Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain – 9 December 1932), commonly known as Begum Rokeya, (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.) Her major works include Matichur (A String of Sweet Pearls, 1904 and 1922), a two-volume collection of essays articulating her feminist ideas; Sultana's Dream, a feminist science fiction novella set in Ladyland, a realm governed by women; Padmarag (Essence of the Lotus, 1924), portraying the struggles of Bengali wives; and Abarodhbasini (The Confined Women, 1931), a bold critique of the extreme purdah system that imperiled women's freedom and self-worth.

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.

In 1916, she founded the Muslim Women's Association, an organization that fought for women's education and employment. 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. On that day, the Bangladesh government also confers the Begum Rokeya Padak on individual women for their exceptional achievement.

Background and family The remains of Rokeya's childhood house in Pairaband, Rangpur, pictured in 2012. Rokeya was born in 1880 during the British Raj, to an aristocratic mixed Persian-Bengali Muslim family in the village of Pairaband, Rangpur, Bengal Presidency (now Rangpur, Bangladesh). Karimunnesa married at the age of fourteen and later became a poetess. Both of her sons, Abdul Karim Ghaznavi and Abdul Halim Ghaznavi, became politicians and occupied ministerial portfolios under British authorities.

Marriage

Rokeya married at the age of 16, in 1898, to 38-year-old Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hossain. 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 the 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.

Rokeya wrote Sultana's Dream (1908) before her husband died in 1909. In Sultana's Dream, Rokeya reversed the roles of men and women in which women were the dominant sex and the men were subordinate and confined to the mardana (the male equivalent of the zenana). 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. It is regarded as a notable and influential satire. She wrote regularly for the Saogat, Mahammadi, Nabaprabha, Mahila, Bharatmahila, Al-Islam, Nawroz, Mahe Nao, Bangiya Musalman Sahitya Patrika, The Mussalman, Indian Ladies Magazine and others. 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.

Novels written by Begum Rokeya

Pipasha ("Thirst") (1902) Matichur 1st Vol. (Essays) (1904) Matichur 2nd Vol. (Essays) (1922) The second volume includes stories and fairy tales: Saurajagat (The Solar System), Delicia Hatya (translation of the Murder of Delicia – Marie Corelli) Jnan-phal (The Fruit of Knowledge) Nari-Srishti (Creation of Women) Nurse Nelly Mukti-phal (The Fruit of Emancipation) Sultana's Dream (1905) 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 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 the Rokeya Day in Bangladesh. On 9 December 2017, Google celebrated her 137th birthday, honoring her with a Google Doodle.

Rokeya's grave in Sodepur was rediscovered due to the efforts of the historian Amalendu De. It is located inside the campus of Panihati Girls' High School, Panihati, Sodepur.

Rokeya is considered the pioneer feminist of Bengal. Universities, public buildings and a National Award has been named after her in Bangladesh. She was an inspiration for many later generation female authors, including Sufia Kamal, Tahmima Anam, and others.

Eponyms Begum Rokeya Day, a commemoration of the birth and death anniversary of Rokeya, is observed annually on 9 December in Bangladesh. 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. Begum Rokeya Avenue, a street in Dhaka. Begum Rokeya University, a public state university in Bangladesh. Rokeya Hall, the largest female residential hall of the University of Dhaka. Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, and Rajshahi University also have a female residential hall named after Begum Rokeya. Sakhawat Memorial Govt. Girls' High School, Kolkata, West Bengal. Begum Rokeya Smriti Balika Vidalaya in Saltlake, West Bengal. Alokbortika (Bengali: আলোকবর্তিকা, lit. 'torch bearer') is a commemorative statue of Begum Rokeya, in Rangpur City, unveiled in 2020.