Begam Rokeya: a Pioneer Thinker and Philanthropist for the Uplift of Muslim Women in the early 20th Century in undivided Bengal

                                                                                                                  Dr. Goutam Patra

                                                                                                                  Principal  (WBSES)

                                                                                             Government Training College Hooghly

                                                                                                               gtmpatra21@gmail.com

 

 

Abstract: Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, a pioneering figure in the early 20th-century feminist movement in South Asia, played a pivotal role in advocating the rights and emancipation of women in colonial India. She is a prominent Bengali writer, educationist, and social reformer, contributed to women's empowerment, education, and social reform when women faced so many challenges in a deeply patriarchal society. This article shows how Rokeya utilized literature as a powerful tool to critique gender norms and envision a society. Her literary works, such as the iconic ‘Sultana's Dream’ ‘Matichur’, ‘Padmarag’and ‘Abarodhbasini’ explore the socio-political context of colonial India during Begum Rokeya's time and makes an awareness of the deplorable condition of Muslim Women against the exploitations of the patriarchal society.  This paper investigates Begum Rokeya's efforts in establishing schools for girls and assesses the impact of her educational initiatives on the lives of women in British India. Her speeches, writings, and activism influence on subsequent generations of feminist Begum Rokeya challenges societal norms and foster a sense of agency among women to fight against the patriarchal bondage and confinement in the household. In this paper it envisages how Rokeya contribute to a nuanced understanding of the struggles for women's rights in South Asia.

Keywords:
Women's Rights, Colonial India, Gender Equality&equity Sultana's Dream, Matichur, Padmarag, Social Reform, Education for Girls, Sakhawat Memorial Girls' High School

 

 

 

Begum Rokeya  who was the mother of the Muslim Awakening in undivided Bengal, devoted her whole  life for the emancipation of Muslim women from the stern religious practices like purdah and others.  Rokeya(1880-1932) was like the  pioneer figure guiding and showing the Muslim society the right path to be followed defying all the social and religious obstacles  and struggled hard to bring the Muslim women within the arena of education. So she is rightly considered as the precursor of women education in Muslim society of undivided Bengal during the British rule in the late 19th and early 20th century. She was dauntless enough and did not care the strong criticisms of the religious heads (Maulabi) of Muslim community for the liberation Muslim Women in colonized India. She emphasized    her liberal, marxist and radical point of views for the recognition of society regarding  distribution and  inheritance of ownership rights of women in all spheres of social construction, Rokeya urged that economic empowerment with education can lead women to justice.

Family background : She was born in a village named Pairabondh in the Rangpur district of undivided Bengal in the year 1880. Her father  Zahiruddin Muhammad Abu Ali Saber and mother  Rahatunnessa were against female education as they belonged to an elite Muslim family. Only  learning of Arbi was allowed following the curtain system to read Quran. She had to live behind the curtain from the age of five like all female members of her family. But she had a deep craze for studying Bengali and English language in the early days of her life. Rokeya‟s elder sister Karimunnisha secretly taught her Bengali and her brother Ibrahim Saber secretly taught her to read and write English in an era when women education was neglected.  

In the year 1896. Her father arranged her marriage at the age of sixteen to a widower named Khan Bahadur Syed Sakhawat Hossain who was nearly forty years old at the time of marriage. Sakhawat Hossain was the deputy collector at Bhagalpur and very liberal minded with Progressive ideas.  He was liberal and not against women education and started teaching English to her wife and fulfilled her desire.  He helped and made all the arrangements for her Studies. Later with his help, she started to publish her writings such as the essay ‘Pipasha’was first published in ‘ Navaprava magazine in 1920. Eutopean classic novel ‘ Sultana’s dream was published in India’s Ladies magazine an Indian periodicals of that time. Her happy days did not last long as her husband died unexpectedly in 1909. After his

death , she fell in the great sea of misery but she left no stone unturned to  struggle hard and devoted her life for the cause of Bengali Muslim women‟s emancipation to reach the noble mission of her life .  She felt the need of women education and founded a girls school in remembrance of her husband and named as ‘ Sakhawat Memorial Girl’s high school firs at Bhagalpur the shifted to Kolkata . She died of heart problem on 9th December, 1932. Her greatness lies in the fact that till the last day of her life she worked for spreading the  women education in  undivided Bengal. During her short-lived married life, she had to look after her much older, ailing husband, take care of her  and bear the sad demise of her “two baby daughters” at the early age four and five .  In spite of Such agony in personal life compounded by the misconducts she received from her step-daughter and step-son-in-law owing to family disputes over inheritance, she never lose  heart and dedicate her whole life for the uplift of  Muslim women.

Rokeya and her literary works:  She become a famous writer in both Bengali and English. She wrote essays,  short stories , novels, utopias, poems, humor and satirical articles on the rights of women , customs , superstition and other social issues of that time. Her husband inspired her a lot  in writing and for the publication of  books, novels . poems .Her literary career started in 1902 with a story named „Pipasa’(The Thirst) which was published in ‘Navaprava patrika’ . She wrote two anthologies of essays named ‘Motichur-I’ and ‘Motichur-II’. She wrote a novel named „Padmarag’ (1924).These writings are in Bengali.She also wrote a few works in English. ‘Sultan‟s Dream’ (1908) is one of them.She also wrote two essays-’God Gives,Man Robs’(1927) and ‘Educational Ideals for the Indian Girls ‘(1931).The publication of the essay “Pipasha” in the Calcutta-based Nabaprabha in 1902 marked the inauguration of her literary career. She showed tremendous creative talents, insights and energies, but  a gap in her literary production from 1909 to 1914 is noticed  as she could not focus on writing, presumably because of multiple griefs caused by the deaths of her parents, children and husband. Her life was full of trials and tribulations. Rokeya relentlessly wrote  for a whole period of three decades beginning in 1902 and ending with her death, and producing foundational literary works of different genres and subject matters, predominantly women’s issues. Her literary style is chiefly her own, befitting the demands of her feminist agendas. She employed her own style to explore the gravity of exploitation  of Muslim female psyche to describe its sufferings under Patriarchal society.  During the colonial period, as Muslim leaders including Sayyid Ahmad Khan in North India and Nawab Abdul Latif (1828-93) and Syed Amir Ali (1849-1928) in Bengal advanced Muslims’ causes, there was a feminist “subculture” in both regions – on literary and political fronts – that espoused gender egalitarianism, especially women’s education and advancement(Hasan, “Marginalization of Muslim” 181). While in North India it was spearheaded by a host of writers and social reformers, in Bengal it took off in a real sense with the intellectual culture of Rokeya.  She fought to facilitate female education and to remove women’s legal disabilities and other restrictions in family and social life and constituted a vibrant intellectual culture in Bengal.   

Her main concern was the stress and change of Indian Muslims under colonial rule. In 1903 Rokeya published five articles titled: Strijatir Abanati (The Degradation of Women), Ardhangi (TheFemale Half), Sugrihini (The Good Housewife), Borka (The Cloak), and Griha (Home)—which discussed purdah and seclusion extensively. These works were later collected into a book in 1908 titled ‘Motichur’. Other works included Pipasa (Thirst), Murder of Delicia, Padmarag (The Ruby), Sultana’s Dreamand Abarodh Bashini (Those Behind the Curtain).Rokeya in her writings stood against patriarchy and conservatism in Muslim society. She wrote mostly in Bengali and much less in English. Among her writings which have been much talked of Sultana’s Dream was written in English , a Utopian feminist novel and two essays in English on women’s education namely, God Gives, Man Robs and Educational Ideals for the Modern Indian Girl.

Sultana’s Dream: A Feminist Utopia Sultana’s Dream was one of Rokeya Hossain’s English-language publications published in 1905, Sultana’s Dream was featured in the Indian Ladies Magazine was a simple story of a woman that is dreaming and happens to visit a land which is called “Lady land,” where there is law and order. The land is devoid of violence, corruption and crime. The people of “Lady land” have learned to appreciate Nature and treat each other with respect and love. In “Ladyland,” child marriage is banned and education is encouraged amongst women. Rokeya Hossain wanted to motivate Bengali Muslim women towards a process of self-realization and lift the obstacles away that hindered women and society.  The first important part in Sultana’s Dream is the description of “Ladyland.” The setting in Sultana’s Dream is quite important as the main character ism slumbering in a zenana [seclusion]. Sultana wakes up to find Sister Sara and follows her outside. This is where “Ladyland” is introduced to readers: “Where In their proper places, where they ought to be. Pray let me know what you mean by ‘their proper places.’ O, I see my mistake; you cannot know our customs, as you were never here before. We shut our men indoors”

Educational thoughts of Rokeya and Her contribution in women education: Rokeya‟s philosophy of education was based on her own life experience.She was an idealist in her approach.She witnessed how the women of the Bengali Muslim community suffered due to age-old religious norms and the patriarchal dominance. She dreamt of a new dawn of a new age when Muslim women would be treated equally like their male counterpart and will achieve equal right with men. She rightly detected the cause of the unspeakable misery of the Muslim woman as the misinterpretation of Islam and lack of their education. So she took the vow of women education . But it was not an easy task when the Muslim women were secluded from the outside world in the name of religious directives of Islam. At that time a handful of Muslim women belonging to the higher class of the society got the opportunity only for religious studies by the instructors or Maulavis of the nearby mosques.The Maulavis taught them holy Quran in confinement.  So she started  writing various articles,essays, poems , books etc. in support of women education and their emancipation. Receiving  her husband‟s support  and encouragement,she started a girls‟ school in Bhagalpur first . Her husband,Syed Sakhawat Hossain gave her a legacy of Rupees 10,000 to establish the school. she established a high school there in the memory of her beloved husband and named it as „Sakhawat Memorial Girls‟ High School‟.It was started in  Bhagalpur-a traditionally Urdu-speaking area with only five students in 1910. She was forced to close down the school because of a feud over family property with her step-daughter‟s husband. In the same year she came to Kolkata(Then Calcutta) and  re-opened Sakhawat Memorial Girls‟ High School here at 13,Waliullah Lane on 16th March, 1911. She ran her Sakhawat Memorial Girls‟ School for 24 years fighting against ear-piercing criticisms as well as various social hindrances. She tried hard and soul to make it the best school for Muslim  but the Bengali Muslim families were indifferent about their girls‟ education. So Rokeya came forward and took the initiative of persuading Bengali Muslim families to send their daughters to her school. She even made door to door campaign and convinced the parents that purdah would be observed at her school too. She arranged a horse-drawn carriage and  offered a free bus service for the girl students.

She herself constructed the curriculum for the girls of her school and the following subjects  were included in the curriculum: (i)Quran , (ii)English , (iii)Urdu ,(iv)Persian , (v)Home nursing , (vi)First-aid , (vii)Cooking , (viii)Sewing, (ix)Physical education , (x)Vocational Training.

Rokeya was by heart and soul an educationalist got a little support from the British Government for running her school and used her private income in order to run her school.There was not only economical hindrance but also hindrances  of  religious criticisms and she  countered them by writing many articles,essays to differentiate between true religion and man-made religion. Rokeya wanted to break the eligious dogma and also wanted to inform the women that Islam did not promote inequality between man and woman but the wrong interpretation  of Quaran bu the Moulavis . She recommended the reading of Quaran but  she did not support the parrot like recitation of the Holy Book . Rokeya  fought against the norms of the Muslim society  receiving  inspiration from  the educationalist like Vidyasagar in the expansion of women education.

Female education: The soul  focus of Rokeya’s activism was the promotion of female Education and their liberation from the shakle of patrearchy. In British India, the social setting was so hostile to female education that even the giant Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-98) did not dare to include it in his powerful movement for Muslims’ education.  But Rokeya did not give in; she waged a persistent battle for female education, braving the social norms and barriers that stood between women and the prevailing intellectual culture.  Rokeya raised the issue of female education at a turning point in the history of Muslim Bengal after a long period of colonial oppression in economic, political and cultural detriments. She walked around from door to door in order to collect students and requested  the guardians to send their daughters to the school as she assured them to  take  personally full responsibility of looking after and tutoring them In order to convince the parents and guardians, Rokeya ensured that the school carriage was fully covered, which made it look like a moving tent. Rokeya did not believe in any disparity between the learning of men and women but the equality  which was highly revolutionary considering the material culture in which she launched her educational movement. Even the forward-looking Brahmins and Brahmos of colonial Bengal did not teach women much beyond socially accepted subjects.

Rokeya did not believe in any disparity or discipline differences between male and female education and sought women’s access invariably to all branches of knowledge. She campaigned to make “chemistry, botany, horticulture, personal hygiene, health care, nutrition, physical education, gymnastics, and painting and other fine arts open to women” (Hasan, “Marginalisation of Muslim” 188). In Sultana’s Dream, she portrays Sister Sara as someone who is proficient in modern branches of knowledge such as history, politics,

military strategy, education and science and imagined a lady kingdom where the ruler is the women . In Padmarag, she depicts an ideal system of female education where almost all branches of learning – science, literature, geography, history, mathematics – are taught to women. Away from her imaginative world, in practical life it was not possible for her to implement all that she promoted through writing. However, for her Sakhawat Memorial Girls’ School, she formulated a “curriculum [that] included physical education, handicrafts, sewing, cooking, nursing, home economics, and gardening, in addition to regular courses such as Bangla, English, Urdu, Persian, and Arabic”.

Rokeya’s Feminism: In countering patriarchal authority and in promoting women’s educational and civil rights, Rokeya  never follwed an anti-male or anti-Islam stance. She satirises Muslim men, as they do not have any agenda to empower women who can potentially help the male counterpart  in reform and freedom movements. However, she does not demonstrate any syndrome of caricaturing all men while criticising those who are against women’s education and independence. She does Not  simply put the blame on men; rather, she looks into the core of the problem to identify the areas women themselves need to address all greivances. Equally, she emphasises women’s role in the overall for  advancement of society. She does not criticise men only for women’s sufferings, as women themselves are also responsible for their plight. So they should shoulder equal or even greater responsibility to improve the status of the Muslim community. Rokeya wants to dismantle the gender binarism and proposes that both men and women should equally contribute to the advancement of society.She realised the importance of organised action for change  the status of women and raising public awareness. In 1916, she founded the Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Islam (Muslim Women's Society), an organisation that was at the forefront to fight for women's education and employment. She exposes and critiques unreservedly many extrinsic frivolities that women have acquired over time. Rokeya does not treat men simply as women’s enemy. Instead of using disrespectful terms against men, she calls the adversaries of women’s liberation “imprudent,” as they want to exercise unquestioned authority over women and ignore the greater interest of society. However, she is also very strong in denouncing men who regard women merely as dolls and chattels to possess and dispossess at will. Rokeya critiques the patriarchal norms , wrong  interpretation of Islam and re-examines it in light of gender equity , liberty and  justice. Her overly critical view of cultural Islam is actually against its malpractices not against the religion. She points her finger at those who consider themselves the custodians of Islam and abuse it to promote patriarchal authority at the expense of women’s rights.

Conclusion:

Rokeya was one of  the greatest feminist writers  in  undivided Bengal for the superior literary merits of her work as well as for her incredible courage and resilience to struggle for women’s emancipation against the hostile, unfavourable material conditions of the existing dominance of the  society that was not ready to receive her revolutionary feminist ideas positively. To a great extent, Rokeya maintained extreme purdah when interacting with men, fearing that non-compliance, and her consequent unacceptability in society, might thwart her agendas of women’s advancement as well as the progress of her school. Despite these limitations, her achievements concerning women’s rights have been incredible and unsurpassed. Rokeya’s feminist theory and strategy were extremely conducive, as her ideas have strong relevance to the continuing indigenous feminist struggle of the women down to the present. Her overarching influence and pertinence is strongly felt across Bangladesh and beyond. Begum Rokeya became a standing pillar followed by many Muslim women writers like Shamsunahar Mahmud, Fajiltunessa, Sufia Kamal who inspired for arousing the women from darkness of seclusion, illiteracy and ignorance. Her writings in English were liberal and sometimes bold and courageous against oppression of patriarchy and took step to change the mindset of the contemporary society towards women.

 Notes and References: 1.  Partha Chatterjee, The Nation and its Fragments, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1993, p-15

2. Sharmita Basu, ‘Nation and Selfhood Memoirs of Bengali Muslim Women’ in Faegheh Shirazi Edited Muslim Women in War and Crisis Representation and Reality, University of Texas Press, Austin , 2010, p-37

3.  Hossain Al Mamun, ‘Begum Rokeya ‘s English Works:Relevance to Women’s Education’,Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Hum.), Vol. 60(2), 2015, p232

4.  H. Joarder,.Begum Rokeya, the emancipator. Dacca: Nari Kalyan Sangstha :distribution,Bangladesh Books International, Dacca, 1980,p-6

5.  Md. Mahmudul Hasan, “Marginalisation of Muslim Writers in South Asian Literature: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s English Works.” South Asia Research 32.3 (2012).p-193

6.  Yasmin Hossain,“The Begum’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain and the Broadening of Muslim Women’s Aspirations in Bengal.” South Asia Research 12.1 (1992, p-6.

7. Srabashi Ghosh “Birds in a Cage: Changes in Bengali Social Life as Recorded in Autobiographies by Women.” Economic and Political Weekly 21.43 (1986), p-91

8. Hossain Al Mamun, op cit , p-46

9.  Susmita Roye, “Sultana’s Dream vs. Rokeya’s Reality: A study of one of the ‘Pioneering’ Feminist Science Fictions”, Kunapipi, Vol. 31, 2009, p. 141

10. Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Sultana's dream and selections from The secluded ones. New York: Feminist Press :Distributed by the Talman Co., 1988,p-39

11.  Md. Mahmudul Hasan, Commemorating Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain and Contextualising her Work in South Asian Muslim Feminism, Asiatic, Vol. 7, No. 2, December 2013, p-46

12. Susmita Roye, Op. cit., p. 141 xiiiMd. Mahmudul Hasan, op cit, (2013)p-46 Journal of Women’s Studies. Vol.9 December 2020 ISSN: 2320-3625 82

13. Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, op cit , 1988, pp. 2-3

14. Mohammad A Quayum (ed.), “Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain: A Biographical Essay”, in The Essential Rokeya: Selected Works of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932), Boston: Leiden Brill, 2013, pp. 6-7

15.  Md. Mahmudul Hasan, op cit , (2013)p-47 xviiH. Joarder,.op cit, p-12 xviiiIbid , p. 24 xixIbid , p. 20

16. R.S. Hossain & B. Bagchi,Sultana's Dream: And Padmarag : Two Feminist Utopias: Penguin 2005, pp. 30-31

17. iRokeya Sakhawat Hossain, “Bayujaney Ponchas Mile: Safol Swapno”, (Fifty Miles inthe Air: A Dream Came True), In Abdul Quadir (ed.) Rokeya Rachanabali, Dhaka: Bangla Academy, 2006 [1932], pp. 252-53

18. Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, op cit , pp. 1-2. xxiiiIbid , p-8-9 xxivIbid, p-2-3

19. Fayeza Hasanat, “Sultana’s Utopian Awakening: An Ecocritical Reading of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s Sultana’s Dream”, Asiatic, Vol.7, 2013, p. 116.

20.  Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, 1988, pp. 8-9 xxviiIbid , p-9-10 xxviiiFayeza Hasanat, op cit, p-116 xxixRoushan Jahan, Protesting patriarchy : contextualizing Rokeya. Dhaka: Dept. of Women and Gender Studies, University of Dhaka : Sale distributor, Pathak Shamabesh , 2006, p. 11

21.  Abu Saleh Md Rafi, “The Comparative Nature in Comparative Literature: A Casestudyof Some Major Bengali Literary Works in Conjunction of Other National Literatures”,Bangladesh Research Foundation Journal, Vol.1, 2012, p. 7

22. Rachana Vijay Musai, “A Feminist Context in Rokeya Housain's Sultana's Dream”,Golden Research Thoughts, Vol. 2, 2012, p.1-2

23. Roushan Jahan (ed.), “Rokeya: An Introduction to Her Life”, New York: The Feminist Press, 1988, p. 42

24. Md. Mahmudul Hasan, Op. cit., p. 189-90 Journal of Women’s Studies. Vol.9 December 2020 ISSN: 2320-3625 83

25. Yasmin Hossain, “The Begum’s Dream: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain and the Broadening of Muslim Women’s Aspirations in Bengal”, South Asia Research, Vol. 12, 1992, p. 4

26. Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, “Education Ideals for the Modern Indian Girl”, In Abdul Quadir (ed.) Rokeya Rachanabali, Dhaka: Bangla Academy, 2006 [1931], pp. 494-95

27. Hossain Al Mamun, op cit, p-239

28. Simone De Beauvior, The Second Sex, Translated by H.M.Parshley, Penguin, 1972.

29. Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Istrijatir Abanati or Woman’s Downfall, Translated . Mohammad A. Quayum. Adelaide: Transnational Literature : Flinders Institute for Research in the Humanities , p-34