SSC
Who is regarded as the first Muslim woman teacher of India?
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Answer: Option C — Fatima Sheikh
Detailed Solution
Fatima Sheikh is widely regarded as the first Muslim woman teacher of modern India. She worked alongside the social reformers Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule in Pune in the mid-19th century, helping to educate girls and children from the oppressed castes.
Her story:
In 1848, Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule opened one of the first schools for girls in India, at Bhide Wada in Pune. Their work was strongly opposed by conservative sections of society, and the Phules were forced to leave their family home.
Fatima Sheikh and her brother, Usman Sheikh, gave the Phules shelter in their house in Pune. A school for girls was also run from the Sheikh home.
Fatima Sheikh trained as a teacher, reportedly along with Savitribai Phule, at a teacher training programme run by an American missionary, Cynthia Farrar, in Ahmednagar.
She taught at the schools set up by the Phules and went from house to house to persuade families, especially Muslim and Dalit families, to send their daughters to school, facing hostility and abuse.
She is mentioned in Savitribai Phule's letters to her husband. In 2022, Google honoured her with a Google Doodle on her birth anniversary (9 January).
About Savitribai Phule (1831-1897): She is regarded as India's first woman teacher. She and Jyotirao Phule founded the "Satyashodhak Samaj" (Society of Truth Seekers) in 1873. Her birthday, 3 January, is celebrated in Maharashtra as "Balika Din".
Why not the other options?
- ✗Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was a Bengali writer and educator who founded a school for Muslim girls in Calcutta in 1911; she wrote "Sultana's Dream".
- ✗Abida Sultan was a princess of Bhopal.
- ✗Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the Congress flag at Gowalia Tank during the Quit India Movement (1942).
Quick tip
Remember: Fatima Sheikh = first Muslim woman teacher, worked with Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule (girls' school, Pune, 1848); Savitribai = India's first woman teacher; Satyashodhak Samaj = 1873.
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Firsts in India & World — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Firsts in India & World, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the first persons and events in India and the world: the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize, the first woman to hold major offices, the first to climb Everest or reach space, and India's first institutions, newspapers, railways and satellites. It also covers the largest, longest, highest and smallest records in India and the world. These are pure memory questions, so revise them as short lists by theme: first women, first in sports, first in science and space, and first in governance. Be careful with the exact wording, such as 'first Indian' versus 'first person of Indian origin', or 'first woman President' versus 'first woman Prime Minister', since options are often designed to exploit this. Practise the firsts in India and the world questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.