Begum Rokeya’s English Works: Relevance to Women Education

Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) understood the causes of the despicable situation of Indian women and prescribed women education as a remedy. Rokeya emphasized women education to emancipate them so that they could be free as humans. Her efforts to improve Indian women’s status amidst the biased social mores are marked by her strong writings such as Sultana’s Dream, “God Gives, Man Robs,” “Educational Ideas for the Modern Indian Girl,” and so on. Considering the ambiance of nineteenth century when women had very little or even no opportunity to read or write, Rokeya was lucky to get the support of her husband, which later helped her pave the way for women education in India. Given the fact that there remained no other choice than education for women’s emancipation, this paper will examine Rokeya’s views on and visions of women education.