Begum Rokeya Explained

Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
Birth Name:Rokeya Khatun
Birth Date:9 December 1880
Birth Place:Pairaband, Bengal Presidency, British India (now Rangpur, Bangladesh)
Other Names:
  • Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
  • R. S. Hossain
  • Rokeya Khatoon
Death Place:Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (now West Bengal, India)
Resting Place:Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Occupation:Writer, Feminist Thinker, Educator, Activist
Relatives:Karimunnesa Khanam Chaudhurani (sister)
Abdul Karim Ghaznavi (nephew)
Abdul Halim Ghaznavi (nephew)

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (9 December 1880 – 9 December 1932), commonly known as Begum Rokeya, was a prominent Bengali feminist thinker, writer, educator and political activist from British India. She is widely regarded as a pioneer of women's liberation in Bangladesh and India.

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.[1] 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;[2] and Abarodhbasini (The Confined Women, 1931), a spirited attack on the extreme forms of purdah that endangered women's lives and self-image.[3]

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.[3] [4]

In 1916, she founded the Muslim Women's Association, an organization that fought for women's education and employment.[3] [5] 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.[5] 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.[5]

Bangladesh observes Rokeya Day on 9 December every year to commemorate her works and legacy.[6] On that day, Bangladesh government also confers Begum Rokeya Padak on individual women for their exceptional achievement. In 2004, Rokeya was ranked number 6 in BBC's poll of the Greatest Bengali of all time.[7] [8]

Background and family

Rokeya was born in 1880, to an aristocratic Bengali Muslim family in the village of Pairaband, Rangpur, Bengal Presidency, (erstwhile undivided Bengal) .[3] Her ancestors had migrated from Tabriz in Iran to create fortune in India and had established a zamindari in Rangpur, they had served in the military and judiciary during the Mughal regime.[9] [3] Her father, Zahiruddin Muhammad Abu Ali Haidar Saber, was a zamindar and a multi-lingual intellectual.[3] He married four times; his marriage to Rahatunnessa Sabera Chaudhurani 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 and communication. Ibrahim taught English and Bengali to Rokeya and Karimunnesa.[10] 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

Rokeya married at the age of 18, 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 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 wrote reversing the roles of men and women in which women were the dominant sex and the men were subordinate and confined to the mandana (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.[11] [12] 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.[3]

Five months after Rokeya's husband's death, she established a high school, naming it Sakhawat Memorial Girls' High School.[13] 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.[13] She ran the school for 24 years.[3]

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.

Literary style

Rokeya wrote in a number of genres: short stories, poems, essays, novels and satirical writings. She developed 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.[14]

Novels written by Begum Rokeya

The second volume includes stories and fairy tales:

Death and legacy

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.[15]

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.[16]

Rokeya is considered as the pioneer feminist of Bengal.[17] [18] [19] Universities, public buildings and a National Award has been named after her in Bangladesh.[20] [21] She was an inspiration for many later generation female authors including Sufia Kamal, Tahmima Anam, and others.[22] [23]

Eponyms

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Azad, Humayun. Naree. Agamee Prokashon. Dhaka. 282–299. bn. bn:নারী. The Woman. Purushtantra o Rokeyar Naribad. bn: পুরুষতন্ত্র ও রোকেয়ার নারীবাদ. Patriarchy and Rokeya's Feminism. Humayun Azad.
  2. Book: Sarkar . Siuli . Gender Disparity in India: Unheard Whimpers . 2016 . PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. . 978-8120352513 . 73 . 27 November 2018.
  3. Book: Akhter, Shahida. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. 2012. Islam. Sirajul. Sirajul Islam. Second. Hossain, Roquiah Sakhawat. Jamal. Ahmed A.. http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Hossain,_Roquiah_Sakhawat. 28 November 2015. 6 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200806182308/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Hossain%2C_Roquiah_Sakhawat. live. Web site: Roquia Sakhawat Hussain (Begum Rokeya). Londoni. 16 August 2014. 26 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181126221644/http://www.londoni.co/index.php/who-s-who?id=61. live.
  4. News: The enduring legacy of Begum Rokeya. The Independent. 9 December 2016. 21 April 2019. 21 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190421230224/http://www.theindependentbd.com/printversion/details/178078. live.
  5. Web site: Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. Sewall-Belmont House Museum. Sewall-Belmont House & Museum. 25 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624055605/http://www.sewallbelmont.org/womenwecelebrate/begum-rokeya-sakhawat-hossain/. 24 June 2016. dead.
  6. News: Begum Rokeya Day today . The Daily Star . 25 June 2016 . 12 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180312121350/http://www.thedailystar.net/begum-rokeya-day-today-1745 . live .
  7. News: BBC Listeners' Poll. 16 April 2004. The Daily Star. 21 April 2019. 25 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181225011711/http://archive.thedailystar.net/2004/04/16/d4041601066.htm. dead.
  8. News: Mujib, Tagore, Bose among 'greatest Bengalis of all time'. https://web.archive.org/web/20181225011708/https://www.thehindu.com/2004/04/17/stories/2004041703001700.htm. dead. 25 December 2018. 17 April 2004. The Hindu. 21 April 2019.
  9. Web site: Sengupta . Kaiser . 5 March 2022 . 'Bengali Muslim' As An Oxymoron: Crisis And Conflict Of Identities Bengal Renaissance . 11 July 2023 . en-US . 11 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230711094557/https://bengalrenaissance.org/20220305/bengali-muslim-as-an-oxymoron-crisis-and-conflict-of-identities/ . live .
  10. Book: Women's Changing Position in Bangladesh: Tribute to Begum Rokeya . 10–16 . Anwar S. Dil, Afia Dil . 2014 . Intercultural Forum . 978-9842003738.
  11. Web site: Lewton . Thomas . Feminist Visions of Science and Utopia in Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's 'Sultana's Dream' . Lady Science . 2019 . 23 August 2019 . 1 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230301221911/https://www.ladyscience.com/features/feminist-visions-science-fiction-utopia-rokeya-hossain . dead .
  12. Book: Hossain . Rokeya Sakhawat . Sultana's Dream . 1905 . The Indian Ladies' Magazine . Madras . 23 August 2019 . 16 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160416132042/http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/sultana/dream/dream.html . live .
  13. Web site: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. Barnita Bagchi. 1 October 2003. 16 May 2010. 22 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221022044449/https://www.countercurrents.org/gender-bagchi011003.htm. live.
  14. News: Rokeya's wake-up call to women. 9 December 2016. 31 July 2017. 1 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230201192442/https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/tribute/rokeyas-wake-call-women-1327171. live.
  15. Web site: Begum Rokeya's 137th Birthday. Google. 9 December 2017. 13 September 2019. 1 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230301224914/https://www.google.com/doodles/begum-rokeyas-137th-birthday. live.
  16. News: Remembering Historian Amalendu De . Pranotosh . Banerjee . Janoswartho Barta . Chatterjee, Garga (trans.) . 27 May 2014 . 13 January 2016 . 4 September 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140904014351/http://alalodulal.org/2014/05/27/amalendu-de/ . live .
  17. News: Begum Rokeya Day on 9 December . Dhaka Tribune . 25 June 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160107045445/http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2014/dec/08/begum-rokeya-day-tomorrow . 7 January 2016 .
  18. News: Rokeya's unrealised Dream . The Daily Star . 25 June 2016 . 5 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190405131959/https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/rokeyas-unrealised-dream-185908 . live .
  19. News: Rubaiyat . Hossain . Begum Rokeya : The Pioneer Feminist of Bangladesh . The Daily Star . 25 June 2016 . 30 July 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170730081311/https://rubaiyat-hossain.com/2011/05/26/begum-rokeya-the-pioneer-feminist-of-bangladesh/ . live .
  20. News: Remembering Begum Rokeya. The Daily Star. Arif Billah. 23 December 2016. 31 July 2017. 1 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230301223629/https://www.thedailystar.net/star-weekend/remembering-begum-rokeya-1334368. live.
  21. News: Begum Rokeya University begins academic activities . The Financial Express . Dhaka . 15 May 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111001123808/http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/04/05/63082.html . 1 October 2011 .
  22. News: Poet Sufia Kamal's 18th death anniversary Monday. Prothom Alo. en. 21 April 2019. 20 November 2017. 21 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190421230225/https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/news/166678/Poet-Sufia-Kamal%25E2%2580%2599s-18th-death-anniversary-Monday. live.
  23. News: My hero Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain . Tahmima Anam . Tahmima Anam . 28 May 2011 . 31 July 2017 . . 29 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230129135451/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/28/rokeya-sakhawat-hossain-hero-tahmima-anam . live .
  24. News: Begum Rokeya Day today . The Daily Star . 9 December 2010.
  25. Web site: Begum Rokeya Memorial Center, Rangpur. Rangpur Chamber Of Commerce & Industry. 21 April 2019. 21 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190421230225/http://www.rangpurchamber.com/tourism/begum-rokeya-memorial-center-rangpur. live.
  26. Web site: Begum Rokeya is probably turning in her grave... Alam. Shahidul. 10 December 2010. Shahidul News. en-US. 21 April 2019 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20230601124207/http://134.249.116.78/?key=OPY0CSAfqHF8nMm7P9eohpzp3MxkLULM . 1 June 2023.
  27. News: Begum Rokeya University.... 6 January 2013. The Daily Star. en. 21 April 2019. 22 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190422041853/https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-264012. live.

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