Begum Rokeya

(1880-1932)

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was born into a Bengali Muslim upper-class family in the small village of Pairaband in the district of Rangpur, north of present day Bangladesh, then a part of the colonial British province of Bengal Presidency. Her date of birth is not known. However, a nephew of hers posits Dec. 9, 1880.

Her mother was Rahatunnessa Sabera Chowdhurani. Not much is known of her except that she strictly followed purdah as Rokeya mentioned in dedicating to her The Secluded Ones, some humorous essays that expose some ridiculous consequences of the practice of Purdah. Her father was Zahiruddin Mohammad Abu Ali Saber, a well-educated, influential landowner whose massive estate was a stronghold for the traditional way of life. Rokeya had two brothers (Abul Asad Ibrahim Saber and Khalilur Rahman Abu Jaigam Saber) and two sisters (Karimunessa and Humaira). Being boys, her brothers were first educated at home (as was the tradition) then sent to St. Xavier's, one of Calcutta's most prestigious colleges.

Rokeya and her sisters only received traditional education at home. As it was the tradition in high-class Muslim families, girls learned to read Arabic (so as to be able to read the Koran) and Urdu (in order to read the popular books on "feminine" conduct). They were kept from learning Bengali and English precisely because they were spoken by non-Muslims as well. This was one way of keeping these women from being "contaminated" by the radical ideas from outside their religio-economic group. Going against the grain, Rokeya's oldest brother, who was exposed to Western education, was in favor of educating women. He secretly taught Rokeya English and Bengali at home.

In 1896, Ibrahim was instrumental in the family marrying off Rokeya at age 16 to a widower in his late 30's, Syed Sakhawat Hossain, who was then a district magistrate in the Bihar region of Bengal Presidency. Ibrahim was impressed with Syed's open-mindedness. Syed was educated both locally and in London. Rokeya and her husband settled in Bhagalpur, Bihar. None of her children lived. Syed, who was convinced that the education of women was the best way to cure the ills of his society, encouraged his all-too-willing wife to write, and set aside 10,000 rupees to start a school for Muslim women. In 1909, 11 years after they had been married, Syed died and Rokeya immediately started the school in Bhagalpur in his memory.

In 1910, a feud over family property with her step-daughter's husband caused her to close down the school in Bhagalpur, abandon her house, and move to Calcutta where she re-opened the Sakhawat Memorial Girls' School on March 16, 1911. The number of students went from 8 in 1911 to 84 in 1915. In 1917, the school was inspected by Lady Chelmsford, wife of the Governor General and Vicerory of India. After that, prominent people supported the school. By 1930, the school had evolved into a high school (10 grades) where Bengali and English were regular courses. In Calcutta, she became very involved in civil affairs. In 1916, she founded the Anjuman-e-Khawatin-e-Islam, Bangla (Bengali Muslim Women's Association). In 1926, Rokeya presided over the Bengal Women's Education Conference held in Calcutta. She was active in debates and conferences concerning the advancement of women until her death in December 9, 1932, shortly after presiding over a session during the Indian Women's Conference in Aligarh. Her death was grieved by many male and female Hindu and Muslim activists, including educators as well as liberal leaders of her country. In December of 1932, Rokeya was working on an essay entitled Narir Adhikar (The Rights of Women) which remained unfinished.

Her legacy is that of a Muslim woman who was born and raised in purdah. Yet, she was able to rise beyond the limitations that her society placed upon her. With the help of her "liberal" brother and husband, she was not only able to write (in Bengali and English) but took significant steps to educate the women in her country.

Sultana's Dream
Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
One evening I was lounging in an easy chair in my bedroom and thinking
lazily of the condition of Indian womanhood. I am not sure whether I dozed
off or not. But, as far as I remember, I was wide awake. I saw the moonlit
sky sparkling with thousands of diamond-like stars, very distinctly.
All on a sudden a lady stood before me; how she came in, I do not know. I
took her for my friend, Sister Sara.
"Good morning," said Sister Sara. I smiled inwardly as I knew it was not
morning, but starry night. However, I replied to her, saying, "How do you
do?"
"I am all right, thank you. Will you please come out and have a look at
our garden?"
I looked again at the moon through the open window, and thought there was
no harm in going out at that time. The men-servants outside were fast
asleep just then, and I could have a pleasant walk with Sister Sara.
I used to have my walks with Sister Sara, when we were at Darjeeling. Many
a time did we walk hand in hand and talk light-heartedly in the botanical
gardens there. I fancied, Sister Sara had probably come to take me to some
such garden and I readily accepted her offer and went out with her.
When walking I found to my surprise that it was a fine morning. The town
was fully awake and the streets alive with bustling crowds. I was feeling
very shy, thinking I was walking in the street in broad daylight, but
there was not a single man visible.
Some of the passers-by made jokes at me. Though I could not understand
their language, yet I felt sure they were joking. I asked my friend, "What
do they say?"
"The women say that you look very mannish."
"Mannish?" said I, "What do they mean by that?"
"They mean that you are shy and timid like men."
"Shy and timid like men?" It was really a joke. I became very nervous,
when I found that my companion was not Sister Sara, but a stranger. Oh,
what a fool had I been to mistake this lady for my dear old friend, Sister
Sara.
She felt my fingers tremble in her hand, as we were walking hand in hand.
"What is the matter, dear?" she said affectionately. "I feel somewhat
awkward," I said in a rather apologizing tone, "as being a purdahnishin
woman I am not accustomed to walking abut unveiled."
"You need not be afraid of coming across a man here. This is Ladyland,
free from sin and harm. Virtue herself reigns here."
By and by I was enjoying the scenery. Really it was very grand. I mistook
a patch of green grass for a velvet cushion. Feeling as if I were walking
on a soft carpet, I looked down and found the path covered with moss and
flowers.
"How nice it is," said I.
"Do you like it?" asked Sister Sara. (I continued calling her "Sister
Sara," and she kept calling me by my name).
"Yes, very much; but I do not like to tread on the tender and sweet
flowers."
"Never mind, dear Sultana; your treading will not harm them; they are
street flowers."
"The whole place looks like a garden," said I admiringly. "You have
arranged every plant so skillfully."
"Your Calcutta could become a nicer garden than this if only your
countrymen wanted to make it so."
"They would think it useless to give so much attention to horticulture,
while they have so many other things to do."
"They could not find a better excuse," said she with smile.
I became very curious to know where the men were. I met more than a
hundred women while walking there, but not a single man.
"Where are the men?" I asked her.
"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."
"Just as we are kept in the zenana?"
"Exactly so."
"How funny," I burst into a laugh. Sister Sara laughed too.
"But dear Sultana, how unfair it is to shut in the harmless women and let
loose the men."
"Why? It is not safe for us to come out of the zenana, as we are naturally
weak."
"Yes, it is not safe so long as there are men about the streets, nor is it
so when a wild animal enters a marketplace."
"Of course not."
"Suppose, some lunatics escape from the asylum and begin to do all sorts
of mischief to men, horses and other creatures; in that case what will
your countrymen do?"
"They will try to capture them and put them back into their asylum."
"Thank you! And you do not think it wise to keep sane people inside an
asylum and let loose the insane?"
"Of course not!" said I laughing lightly.
"As a matter of fact, in your country this very thing is done! Men, who do
or at least are capable of doing no end of mischief, are let loose and the
innocent women, shut up in the zenana! How can you trust those untrained
men out of doors?"
"We have no hand or voice in the management of our social affairs. In
India man is lord and master, he has taken to himself all powers and
privileges and shut up the women in the zenana."
"Why do you allow yourselves to be shut up?"
"Because it cannot be helped as they as stronger than women."
"A lion is stronger than a man, but it does not enable him to dominate the
human race. You have neglected the duty you owe to yourselves and you have
lost your natural rights by shutting your eyes to your own interests."
"But my dear sister Sara, if we do everything by ourselves, what will the
men do then?"
"They should not do anything, excuse me; they are fit for nothing. Only
catch them and put them into the zenana."
"But would it be very easy to catch and put them inside the four walls?"
said I. "And even if this were done, would all their business, political
and commercial - also go with them into the zenana?"
Sister Sara made no reply. She only smiled sweetly. Perhaps she thought it
useless to argue with one who was no better than a frog in a well.
By this time we reached sister Sara's house. It was situated in a
beautiful heart-shaped garden. It was a bungalow with a corrugated iron
roof. It was cooler and nicer than any of our rich buildings. I cannot
describe how neat and how nicely furnished and how tastefully decorated it
was.
We sat side by side. She brought out of the parlour a piece of embroidery
work and began putting on a fresh design.
"Do you know knitting and needle work?"
"Yes; we have nothing else to do in our zenana."
"But we do not trust our zenana members with embroidery!" she said
laughing, "as a man has not patience enough to pass thread through a
needle hole even!"
"Have you done all this work yourself?" I asked her pointing to the
various pieces of embroidered teapoy cloths.
"Yes."
"How can you find time to do all these? You have to do the office work as
well? Have you not?"
"Yes. I do not stick to the laboratory all day long. I finish my work in
two hours."
"In two hours! How do you manage? In our land the officers, magistrates --
for instance, work seven hours daily."
"I have seen some of them doing their work. Do you think they work all the
seven hours?"
"Certainly they do!"
" No, dear Sultana, they do not. They dawdle away their time in smoking.
Some smoke two or three choroots during the office time. They talk much
about their work, but do little. Suppose one choroot takes half an hour to
burn off, and a man smokes twelve choroots daily; then you see, he wastes
six hours every day in sheer smoking."
We talked on various subjects, and I learned that they were not subject to
any kind of epidemic disease, nor did they suffer from mosquito bites as
we do. I was very much astonished to hear that in Ladyland no one died in
youth except by rare accident.
"Will you care to see our kitchen?" she asked me.
"With pleasure," said I, and we went to see it. Of course the men had been
asked to clear off when I was going there. The kitchen was situated in a
beautiful vegetable garden. Every creeper, every tomato plant was itself
an ornament. I found no smoke, nor any chimney either in the kitchen -- it
was clean and bright; the windows were decorated with flower gardens.
There was no sign of coal or fire.
"How do you cook?" I asked.
"With solar heat," she said, at the same time showing me the pipe, through
which passed the concentrated sunlight and heat. And she cooked something
then and there to show me the process.
"How did you manage to gather and store up the sun heat?" I asked her in
amazement.
"Let me tell you a little of our past history then. Thirty years ago, when
our present Queen was thirteen years old, she inherited the throne. She
was Queen in name only, the Prime Minister really ruling the country.
"Our good Queen liked science very much. She circulated an order that all
the women in her country should be educated. Accordingly a number of
girls' schools were founded and supported by the government . Education
was spread far and wide among women. And early marriage also was stopped.
No woman was to be allowed to marry before she was twenty-one. I must tell
you that, before this change we had been kept in strict purdah."
"How the tables are turned," I interposed with a laugh.
"But the seclusion is the same," she said. "In a few years we had separate
universities, where no men were admitted."
"In the capital, where our Queen lives, there are two universities. One of
these invented a wonderful balloon, to which they attached a number of
pipes. By means of this captive balloon which they managed to keep afloat
above the cloud-land, they could draw as much water from the atmosphere as
they pleased. As the water was incessantly being drawn by the university
people no cloud gathered and the ingenious Lady Principal stopped rain and
storms thereby."
"Really! Now I understand why there is no mud here!" said I. But I could
not understand how it was possible to accumulate water in the pipes. She
explained to me how it was done, but I was unable to understand her, as my
scientific knowledge was very limited. However, she went on…
"When the other university came to know of this, they became exceedingly
jealous and tried to do something more extraordinary still. They invented
an instrument by which they could collect as much sun-heat as they wanted.
And they kept the heat stored up to be distributed among others as
required.
"While the women were engaged in scientific research, the men of this
country were busy increasing their military power. When they came to know
that the female universities were able to draw water from the atmosphere
and collect heat from the sun, they only laughed at the members of the
universities and called the whole thing 'a sentimental nightmare'!"
"Your achievements are very wonderful indeed! But tell me, how you managed
to put the men of your country into the zenana. Did you entrap them
first?"
"No."
"It is not likely that they would surrender their free and open air life
of their own accord and confine themselves within the four walls of the
zenana! They must have been overpowered."
"Yes, they have been!"
"By whom? By some lady warriors, I suppose?"
"No, not by arms."
"Yes, it cannot be so. Men's arms are stronger than women's. Then?"
"By brain."
"Even their brains are bigger and heavier than women's. Are they not?"
"Yes, but what of that? An elephant also has got a bigger and heavier
brain than a man has. Yet man can enchain elephants and employ them,
according to their own wishes."
"Well said, but tell me please, how it all actually happened. I am dying
to know it!"
"Women's brains are somewhat quicker than men's. Ten years ago, when the
military officers called our scientific discoveries 'a sentimental
nightmare,' some of the young ladies wanted to say something in reply to
those remarks. But both the Lady Principals restrained them and said, they
should reply not by word, but by deed, if ever they got the opportunity.
And they had not long to wait for that opportunity."
"How marvelous!" I heartily clapped my hands. "And now the proud gentlemen
are dreaming sentimental dreams themselves."
"Soon afterwards certain persons came from a neighbouring country and took
shelter in ours. They were in trouble having committed some political
offense. The king who cared more for power than for good government asked
our kind-hearted Queen to hand them over to his officers. She refused, as
it was against her principle to turn out refugees. For this refusal the
king declared war against our country.
"Our military officers sprang to their feet at once and marched out to
meet the enemy.
"The enemy however, was too strong for them. Our soldiers fought bravely,
no doubt. But in spite of all their bravery the foreign army advanced step
by step to invade our country."
"Nearly all the men had gone out to fight; even a boy of sixteen was not
left home. Most of our warriors were killed, the rest driven back and the
enemy came within twenty-five miles of the capital.
"A meeting of a number of wise ladies was held at the Queen's palace to
advise as to what should be done to save the land.
"Some proposed to fight like soldiers; others objected and said that women
not trained to fight with swords and guns, nor were they accustomed to
fighting with any weapons. A third party regretfully remarked that they
were hopelessly weak of body.
"'If you cannot save your country for lack of physical strength,' said the
Queen, 'try to do so by brain power.'
"There was a dead silence for a few minutes. Her Royal Highness said
again, 'I must commit suicide if the land and my honour are lost.'
"Then the Lady Principal of the second university (who had collected
sun-heat), who had been silently thinking during the consultation,
remarked that they were all but lost, and there was little hope left for
them. There was, however, one plan which she would like to try, and this
would be her first and last efforts; if she failed in this, there would be
nothing left but to commit suicide. All present solemnly vowed that they
would never allow themselves to be enslaved, on matter what happened.
"The Queen thanked them heartily, and asked the Lady Principal to try her
plan.
"The Lady Principal rose again and said, 'before we go out the men must
enter the zenanas. I make this prayer for the sake of purdah.' 'Yes, of
course,' replied Her Royal Highness.
"On the following day the Queen called upon all men to retire into zenanas
for the sake of honour and liberty.
"Wounded and tired as they were, they took that order rather for a boon!
They bowed low and entered the zenanas without uttering a single word of
protest. They were sure that there was no hope for this country at all.
"Then the Lady Principal with her two thousand students marched to the
battle field, and arriving there directed all the rays of the concentrated
sunlight and heat towards the enemy.
"The heat and light were too much for them to bear. They all ran away
panic-stricken, not knowing in their bewilderment how to counteract that
scorching heat. When they fled away leaving their guns and other
ammunitions of war, they were burnt down by means of the same sun heat.
"Since then no one has tried to invade our country any more."
"And since then your countrymen never tried to come out of the zenana?"
"Yes, they wanted to be free. Some of the police commissioners and
district magistrates sent word to the Queen to the effect that the
military officers certainly deserved to be imprisoned for their failure;
but they never neglected their duty and therefore they should not be
punished and they prayed to be restored to their respective offices.
"Her Royal Highness sent them a circular letter intimating to them that if
their services should ever be needed they would be sent for, and that in
the meanwhile they should remain where they were.
"Now that they are accustomed to the purdah system and have ceased to
grumble at their seclusion, we call the system 'Murdana' instead of
'zenana'."
"But how do you manage," I asked Sister Sara, "to do without the police or
magistrates in case of theft or murder?"
"Since the 'Murdana' system has been established, there has been no more
crime or sin; therefore we do not require a policeman to find out a
culprit, nor do we want a magistrate to try a criminal case."
"That is very good, indeed. I suppose if there was any dishonest person,
you could very easily chastise her. As you gained a decisive victory
without shedding a single drop of blood, you could drive off crime and
criminals too without much difficulty!"
"Now, dear Sultana, will you sit here or come to my parlour?" she asked
me.
"Your kitchen is not inferior to a queen's boudoir!" I replied with a
pleasant smile, "but we must leave it now; for the gentlemen may be
cursing me for keeping them away from their duties in the kitchen so
long." We both laughed heartily.
"How my friends at home will be amused and amazed, when I go back and tell
them that in the far-off Ladyland, ladies rule over the country and
control all social matters, while gentlemen are kept in the Murdanas to
mind babies, to cook and to do all sorts of domestic work; and that
cooking is so easy a thing that it is simply a pleasure to cook!"
"Yes, tell them about all that you see here."
"Please let me know, how you carry on land cultivation and how you plough
the land and do other hard manual work."
"Our fields are tilled by means of electricity, which supplies motive
power for other hard work as well, and we employ it for our aerial
conveyances too. We have no rail road nor any paved streets here."
"Therefore neither street nor railway accidents occur here," said I. "Do
not you ever suffer from want of rainwater?" I asked.
"Never since the 'water balloon' has been set up. You see the big balloon
and pipes attached thereto. By their aid we can draw as much rainwater as
we require. Nor do we ever suffer from flood or thunderstorms. We are all
very busy making nature yield as much as she can. We do not find time to
quarrel with one another as we never sit idle. Our noble Queen is
exceedingly fond of botany; it is her ambition to convert the whole
country into one grand garden."
"The idea is excellent. What is your chief food?"
"Fruits."
"How do you keep your country cool in hot weather? We regard the rainfall
in summer as a blessing from heaven."
"When the heat becomes unbearable, we sprinkle the ground with plentiful
showers drawn from the artificial fountains. And in cold weather we keep
our room warm with sun heat."
She showed me her bathroom, the roof of which was removable. She could
enjoy a shower bath whenever she liked, by simply removing the roof (which
was like the lid of a box) and turning on the tap of the shower pipe.
"You are a lucky people!" ejaculated I. "You know no want. What is you
religion, may I ask?"
"Our religion is based on Love and Truth. It is our religious duty to love
one another and to be absolutely truthful. If any person lies, she or he
is…."
"Punished with death?"
"No, not with death. We do not take pleasure in killing a creature of
Good, especially a human being. The liar is asked to leave this land for
good and never to come to it again."
"Is an offender never forgiven?"
"Yes, if that person repents sincerely."
"Are you not allowed to see any man, except your own relations?"
"No one except sacred relations."
"Our circle of sacred relations is very limited; even first cousins are
not sacred."
"But ours is very large; a distant cousin is as sacred as a brother."
"That is very good. I see purity itself reigns over your land. I should
like to see the good Queen, who is so sagacious and far-sighted and who
has made all these rules."
"All right," said Sister Sara.
Then she screwed a couple of seats onto a square piece of plank. To this
plank she attached two smooth and well-polished balls. When I asked her
what the balls were for, she said they were hydrogen balls and they were
used to overcome the force of gravity. The balls were of different
capacities to be used according to the different weights desired to be
overcome. She then fastened to the air-car two wing-like blades, which,
she said, were worked by electricity. After we were comfortably seated she
touched a knob and the blades began to whirl, moving faster and faster
every moment. At first we were raised to the height of about six or seven
feet and then off we flew. And before I could realize that we had
commenced moving, we reached the garden of the Queen.
My friend lowered the air-car by reversing the action of the machine, and
when the car touched the ground the machine was stopped and we got out.
I had seen from the air-car the Queen walking on a garden path with her
little daughter (who was four years old) and her maids of honour.
"Halloo! You here!" cried the Queen addressing Sister Sara. I was
introduced to Her Royal Highness and was received by her cordially without
any ceremony.
I was very much delighted to make her acquaintance. In the course of the
conversation I had with her, the Queen told me that she had no objection
to permitting her subjects to trade with other countries. "But," she
continued, "no trade was possible with countries where the women were kept
in the zenanas and so unable to come and trade with us. Men, we find, are
rather of lower morals and so we do not like dealing with them. We do not
covet other people's land, we do not fight for piece of diamond though it
may be a thousand-fold brighter than the Koh-i-Noor, nor do we grudge a
ruler his peacock throne. We dive deep into the ocean of knowledge and try
to find out the precious gems, which Nature has kept in store for us. We
enjoy Nature's gifts as much as we can."
After taking leave of the Queen, I visited the famous universities, and
was shown some of their manufactories, laboratories and observatories.
After visiting the above places of interest we got again into the air-car,
but as soon as it began moving, I somehow slipped down and the fall
startled me out of my dream. And on opening my eyes, I found myself in my
own bed lounging in the easy-chair!
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Originally published in The Indian Ladies Magazine, Madras, India, 1905,
in English. The text presented here is from Begum Rokeya Rochonaboli,,
Bangla Academy, 1993.