Bharat Stree Mahamandal (The Great Circle of Indian Women) was a national level women's organisation in India founded by Sarala Devi Chaudhurani in Allahabad in 1910. [1] One of the primary goals of the organisation was to promote female education, [2] which at that time was not well developed.
The organization opened several offices in Lahore (then part of undivided India), Delhi, Karachi, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Bankura, Hazaribagh, Midnapur, Prayagraj and Calcutta to improve the situation of women all over India. The organization did not have any British women or men serving on its committee. [3] [4]
Notable women associated with Bharat Stree Mahamandal include:
Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879.
Nawab Begum Sajida Sultan Ali Khan Pataudi was the daughter of the Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan, and the wife and Begum Consort of Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the 8th Nawab of Pataudi, and in her own right, the 12th Nawab Begum of Bhopal.
Shahjahan Begum was the Nawab Begum of Bhopal for two periods: 1844–60, and secondly during 1868–1901.
Bhopal State was founded by Maharaja of Parmar Rajputs. In the beginning of 18th-century, Bhopal State was converted into an Islamic principality, in the invasion of the Afghan Mughal noble Dost Muhammad Khan. It was a tributary state within the Maratha Confederacy during 18th century (1737–1818), a princely salute state with 19-gun salute in a subsidiary alliance with British India from 1818 to 1947, and an independent state from 1947 to 1949. Islamnagar was founded and served as the State's first capital, which was later shifted to the city of Bhopal.
Sarala Devi Chaudhurani was an Indian educationist and political activist, who founded Bharat Stree Mahamandal in Allahabad in 1910. This was the first national-level women's organization in India. One of the primary goals of the organization was to promote female education. The organization opened several offices in Lahore, Allahabad, Delhi, Karachi, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Bankura, Hazaribagh, Midnapur, and Kolkata to improve the situation of women all over India.
Shahryar Mohammad Khan was a Pakistani career diplomat who became Foreign Secretary of Pakistan in 1990, and remained so until his retirement from service in 1994. He later served as United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Rwanda (1994–1996), and wrote the book Shallow Graves of Rwanda on his experiences on what Rwanda went through. From August 1999, he intermittently served as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and also served as the president of the Asian Cricket Council in 2016.
Sarala Devi was an Indian independence activist, feminist, social activist, politician and writer. She was the first Odia woman to join the Non-cooperation movement in 1921 and the first Odia woman delegate of the Indian National Congress. She became the first woman to be elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly on 1 April 1936.
Sultan Jahan was the ruling Begum of Bhopal between 1901 and 1926.
The All India Women's Conference (AIWC) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Delhi. It was founded in 1927 by Margaret Cousins in order to improve educational efforts for women and children and has expanded its scope to also tackle other women's rights issues. The organisation is the oldest nation-wide women's rights organization in India and has branches throughout the country. It is a member of the International Alliance of Women.
Hafiz Mazhar Husain (1857–1912) was Chief Justice at Bhopal state during the period of Nawab Sultan Jahan Begum.
Sunity DeviCIE was the Maharani of the princely state of Cooch Behar, British India.
Jnanadanandini Tagore was a social reformer who pioneered various cultural innovations and influenced the earliest phase of women's empowerment in 19th century Bengal. She was married to Satyendranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore's elder brother, and a scion of the Jorasanko Tagore Family. She is known today for developing a unique style of sari, the Brahmika sari, based on both the traditional Bengali style, with elements from Gujarati and Parsi style drapes she encountered while living in Bombay.
Abadi Bano Begum (Bi Amma) (Urdu: عبادی بانو بیگم) (Born 1850 Died:13 November 1924) was a prominent voice in the Indian independence movement. She was also known as Bi Amma. She was one of the first Muslim women to actively take part in politics and was part of the movement to free India from the British Raj.
Nazli Rafiya Begum, born Naazli Rafiya Sultana Hassanally Fyzee (1874-1968) was an Indian princess.
The Women's suffrage movement in India fought for Indian women's enfranchisement in Colonial India under British rule. Beyond suffrage, the movement was fighting for women's right to stand for and hold office during the colonial era. In 1918, when Britain granted limited suffrage to women property holders, the law did not apply to British citizens in other parts of the Empire. Despite petitions presented by women and men to the British commissions sent to evaluate Indian voting regulations, women's demands were ignored in the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. In 1919, impassioned pleas and reports indicating support for women to have the vote were presented by suffragists to the India Office and before the Joint Select Committee of the House of Lords and Commons, who were meeting to finalize the electoral regulation reforms of the Southborough Franchise Committee. Though they were not granted voting rights, nor the right to stand in elections, the Government of India Act 1919 allowed Provincial Councils to determine if women could vote, provided they met stringent property, income, or educational levels.
Geraldine Hancock Forbes is a Canadian-born educator, writer, and Distinguished Teaching Professor Emerita, State University of New York Oswego.
Nabanoor was a monthly Bengali literary magazine published from Kolkata. It was a progressive magazine that encouraged contribution by both male and female authors.
Sarala Roy (1861-1946) was an Indian educator, feminist, and social activist. She was one of the first women to matriculate from Calcutta University, and was the first woman to be a member of the University Senate. She founded a school for girls and several women's educational charities, and was a founding member and later, the President of the All India Women's Conference. As President of the All India Women's Conference in 1932, she played a key role in organizing efforts towards women's suffrage, and against child marriage. She was also a strong supporter of educational rights for women and girls.
The National Council of Women in India (NCWI) was a women's organization in India, founded in 1925.
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