social obstacles. [2][6]
In 1916, she founded the Muslim Women's Association, an organization that fought for
women's education and employment. [2][7] In 1926, Rokeya presided over the Bengal
Women's Education Conference convened in Kolkata, the first significant attempt to
bring women together in support of women's education rights. [7] She was engaged in
debates and conferences regarding the advancement of women until her death on 9
December 1932, shortly after presiding over a session during the Indian Women's
Conference.[7]
Bangladesh observes Rokeya Day on 9 December every year to commemorate her
works and legacy.[8] On that day, Bangladesh government also confers Begum Rokeya
Padak on individual women for their exceptional achievement. [9] In 2004, Rokeya was
ranked number 6 in BBC's poll of the Greatest Bengali of all time.[10][11]

Contents

 1Background and family

 2Marriage
 3Literary career
o 3.1Literary style
 4Works
 5Death and legacy
 o 5.1Eponyms
 6Notes
 7References
 8External links

Background and family[edit]

The remains of Rokeya's childhood home in Pairaband, Rangpur, pictured in 2012.

Roquiah Khatun was born in 1880 in Pairaband village, Rangpur in the-then British

India.[2] Her ancestors served in the military and judiciary during the Mughal regime. [2] Her
father, Jahiruddin Muhammad Abu Ali Haidar Saber, was a zamindar and a multi-lingual
intellectual.[2] He married four times; his marriage to Rahatunnessa resulted in the birth
of Rokeya, who had two sisters and three brothers, one of whom died in childhood.
Rokeya's eldest brother Ibrahim Saber, and her immediate elder sister Karimunnesa
Khanam Chaudhurani, both had a major influence on her life. Karimunnesa wanted to
study Bengali, the language of the majority in Bengali people, against her family's wish
who preferred to use Arabic and Persian as the media of education. Ibrahim taught
English and Bengali to Rokeya and Karimunnesa.[12] Karimunnesa married at the age of
fourteen and later became a poet. Both of her sons, Abdul Karim Ghaznavi and Abdul
Halim Ghaznavi, became politicians and occupied ministerial portfolios under British
authorities.

Marriage[edit]

Rokeya with her husband, Sakhawat Hussain (1898)

Rokeya married at the age of 18, in 1898 to 38-year-old Khan Bahadur Sakhawat
Hussain. He was an Urdu-speaking deputy magistrate of Bhagalpur (a present-day
district of Bihar state). He earned his bachelor of agriculture degree from England and
was a member of Royal Agricultural Society of England. He married Rokeya after the
death of his first wife. As a liberal, he encouraged Rokeya to continue learning Bengali
and English. He also encouraged her to write, and on his advice, she adopted Bengali
as the principal language for her literary works. [citation needed]

Literary career[edit]
Rokeya launched her literary career in 1902 with a Bengali essay
entitled Pipasa (Thirst). She later published the books Matichur (1905) and Sultana's
Dream (1908) before her husband died in 1909. In Sultana's Dream, Rokeya wrote
reversing the roles of men and women in which women were the dominant sex and the
men were subordinate. She also depicts an alternative, feminist vision of science, in
which inventions such as solar ovens, flying cars, and cloud condensers are used to
benefit the whole of society.[13][14] It is regarded as a notable and influential satire. She
wrote regularly for the Saogat, Mahammadi, Nabaprabha, Mahila, Bharatmahila, Al-
Eslam, Nawroz, Mahe Nao, Bangiya Musalman Sahitya Patrika, The
Mussalman, Indian Ladies Magazine and others.[2]
Five months after Rokeya's husband's death, she established a high school, naming
it Sakhawat Memorial Girls' High School.[15] It started in Bhagalpur, a traditionally Urdu-
speaking area, with five students. A dispute with her husband's family over property
forced her to move the school in 1911 to Calcutta, a Bengali-speaking area.[15] She ran
the school for 24 years.[2]
Rokeya founded the Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Islam (Islamic Women's Association),
which was active in holding debates and conferences regarding the status of women
and education. She advocated reform, particularly for women, and believed that
parochialism and excessive conservatism were principally responsible for the relatively
slow development of Muslims in British India. Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Islam organised
events for social reforms based on the original teachings of Islam that, according to her,
were lost.[citation needed]
Literary style[edit]
Rokeya wrote a number of genres, short stories, poems, essays, novels and satirical
writings, developing a distinctive literary style, characterised by creativity, logic and a
wry sense of humour. She started writing in the Nabanoor from about 1903, under the
name of Mrs R S Hossain. However, there is an opinion that her first published
writing Pipasa appeared in the Nabaprabha in 1902. Her writings called upon women to
protest against injustices and break the social barriers that discriminated against them. [16]

Works[edit]
Whenever any woman tries to raise her head, weapons in the form of religions or holy scriptures strike her head. …
Men propagate those scriptures as God's commandments to subdue us in darkness. … Those scriptures are nothing
but systems constructed by men. The words we listen from male saints would be different if they were spoken by
female saints. … Religions only tighten the yoke of servitude around women and justify male domination over
women.
Rokeya in 1904[17]

 Pipasa ("Thirst", 1902).
  Matichur (essays, 1st vol. 1904, 2nd vol. 1922). The 2nd
volume includes stories and fairy tales:
o Saurajagat (The Solar System),
o Delicia Hatya (translation of the Murder of Delicia, by
Mary Corelli)
o Jnan-phal (The Fruit of Knowledge)
o Nari-Srishti (Creation of Women)
o Nurse Nelly
o Mukti-phal (The Fruit of Emancipation)
 Sultana's Dream
 Padmarag ("Essence of the Lotus", novel, 1924)
 Abarodhbasini ("The Secluded Women", 1931)
 Boligarto (short story).
 Narir Adhikar ("The Rights of Women"), an unfinished
essay for the Islamic Women's Association
 God Gives, Man Robs, 1927
 Education Ideals for the Modern Indian Girl, 1931

Death and legacy[edit]

Tomb of Rokeya in the campus of Panihati Girls' High School, Sodepur

Rokeya died of heart problems on 9 December 1932, on her 52nd birthday. 9 December
is celebrated as Rokeya Day in Bangladesh.
Rokeya's grave in Sodepur was rediscovered due to the efforts of the
historian Amalendu De.[18]
Statue of Rokeya on the premises of Rokeya Hall, University of Dhaka

Rokeya is considered as the pioneer feminist of Bengal. [9][19][20] Universities, public

buildings and a National Award has been named after her in Bangladesh. [21][22] She was
an inspiration for many later generation female authors including Sufia Kamal, Tahmima
Anam, and others.[23][24]
On December 9, 2017, Google celebrated her 137th birthday with a Google Doodle.[25]
Eponyms[edit]

 Begum Rokeya Day, a commemoration of the birth and

death anniversary of Rokeya, observed annually on 9
December in Bangladesh.[26]
 Begum Rokeya Padak, a Bangladeshi national honour
conferred on individual women for their exceptional
achievements.
 Begum Rokeya Memorial Center, an academic and cultural
hub in Pairaband, Bangladesh. [27]
 Rokeya Shoroni, a road in Dhaka.[28]
 Begum Rokeya University, a public state university in
Bangladesh.[29]
 Rokeya Hall, the largest female residential hall of
the University of Dhaka.

Notes[edit]
1. ^ Though "Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain" (a romanized form of her
married name in Bengali: রোকেয়া সাখাওয়াত হোসেন") is the commonly
used spelling of Rokeya's full married name, Rokeya herself is never
seen to use her full married name in this English spelling. In much of
her correspondence in English, she used just her initials: ‘R. S.
Hossein' (also used on the cover of the 1st edition of Sultana's
Dream). In some other correspondences in English, she used
"Roquiah Khatun," or "Khatoon". In most of her correspondence in
Bengali, she used just her first name "রোকেয়া" (would be "Rokeya" if
romanized).[1][2]
2. ^ Though Rokeya's birthday is celebrated along with her death
anniversary on 9 December, her birthday is more conjecture than a
fact as it was not documented.[3][4]
3. ^ The honorific "Begum" is not a part of Hossain's name; it is added as
a feminine title of respect, primarily in the Indian subcontinent.[1]

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:    "A Feminist Foremother: Critical Essays on Rokeya
a b

Sakhawat Hossain".  The Daily Star. 16 September 2017.

Retrieved 17 December 2018.
2. ^ Jump up to:                  Akhter, Shahida (2012).  "Hossain, Roquiah
a b c d e f g h i

Sakhawat". In  Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia:

National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh  (Second ed.).  Asiatic Society of
Bangladesh.Administrator. "Roquia Sakhawat Hussain (Begum
Rokeya)".  Londoni.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b Azad, Humayun. "Purushtantra o Rokeyar
Naribad"  পুরুষতন্ত্র ও রোকেয়ার নারীবাদ [Patriarchy and Rokeya's
Feminism]. Naree  নারী[The Woman] (in Bengali). Dhaka: Agamee
Prokashon. pp.  282–299.
4. ^ Begum, Maleka  (2018). Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain  রোকেয়া সাখাওয়াত
হোসেন (in Bengali). Dhaka: Prothoma. p.  11.
5. ^ Sarkar, Siuli (2016). Gender Disparity in India: Unheard Whimpers.
PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p.  73. ISBN 978-8120352513. Retrieved  27
November 2018.
6. ^ "The enduring legacy of Begum Rokeya". The Independent. 9
December 2016. Retrieved 21 April  2019.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b c "Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain".  Sewall-Belmont
House Museum. Sewall-Belmont House & Museum. Archived from the
original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June  2016.
8. ^ "Begum Rokeya Day today". The Daily Star. Retrieved 25
June2016.
9. ^ Jump up to:a b "Begum Rokeya Day on 9 December".  Dhaka Tribune.
Archived from  the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 25
June2016.
10. ^ "BBC Listeners' Poll".  The Daily Star. 16 April 2004. Retrieved 21
April  2019.
11. ^ "Mujib, Tagore, Bose among 'greatest Bengalis of all time '".  The
Hindu. 17 April 2004. Retrieved 21 April  2019.
12. ^ Anwar S. Dil, Afia Dil (2014).  Women's Changing Position in
Bangladesh: Tribute to Begum Rokeya. pp.  10–16.  ISBN  978-
9842003738.
13. ^ Lewton, Thomas (2019).  "Feminist Visions of Science and Utopia in
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's 'Sultana's Dream'". Lady Science.
Retrieved 23 August  2019.
14. ^ Hossain, Rokeya Sakhawat (1905).  Sultana's Dream. Madras: The
Indian Ladies' Magazine.
15. ^ Jump up to:a b Dr. Barnita Bagchi (1 October 2003).  "Rokeya Sakhawat
Hossain". Retrieved 16 May 2010.
16. ^ "Rokeya's wake-up call to women". 9 December 2016. Retrieved 31
July  2017.
17. ^ Begum, Maleka  (2010). Banglar Nari Andolaner  বাংলার নারী
আন্দোলন  [Women's Movement in Bengal] (in Bengali). Dhaka: The
University Press Limited. p.  71. ISBN 978-984-8815-70-0.
18. ^ Banerjee, Pranotosh (27 May 2014). "Remembering Historian
Amalendu De".  Janoswartho Barta. Chatterjee, Garga (trans.).
Retrieved 13 January  2016.
19. ^ "Rokeya's unrealised Dream".  The Daily Star. Retrieved  25
June  2016.
20. ^ Rubaiyat, Hossain. "Begum Rokeya  : The Pioneer Feminist of
Bangladesh".  The Daily Star. Retrieved  25 June 2016.
21. ^ Arif Billah (23 December 2016). "Remembering Begum
Rokeya". The Daily Star. Retrieved 31 July  2017.
 22. ^ "Begum Rokeya University begins academic activities".  The
Financial Express. Dhaka. Archived from  the original on 1 October
2011. Retrieved  15 May  2012.
23. ^ "Poet Sufia Kamal's 18th death anniversary Monday".  Prothom Alo.
20 November 2017. Retrieved 21 April  2019.
24. ^ Tahmima Anam (28 May 2011).  "My hero Rokeya Sakhawat
Hossain". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July  2017.
25. ^ "Begum Rokeya's 137th Birthday". Google. 9 December 2017.
26. ^ "Begum Rokeya Day today". The Daily Star. 9 December 2010.
27. ^ "Begum Rokeya Memorial Center, Rangpur". Rangpur Chamber Of
Commerce & Industry. Retrieved  21 April 2019.
28. ^ Alam, Author Shahidul (10 December 2010). "Begum Rokeya is
probably turning in her grave." Shahidul News. Retrieved  21
April2019.
29. ^ "Begum Rokeya University..." The Daily Star. 6 January 2013.
Retrieved 21 April  2019.

External links[edit]
 Works by or about Begum Rokeya at Internet Archive
 Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain at the Encyclopedia of Science
Fiction
 Hasan, Md. Mahmudul (2012). Marginalisation of Muslim
writers in South Asian literature: Rokeya Sakhawat
Hossain's English works  (PDF). South Asia Research, 32
(3) (Print) 1741-3141 (Online). 32. pp. 179–
197. doi:10.1177/0262728012469303. ISSN 0262-7280. S
2CID 7845825.
 "Asiatic (see articles on Rokeya in 7.2 (December 2013)
issue of the journal)". journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic.
 The Essential Rokeya: Selected Works of Rokeya
Sakhawat Hossain. Leiden, Boston: Brill Publishing.
2013. ISBN 9789004255876.
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Categories: 
 1880 births
 1932 deaths
 19th-century Indian writers
 19th-century Indian women writers
 20th-century Indian writers
 20th-century Indian women writers
 Bengali Muslims
 Bengali writers
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 Deaths from cerebrovascular disease
 Indian feminist writers
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 Proponents of Islamic feminism
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