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{{Short description|Bengali feminist writer and social reformer (1880–1932)}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Begum Rokeya
| image = Begum Rokeya.jpg
| birth_name = Rokeya Khatun
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1880|12|09|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Mithapukur Upazila|Pairaband]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] (now [[Rangpur Division|Rangpur]], Bangladesh)
| other_names = {{plainlist|
* Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
* R. S. Hossain
* Rokeya Khatoon
}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1932|12|09|1880|12|09|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], Bengal Presidency, British India (now [[West Bengal]], India)
| resting_place = [[Kolkata]], West Bengal, India
| occupation = Writer, feminist thinker, educator, activist
| spouse = {{marriage|Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hossain|1898|1909|end=died}}
| relatives = [[Karimunnesa Khanam Chaudhurani]] (sister) [[Abdul Karim Ghaznavi]] (nephew) [[Abdul Halim Ghaznavi]] (nephew)
}}
'''Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain'''{{efn|Though "Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain" (a romanised form of her married name in {{langx|bn|রোকেয়া সাখাওয়াত হোসেন}}") is the commonly used spelling of Rokeya's full married name, Rokeya herself is never seen to use her full married name in this English spelling. In much of her correspondence in English, she used just her initials: 'R. S. Hossein' (also used on the cover of the 1st edition of ''Sultana's Dream''). In some other correspondences in English, she used "Rokeya Khatun", or "Khatoon". In most of her correspondence in Bengali, she used just her first name "{{langx|bn|রোকেয়া|label=none}}" (would be "Rokeya" if romanized).<ref name="Niaz">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/book-reviews/feminist-foremother-critical-essays-rokeya-sakhawat-hossain-1462744|title=A Feminist Foremother: Critical Essays on Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain|date=16 September 2017|work=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=17 December 2018|archive-date=7 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007123324/https://www.thedailystar.net/book-reviews/feminist-foremother-critical-essays-rokeya-sakhawat-hossain-1462744|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=bpedia/>}} (9 December 1880{{Efn|Though Rokeya's birthday is celebrated along with her death anniversary on 9 December, her birthday is more conjecture than a fact as it was not documented.<ref name=azad/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Begum |first1=Maleka |author-link1=Maleka Begum |title=Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain |script-title=bn:রোকেয়া সাখাওয়াত হোসেন|date=2018 |publisher=Prothoma |location=Dhaka |page=11 |language=bn}}</ref>}} – 9 December 1932), commonly known as '''[[Begum]] Rokeya''',{{efn|The honorific "[[Begum]]" is not a part of Hossain's name; it is added as a feminine title of respect, primarily in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name="Niaz"/>}} was a prominent [[Bengalis|Bengali]] feminist thinker, writer, educator and political activist from [[British India]]. She is widely regarded as a pioneer of [[Feminist movement|feminism]] in Bangladesh and India.

She advocated for men and women to be treated equally as rational beings, noting that the lack of education for women was responsible for their inferior economic position.<ref name=azad>{{cite book|title=[[Naree]]|last=Azad|first=Humayun|publisher=Agamee Prokashon|location=Dhaka|pages=282–299|language=bn|script-title=bn:নারী|trans-title=The Woman|chapter=Purushtantra o Rokeyar Naribad|script-chapter=bn: পুরুষতন্ত্র ও রোকেয়ার নারীবাদ|trans-chapter=Patriarchy and Rokeya's Feminism|author-link=Humayun Azad}}</ref> Her major works include ''Matichur'' (A String of ''Sweet Pearls'', 1904 and 1922), a two-volume collection of essays articulating her feminist ideas; ''[[Sultana's Dream]]'' (1908), a feminist science fiction novella set in Ladyland, a realm governed by women; ''Padmarag'' (''Essence of the Lotus'', 1924), portraying the struggles of Bengali wives;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sarkar |first1=Siuli |title=Gender Disparity in India: Unheard Whimpers |date=2016 |publisher=PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-8120352513 |page=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qwS7DAAAQBAJ&q=ornaments+are+badges+of+slavery&pg=PA74 |access-date=27 November 2018}}</ref> and ''Abarodhbasini'' (The ''Confined Women'', 1931), a bold critique of the extreme purdah system that imperiled women’s freedom and self-worth.<ref name=bpedia>{{cite book|title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh|last=Akhter|first=Shahida|publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]|year=2012|editor1-last=Islam|editor1-first=Sirajul|editor1-link=Sirajul Islam|edition=Second|chapter=Hossain, Roquiah Sakhawat|editor2-last=Jamal|editor2-first=Ahmed A.|chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Hossain,_Roquiah_Sakhawat|access-date=28 November 2015|archive-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806182308/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Hossain%2C_Roquiah_Sakhawat|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.londoni.co/index.php/who-s-who?id=61|title=Roquia Sakhawat Hussain (Begum Rokeya)|work=Londoni|access-date=16 August 2014|archive-date=26 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126221644/http://www.londoni.co/index.php/who-s-who?id=61|url-status=live}}</ref>

Rokeya held education to be the central precondition of women's liberation, establishing the first school aimed primarily at Muslim girls in Kolkata. She is said to have gone from house to house persuading the parents to send their girls to her school in Nisha. Until her death, she ran the school despite facing hostile criticism and social obstacles.<ref name=bpedia/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theindependentbd.com/printversion/details/178078|title=The enduring legacy of Begum Rokeya|work=The Independent|date=9 December 2016|access-date=21 April 2019|archive-date=21 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421230224/http://www.theindependentbd.com/printversion/details/178078|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1916, she founded the Muslim Women's Association, an organization that fought for women's education and employment.<ref name=bpedia/><ref name="Sewall">{{cite web|title=Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain|url=http://www.sewallbelmont.org/womenwecelebrate/begum-rokeya-sakhawat-hossain/|website=Sewall-Belmont House Museum|publisher=Sewall-Belmont House & Museum|access-date=25 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624055605/http://www.sewallbelmont.org/womenwecelebrate/begum-rokeya-sakhawat-hossain/|archive-date=24 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1926, Rokeya presided over the Bengal Women's Education Conference convened in [[Kolkata]], the first significant attempt to bring women together in support of women's education rights.<ref name="Sewall"/> She was engaged in debates and conferences regarding the advancement of women until her death on 9 December 1932, shortly after presiding over a session during the [[Indian Women's Conference]].<ref name="Sewall"/>

[[Bangladesh]] observes [[Rokeya Day]] on 9 December every year to commemorate her works and legacy.<ref name="star2">{{cite news |title=Begum Rokeya Day today |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/begum-rokeya-day-today-1745 |newspaper=The Daily Star |access-date=25 June 2016 |archive-date=12 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312121350/http://www.thedailystar.net/begum-rokeya-day-today-1745 |url-status=live }}</ref> On that day, Bangladesh government also confers [[Begum Rokeya Padak]] on individual women for their exceptional achievement.<ref name="Tribune1"/> In 2004, Rokeya was ranked number 6 in BBC's poll of the [[Greatest Bengali of all time]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/2004/04/16/d4041601066.htm|title=BBC Listeners' Poll|date=16 April 2004|work=The Daily Star|access-date=21 April 2019|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225011711/http://archive.thedailystar.net/2004/04/16/d4041601066.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/2004/04/17/stories/2004041703001700.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225011708/https://www.thehindu.com/2004/04/17/stories/2004041703001700.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 December 2018|title=Mujib, Tagore, Bose among 'greatest Bengalis of all time'|date=17 April 2004|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=21 April 2019}}</ref>

== Background and family ==
[[File:বেগম রোকেয়ার বাড়ি (20).jpg|right|thumb|The remains of Rokeya's childhood house in Pairaband, [[Rangpur District|Rangpur]], pictured in 2012.]]
Rokeya was born in 1880 during the [[British Raj]], to an aristocratic mixed Persian-[[Bengali Muslim]] family in the village of Pairaband, [[Rangpur District|Rangpur]], [[Bengal Presidency]], (erstwhile undivided [[Bengal]]).<ref name=bpedia/> Her ancestors had migrated from [[Tabriz]] in [[Persia|Iran]] to create fortune in [[Indian subcontinent|India]] and had established a ''[[Zamindars of Bengal|zamindari]]'' in [[Rangpur District|Rangpur]], they had served in the military and judiciary during the [[Bengal Subah|Mughal regime]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sengupta |first=Kaiser |date=5 March 2022 |title='Bengali Muslim' As An Oxymoron: Crisis And Conflict Of Identities {{!}} Bengal Renaissance |url=https://bengalrenaissance.org/20220305/bengali-muslim-as-an-oxymoron-crisis-and-conflict-of-identities/ |access-date=11 July 2023 |language=en-US |archive-date=11 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711094557/https://bengalrenaissance.org/20220305/bengali-muslim-as-an-oxymoron-crisis-and-conflict-of-identities/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=bpedia/> Her father, Zahiruddin Muhammad Abu Ali Haidar Saber, was a ''[[zamindar]]'' and a multi-lingual intellectual.<ref name=bpedia/> He married four times; his marriage to Rahatunnessa Sabera Chaudhurani resulted in the birth of Rokeya, who had two sisters and three brothers, one of whom died in childhood. Rokeya's eldest brother Ibrahim Saber, and second brother Khalilur Rahman , her immediate elder sister [[Karimunnesa Khanam Chaudhurani]],and Humaira Khatun (youngest sister). Saber and Karimunnesa both had a major influence on her life. Karimunnesa wanted to study [[Bengali language|Bengali]], the language of the majority in [[Bengali people]], against her family's wish who preferred to use [[Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] as the media of education and communication. Ibrahim taught English and Bengali to Rokeya and Karimunnesa.<ref>{{cite book |title=Women's Changing Position in Bangladesh: Tribute to Begum Rokeya |pages= 10–16 |author=Anwar S. Dil, Afia Dil |year= 2014 |publisher= Intercultural Forum |isbn=978-9842003738}}</ref> Karimunnesa married at the age of fourteen and later became a poetess. Both of her sons, [[Abdul Karim Ghaznavi]] and [[Abdul Halim Ghaznavi]], became politicians and occupied ministerial portfolios under British authorities.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

==Marriage==
[[File:BegumRokeyaWithHusband.jpg|thumb|Rokeya with her husband, Sakhawat Hossain (1898)]]
Rokeya married at the age of 16, in 1898 to 38-year-old Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hossain. He was an [[Urdu]]-speaking deputy magistrate of [[Bhagalpur District|Bhagalpur]] (a present-day district of [[Bihar]] state). He earned his [[Bachelor of Science in Agriculture|bachelor of agriculture]] degree from England and was a member of [[Royal Agricultural Society of England]]. He married Rokeya after the death of his first wife. As a liberal, he encouraged Rokeya to continue learning Bengali and English. He also encouraged her to write, and on his advice, she adopted Bengali as the principal language for her literary works.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

Rokeya wrote ''[[Sultana's Dream]]'' (1908) before her husband died in 1909. In ''Sultana's Dream'', Rokeya wrote reversing the roles of men and women in which women were the dominant sex and the men were subordinate and confined to the mardana (the male equivalent of the zenana). She also depicts an alternative, feminist vision of science, in which inventions such as [[solar ovens]], [[flying cars]], and [[Air well (condenser)|cloud condensers]] are used to benefit the whole of society.<ref name="Lewton">{{cite web |last1=Lewton |first1=Thomas |title=Feminist Visions of Science and Utopia in Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's 'Sultana's Dream' |url=https://www.ladyscience.com/features/feminist-visions-science-fiction-utopia-rokeya-hossain |website=Lady Science |date=2019 |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-date=1 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301221911/https://www.ladyscience.com/features/feminist-visions-science-fiction-utopia-rokeya-hossain |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Sultana">{{cite book |last1=Hossain |first1=Rokeya Sakhawat |title=Sultana's Dream |date=1905 |publisher=The Indian Ladies' Magazine |location=Madras |url=http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/sultana/dream/dream.html |access-date=23 August 2019 |archive-date=16 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416132042/http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/sultana/dream/dream.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
It is regarded as a notable and influential satire. She wrote regularly for the ''[[Saogat]]'', ''Mahammadi'', ''Nabaprabha'', ''Mahila'', ''Bharatmahila'', ''Al-Islam'', ''Nawroz'', ''[[Mahe Nao]]'', ''[[Bangiya Mussalman Sahitya Samiti#Publication|Bangiya Musalman Sahitya Patrika]]'', ''[[The Musalman|The Mussalman]]'', ''Indian Ladies Magazine'' and others.<ref name=bpedia/>

Five months after Rokeya's husband's death, she established a high school, naming it [[Sakhawat Memorial Girls' High School]].<ref name=bio>{{cite web|title=Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain|author=Barnita Bagchi|date=1 October 2003|url=http://www.countercurrents.org/gender-bagchi011003.htm|access-date=16 May 2010|archive-date=22 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022044449/https://www.countercurrents.org/gender-bagchi011003.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> It started in Bhagalpur, a traditionally Urdu-speaking area, with five students. A dispute with her husband's family over property forced her to move the school in 1911 to [[Calcutta]], a Bengali-speaking area.<ref name=bio/> She ran the school for 24 years.<ref name=bpedia/>

Rokeya founded the Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Islam (Islamic Women's Association), which was active in holding debates and conferences regarding the status of women and education. She advocated reform, particularly for women, and believed that parochialism and excessive conservatism were principally responsible for the relatively slow development of Muslims in [[British India]]. Anjuman-e-Khawateen-e-Islam organised events for social reforms based on the original teachings of Islam that, according to her, were lost. {{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

=== Literary style ===
Rokeya wrote in a number of genres: short stories, poems, essays, novels and satirical writings. She developed a distinctive literary style, characterised by creativity, logic and a wry sense of humour. She started writing in the ''[[Nabanoor]]'' from about 1903, under the name of Mrs R S Hossain. However, there is an opinion that her first published writing ''Pipasa'' appeared in the ''Nabaprabha'' in 1902. Her writings called upon women to protest against injustices and break the social barriers that discriminated against them.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/tribute/rokeyas-wake-call-women-1327171|title=Rokeya's wake-up call to women|date=9 December 2016|access-date=31 July 2017|archive-date=1 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201192442/https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/tribute/rokeyas-wake-call-women-1327171|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Novels written by Begum Rokeya ==
{{Quote box |align=right| quote=Whenever any woman tries to raise her head, weapons in the form of religions or holy scriptures strike her head. … Men propagate those scriptures as God's commandments to subdue us in darkness. … Those scriptures are nothing but systems constructed by men. The words we listen from male saints would be different if they were spoken by female saints. … Religions only tighten the yoke of servitude around women and justify male domination over women. |fontsize=85%|width=20%|source=Rokeya in 1904<ref>{{cite book |last=Begum |first=Maleka |date=2010 |title=Banglar Nari Andolaner|script-title=bn:বাংলার নারী আন্দোলন |trans-title=Women's Movement in Bengal|language=bn |location=Dhaka |publisher=The University Press Limited |isbn=978-984-8815-70-0|page=71|author-link=Maleka Begum}}</ref>}}
* ''Pipasha'' ("Thirst") (1902)
* ''Matichur'' 1st Vol. (Essays) (1904)
* ''Matichur'' 2nd Vol. (Essays) (1922)
''The second volume includes stories and fairy tales'':
* ''Saurajagat'' (The Solar System),
** ''Delicia Hatya'' (translation of the Murder of Delicia – [[Marie Corelli]])
** ''Jnan-phal'' (The Fruit of Knowledge)
** ''Nari-Srishti'' (Creation of Women)
** ''Nurse Nelly''
** ''Mukti-phal'' (The Fruit of Emancipation)
* ''[[Sultana's Dream]]'' (1905)
* ''Padmarag'' ("Essence of the Lotus") (novel) (1924)
* ''Abarodhbasini'' ("The Secluded Women") (1931)
* ''Boligarto'' (short story)
* ''Narir Adhikar'' ("The Rights of Women"), an unfinished essay for the Islamic Women's Association
* ''God Gives, Man Robs'' (1927)
* ''Education Ideals for the Modern Indian Girl'' (1931)

== Death and legacy ==
[[File:Tomb of Begum Rokea 04.jpg|left|thumb|Tomb of Rokeya in the campus of Panihati Girls' High School, [[Sodepur]].]]

Rokeya died of [[cardiovascular disease|heart problems]] on 9 December 1932, on her 52nd birthday.

9 December is celebrated as the Rokeya Day in Bangladesh. On 9 December 2017, [[Google]] celebrated her 137th birthday, honoring her with a [[Google Doodle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/begum-rokeyas-137th-birthday/|title=Begum Rokeya's 137th Birthday|website=Google|date=9 December 2017|access-date=13 September 2019|archive-date=1 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301224914/https://www.google.com/doodles/begum-rokeyas-137th-birthday|url-status=live}}</ref>

Rokeya's grave in [[Sodepur]] was rediscovered due to the efforts of the historian [[Amalendu De]]. It is located inside the campus of Panihati Girls' High School, Panihati, Sodepur.<ref name="Barta">{{cite news |title=Remembering Historian Amalendu De |first=Pranotosh |last=Banerjee |work=Janoswartho Barta |others=Chatterjee, Garga (trans.) |url=http://alalodulal.org/2014/05/27/amalendu-de/ |date=27 May 2014 |access-date=13 January 2016 |archive-date=4 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904014351/http://alalodulal.org/2014/05/27/amalendu-de/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Roquia Sakhawat Hussain.jpg|right|thumb|Statue of Rokeya on the premises of Rokeya Hall, [[University of Dhaka]]]]
Rokeya is considered as the pioneer feminist of Bengal.<ref name="Tribune1">{{cite news |title=Begum Rokeya Day on 9 December |url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2014/dec/08/begum-rokeya-day-tomorrow |newspaper=Dhaka Tribune |access-date=25 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107045445/http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2014/dec/08/begum-rokeya-day-tomorrow |archive-date=7 January 2016 }}</ref><ref name="star1">{{cite news |title=Rokeya's unrealised Dream |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/rokeyas-unrealised-dream-185908 |newspaper=The Daily Star |access-date=25 June 2016 |archive-date=5 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405131959/https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/rokeyas-unrealised-dream-185908 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Rubaiyat">{{cite news |last1=Rubaiyat |first1=Hossain |title=Begum Rokeya : The Pioneer Feminist of Bangladesh |url=https://rubaiyat-hossain.com/2011/05/26/begum-rokeya-the-pioneer-feminist-of-bangladesh/ |newspaper=The Daily Star |access-date=25 June 2016 |archive-date=30 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730081311/https://rubaiyat-hossain.com/2011/05/26/begum-rokeya-the-pioneer-feminist-of-bangladesh/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Universities, public buildings and a ''National Award'' has been named after her in Bangladesh.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/star-weekend/remembering-begum-rokeya-1334368|title=Remembering Begum Rokeya|work=The Daily Star|author=Arif Billah|date=23 December 2016|access-date=31 July 2017|archive-date=1 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301223629/https://www.thedailystar.net/star-weekend/remembering-begum-rokeya-1334368|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Begum Rokeya University begins academic activities |url=http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/04/05/63082.html |newspaper=The Financial Express |location=Dhaka |access-date=15 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001123808/http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/04/05/63082.html |archive-date=1 October 2011 }}</ref> She was an inspiration for many later generation female authors including [[Sufia Kamal]], [[Tahmima Anam]], and others.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/news/166678/Poet-Sufia-Kamal%E2%80%99s-18th-death-anniversary-Monday|title=Poet Sufia Kamal's 18th death anniversary Monday|work=Prothom Alo|language=en|access-date=21 April 2019|date=20 November 2017|archive-date=21 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421230225/https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/news/166678/Poet-Sufia-Kamal%25E2%2580%2599s-18th-death-anniversary-Monday|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/28/rokeya-sakhawat-hossain-hero-tahmima-anam |title= My hero Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain |author= Tahmima Anam |author-link= Tahmima Anam |date= 28 May 2011 |access-date= 31 July 2017 |work= [[The Guardian]] |archive-date= 29 January 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230129135451/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/may/28/rokeya-sakhawat-hossain-hero-tahmima-anam |url-status= live }}</ref>

===Eponyms===
*[[Rokeya Day|Begum Rokeya Day]], a commemoration of the birth and death anniversary of Rokeya, observed annually on 9 December in Bangladesh.<ref>{{cite news |title=Begum Rokeya Day today |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-165380 |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=9 December 2010}}</ref>
*[[Begum Rokeya Padak]], a [[Bangladesh]]i national honour conferred on individual women for their exceptional achievements.
*Begum Rokeya Memorial Center, an academic and cultural hub in Pairaband, [[Bangladesh]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rangpurchamber.com/tourism/begum-rokeya-memorial-center-rangpur|title=Begum Rokeya Memorial Center, Rangpur|publisher=Rangpur Chamber Of Commerce & Industry|access-date=21 April 2019|archive-date=21 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421230225/http://www.rangpurchamber.com/tourism/begum-rokeya-memorial-center-rangpur|url-status=live}}</ref>
*Rokeya Shoroni, a [[road]] in [[Dhaka]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://shahidulnews.com/begum-rokeya-is-probably-turning-in-her-grave/| title=Begum Rokeya is probably turning in her grave..| last=Alam|first=Shahidul| date=10 December 2010|website=Shahidul News|language=en-US|access-date=21 April 2019 | url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601124207/http://134.249.116.78/?key=OPY0CSAfqHF8nMm7P9eohpzp3MxkLULM |archive-date=1 June 2023}}</ref>
*[[Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur|Begum Rokeya University]], a [[Public university|public state university]] in [[Bangladesh]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-264012|title=Begum Rokeya University...|date=6 January 2013|work=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=21 April 2019|archive-date=22 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422041853/https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-264012|url-status=live}}</ref>
*Rokeya Hall, the largest [[female]] residential hall of the [[University of Dhaka]]. Even [[Khulna University of Engineering and Technology]], [[Bangladesh Agricultural University]], [[Rajshahi University]] also has a [[female]] residential hall named after Begum Rokeya.
*[[Sakhawat Memorial Govt. Girls' High School]], kolkata, West Bengal.
*Begum Rokeya Smriti Balika Vidalaya in Saltlake, [[West Bengal]].
*''[[Alokbortika]]'' ([[Bengali language|Bengali]]: আলোকবর্তিকা, [[Literal translation|lit.]] 'torch bearer') a commemorative statue of Begum Rokeya, in Rangpur City, unveiled in 2020.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2020-12-09|title=Rokeya’s sculpture of ‘Alokbortika’ unveiled in Rangpur|url=http://www.daily-sun.com/post/522716|access-date=2026-03-29|website=[[Daily Sun (Bangladesh)]]|language=en}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author}}
* [http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/hossain_rokeya_sakhawat Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain] at the [[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction|Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]
* {{cite journal |author=Hasan, Md. Mahmudul |year=2012 |title=Marginalisation of Muslim writers in South Asian literature: Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's English works |journal=South Asia Research |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=179–197 |doi=10.1177/0262728012469303 |s2cid=7845825 |issn=0262-7280 |url=http://irep.iium.edu.my/28243/1/marginalisation_of_muslim_writers_in_south_asian_literature.pdf}}
* Hasan, Md. Mahmudul (2024) Reading Rokeya through the lens of 1857-58 and July 2024. The Daily Star. p. 11. https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/reading-rokeya-through-the-lens-1857-58-and-july-2024-3775276
* Hasan, Md. Mahmudul (2022) Feminism, motherhood and Rokeya. New Age, 9 December 2022. p. 9. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366185107_Feminism_motherhood_and_Rokeya
* Hasan, Md. Mahmudul (2021) Rokeya stands tall. The Daily Star. p. 10. https://www.thedailystar.net/star-literature/news/rokeya-stands-tall-2925146
* Hasan, Md. Mahmudul (2021) Rokeya's attitude towards men. New Age, 09 December 2021. p. 9. https://www.newagebd.net/article/156835/rokeyas-attitude-towards-men
* Hasan, Md. Mahmudul (2018) Early defenders of women’s intellectual rights: Wollstonecraft’s and Rokeya’s strategies to promote female education. Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education, 54 (6). pp. 766-782. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00309230.2018.1515235?journalCode=cpdh20
* Hasan, Md. Mahmudul (2016) Muslim Bengal writes back: a study of Rokeya’s encounter with and representation of Europe. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 52 (6). pp. 739-751. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17449855.2016.1157514
* Quayum, Mohammad Abdul and Hasan, Md. Mahmudul, eds. (2017) A feminist foremother: critical essays on Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. Orient BlackSwan, Telangana, India. ISBN 978-93-86296-00-9
* {{cite journal|title=Asiatic (see articles on Rokeya in 7.2 (December 2013) issue of the journal) |url=http://journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic|website=journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic}}
* {{cite book|title=The Essential Rokeya: Selected Works of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain|location=Leiden, Boston|publisher=Brill Publishing|year=2013|url=http://www.brill.com/essential-rokeya|isbn=9789004255876|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-date=8 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208180115/http://www.brill.com/essential-rokeya|url-status=dead}}

{{Bengal Renaissance}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rokeya, Begum}}
[[Category:1880 births]]
[[Category:1932 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Mithapukur Upazila]]
[[Category:Indian feminists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:Bengali Muslims]]
[[Category:Bengali writers]]
[[Category:Bengali-language writers]]
[[Category:Indian feminist writers]]
[[Category:Indian women's rights activists]]
[[Category:Proponents of Islamic feminism]]
[[Category:Women science fiction and fantasy writers]]
[[Category:19th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:20th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:Begum Rokeya]]
[[Category:Indian people of Iranian descent]]
[[Category:People from the Bengal Presidency]]
[[Category:Bengali-language science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Indian science fiction writers]]

Begum Rokeya - Revision history

Pureganics at 15:48, 5 May 2026