Begum Rokeya – Sultana’s Dream

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was an influential social activist in British India, born in 1880 in Rangpur, a district of what is now Bangladesh. Her home life was comfortable as her father was a wealthy zamindar. He had four wives and Rokeya had five brothers and sisters. The girls were not allowed to go to school but educated themselves at home. Her sister, Karimunessa, was very important to Rokeya, especially because she wanted to be educated in Bangla, the language of the people, rather than the Arabic or Persian their father thought more suitable languages for schooling. Luckily, their brother, Ibrahim, taught them Bangla as well as English.