Begum Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain

A pioneering educator and feminist who founded schools for girls and advocated for women's rights in Bengal.

Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1873–1932) was a visionary social reformer from Bengal (now Bangladesh and India) who challenged patriarchal norms through education and literature. Born into a conservative aristocratic family, she defied societal expectations by pursuing education and later establishing the Sakhawat Memorial Girls' School in 1911, one of the first institutions in undivided Bengal to provide girls with secular education. Her groundbreaking novel Sultana's Dream (1905) imagined a gender-reversed utopia, critiquing gender roles and advocating for women's intellectual empowerment. She also founded the Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Muslimeen (Muslim Women's Association) to address issues like child marriage and female illiteracy. Rokeya's writings in Bengali and Urdu, including essays like The Secluded Women, remain influential in feminist scholarship. Explore her works at Banglapedia or read analyses at JSTOR.