About the author :
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, also known as Begum Rokeya, was a Bengali Muslim feminist writer who wrote essays, novels, and short stories on the state of women's rights in British India and women's liberation. Born in 1880 into an upper-class family, Rokeya's father taught both her and her sister Arabic, Persian, English, and Bengali, although he encouraged the two young women to focus on studying Arabic and Persian. At age eighteen, Rokeya married Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hossain. Her husband encouraged Rokeya to continue writing and to pursue writing in Bengali as well as English. In 1905, while her husband was away, Rokeya wrote Sultana's Dream, describing it as an exercise to pass the time and explore literary forms other than the essay. When her husband returned and read the story, he encouraged Rokeya to publish it, and in the same year the story appeared in The Indian Ladies' Magazine. In 1908, the story was republished as a book.
Rokeya passed away in 1932 as a result of heart problems. Her invaluable contribution to the women's rights movement in Bangladesh, as well as her prolific writing career, have made her a central part of Muslim women's history and literature.
‘Sultana’s Dream’ :
The story begins with the narrator “thinking lazily of the condition of Indian womanhood.” The narrator is unnamed; “sultana” is a title, the female equivalent of “sultan,” and not a first name. She says she is not sure whether she fell asleep or not, but knows that she felt as if she were awake.
A friend, Sister Sara, enters the room and wishes her good morning, although it is nighttime. Sara asks her to come outside and walk in the garden, and the narrator discovers that it is indeed light outside, and the streets are filled with people. The narrator is ready to be embarrassed, afraid she will encounter a man while she is walking in the street in broad daylight, an action that was taboo for women at the time. But strangely, there are no men out.
Passersby laugh at her in a language she cannot quite understand. Sister Sara says they are saying she looks “mannish,” that she is acting timid like men do. The narrator does not understand her, and suddenly realizes she is not walking with her friend at all—this woman is a stranger.
She tells the woman, still referred to as “Sister Sara,” that she is uncomfortable walking around without a veil on. Sister Sara tells her she need not worry about her veil: she is in Ladyland, and does not need to worry about encountering a man while unveiled.
The narrator looks around and sees that Ladyland is like a garden. The streets are filled with flowers. Sister Sara says that Calcutta could look like this too, if the men of that city wanted it to. The narrator asks where all the men are, and Sister Sara explains that in Ladyland, men are kept indoors, just as women are kept indoors in India. The narrator says it is not safe for women to come out of the zenanas, women’s quarters, because they are naturally weak, and Sister Sara replies that this is only true when men or wild animals are out in the streets. She compares the idea of keeping women indoors while men roam free to locking up the sane and letting the insane loose, because men are more capable of harm.
The narrator explains she has no choice in keeping to the zenanas; women have no voice in their own affairs in India. Everything is decided by men, whose strength makes them lord and master. Sister Sara argues that lions are stronger than men, but that does not mean lions rule the world. She says women in India have lost their rights by ignoring their best interests.
The narrator and Sister Sara sit together. Sister Sara begins to embroider, explaining that although this is all women have to do in the zenana, women in Ladyland still do this work, rather than giving it to men, who do not have the patience to thread a needle. She explains that she is able to do both the domestic work of women and the office work of men because women are more efficient. Men, on the other hand, can stretch two hours of work into seven, smoking and talking rather than getting down to business.
Sister Sara also tells the narrator that in Ladyland there are no epidemics, or even mosquito bites. It is rare for anyone there to die young. She shows the narrator their solar technologies as well: they use solar energy to cook their food. She says these new technologies were developed some years ago, after their country’s queen mandated that all women be educated, and barred them from marrying until they were at least 21. Women’s universities invented ways to draw water from the sky and energy from the sun.
While women were inventing new technologies, the men of the country were focused on military strength, and laughed at the women’s inventions. The women sought revenge, though the “Lady Principals” of the two women’s universities advised them not to respond by words but by action.
The opportunity came when refugees from another country sought political asylum in theirs. In response, the neighbouring country’s king declared war. All the men of Ladyland went to fight the enemy, but were defeated. One of the Lady Principals came up with a plan to defeat the enemy, but said all the remaining men must be confined to the zenanas. The next day, the Lady Principal and her students marched to the battlefield and directed all the sun’s rays towards the advancing army. Scorched, the enemy retreated.
Since then, says Sister Sara, no one has dared try to invade Ladyland, and women have ruled while men remain in the zenanas. The Queen sent a letter out explaining that the men would be called out again if their services were required. So far, it has been ten years and they have not been needed. Sister Sara explains that the system is called mardana; marda is the Urdu word for “man.” Ever since the mardana system, there has been no crime and no need for the criminal justice system.
Sister Sara continues to explain how the women of Ladyland save labor: fields are tilled by machine. There are no railroads or paved streets, so there are no railroad or street accidents, either. A sprinkler system keeps everyone cool in summer, while stored solar energy keeps them warm in winter. Their religion is based on “Love and Truth.” No one is punished with death; any offenders are simply banished, though they are forgiven if they repent.
The narrator asks if she can meet the Queen, and Sister Sara obligingly assembles a hydrogen-powered air-car that takes them to her. The Queen greets them both and tells the narrator about their trade: Ladyland trades only with the women of other countries, not men. They prefer to seek knowledge, rather than wealth, and try to enjoy what nature provides them.
The narrator tours Ladyland, but wakes up to discover she is back in her chair in India. Ladyland was all a dream.
Thank You…
