Early feminists of colonial India : Sarala Devi Chaudhurani and Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain

Set against the backdrop of surging nationalism and reform in twentieth-century Bengal, this book recounts the lives of two outstanding women-Sarala Devi Chaudhurani and Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain-and compares their work, their approaches and their ideologies. This book is a story of two outstanding Bengali women fighting for a cause, so similar and yet so strikingly different at multiple levels. It presents a historical evaluation of Sarala Devi Chaudhurani and Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. It specifically determines the similarities and differences in the ideas and activities of these women from two different communities in colonial Bengal, Hindu-Brahmo and Muslim, and thus also sheds some light on contemporary Hindu and Muslim societies, their patterns of change during the colonial encounter, and the emergence among both the communities of a new generation of women. It concentrates on their concern and work around women’s issues. It first introduces the lives of Sarala and Rokeya. It then investigates the steps Sarala and Rokeya advocated or adopted to enhance the lives of women. It concludes by addressing how their contemporaries viewed Sarala and Rokeya, and how are they regarded today