Begum Rokheya Shekhawat Hossain (1880–1932), also known as Begum Rokheya, was a Bengali writer famous for her social work for gender equality in what is now Bangladesh. She wrote in many genres and modes, including short stories, poems, essays, novels, and satirical works.
Her published works, some of them translated into English, include “Pipasha” (“Thirst,” 1902), Motichur volumes 1 and 2 (1904, 1922), “Saogat” (1918, poetry), Padmarag (1924, feminist utopian novel), “Oborodh-Bashini” (“The Secluded Women,” 1931), “Narir adhikar” (“The Rights of Women,” nonfiction commissioned by the Islamic Women’s Association), “God Gives, Man Robs” (1927), and “Education Ideals for the Modern Indian Girl” (1931). The first volume of Motichur collects essays, but the second volume includes stories such as “Saurajagat” (“The Solar System”), “Jvan-phal” (“The Fruit of Knowledge”), “Nari-sristi” (“Creation of Women”), and “Mukti-phal” (“The Fruit of Emancipation”). She wrote regularly for such publications as Saogat, Mahammadi, Nabaprabha, Mahila, Bharatmahila, al-Eslam, Nawroz, Mahe-Nao, Bangiya Mussalman Sahitya Patrika, the Musalman, and the Indian Ladies’ Magazine.
Born into a wealthy and influential family, Hossain had relatives who were government ministers and a sister who was a popular poet. Although she was married at sixteen, Hossain’s husband was a progressive who allowed her to continue her education and who encouraged her activism. Hossain often used humor and cutting satire in her writings to push back against widespread resistance to the education of women. She also established the first school for Muslim girls in 1909 and founded the Islamic Women’s Association, which held debates and organized conferences regarding the status of women and education. She advocated reform, particularly for women.
In 1926, Begum Rokheya strongly condemned men for withholding education from women in the name of religion as she addressed the Bengal women’s education conference: “The opponents of the female education [who] say that women will be unruly lie! They call themselves Muslims and yet go against the basic tenet of Islam, which gives equal right to education. If men are not led astray once educated, why should women be?” She remained busy with the school until she died of heart problems on her fifty-second birthday. Today, Bangladesh celebrates Rokheya Day in her honor.
The most notable of Hossain’s short stories was her feminist utopian work “Sultana’s Dream” (1905). As with much early science fiction, the story takes the form of a “conte philosophique,” which translates as “fable of reason.” The conte philosophique had existed for centuries in the West as a way for scientists or philosophers to present their findings, using the fictional frame of an imaginary journey to impart scientific or philosophical content. Other stories in this volume by Alfred Jarry, Paul Scheerbart, and Stanisław Lem use a similar approach, if for different purposes.