Bibi Khanoom Astarabadi facts for kids
Bibi Khānoom Astarābādi (Persian: بی بی خانم استرآبادی) (1858/9 – 1921) was an important Iranian writer and a funny, sharp critic (a satirist). She was also one of the first people to fight for women's rights in Iran.
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Bibi Khatoon's Early Life
Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi was born in 1858 or 1859. Her father was Mohammad Baqer Khan Astarabadi, a well-known man from Astarabad (now called Gorgan). Her mother was Khadijeh Khanom, also known as Mollah Bāji. Mollah Bāji was a companion to Shokuh ol-Saltaneh, who was the wife of Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, the king at the time.
The name Mollah Bāji shows that Bibi Khatoon's mother was educated. She was in charge of teaching the children in the king's court. This was more than just doing daily chores.
When she was 22, Bibi Khatoon married Musa Khan Vaziri. He was an important officer in the Persian Cossack Brigade. They had seven children. Some of their most famous children include:
- Colonel Ali-Naqi Vaziri: He was a music expert, composer, and a great player of the tar (a string instrument). He also started Iran's Academy of Music and National Orchestra.
- Hasan Vaziri: He was a talented painter.
- Khadijeh Afzal Vaziri: She became a journalist.
Bibi Khatoon's granddaughter, Dr Mahlagha Mallah, also became famous. She started Iran's "Women's Society against Environmental Pollution" in 1992. This group teaches children, mothers, and officials about how to protect the environment.
Her Work and Fight for Rights
Bibi Khatoon was a key person in the Persian Constitutional Revolution. This was a big movement in Iran in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She started the very first school for girls in modern Iranian history. It was called The School for Girls (دبستان دوشیزگان).
She wrote many articles to support girls' right to go to school. Her writings appeared in newspapers like Tamaddon (Civilization), Habl al-Matin (Firm Rope), and Majles (Parliament).
Bibi Khatoon is also famous for her book Ma'ayeb al-Rejal (معايب الرجال), which means Failings of Men. She wrote this book to answer another pamphlet called Ta'deeb al-Nesvan (تاديب النسوان), or Edification of Women. An unknown writer had written Ta'deeb al-Nesvan.
Ma'ayeb al-Rejal was published in 1895. This was eleven years before Iran got its constitutional monarchy in 1906. Many people see her book as the first time women's rights were openly declared in Iran's recent history.
The School for Girls
Bibi Khatoon opened The School for Girls in 1907. It was in her own home in Tehran. Young girls, their mothers, and even grandmothers attended the school. For some older women, this was their first chance to get a formal education.
The school had things like desks, which we might take for granted today. But back then, it was special because it was part of Bibi Khatoon's home. This shows how much she cared about educating women in Iran.
Advertisement for The School for Girls
A new school called The School for Girls [دبستان دوشیزگان] has opened. It is near the old gate of Mahmmadieh, by the Hāji Mohammad-Hossein market. The school has a big courtyard and many rooms with all the things needed for learning.
Five female teachers [معلمه] work at the school. Each teacher teaches a different subject. These subjects include Nokhost-nameh, Writing, History of Iran, Reading, Cookery, Law, Religion, Geography, and Arithmetic. The teaching style is changed to fit what each girl or woman can learn.
There is also a special area for teaching crafts. Students can learn knitting, gold embroidery, silk embroidery, and sewing. All the teachers are women. Only an old male porter works there; no other men are allowed in the school.
Girls between seven and twelve years old can join. The first class costs fifteen qeran per month. The practical class costs twenty-five qeran per month. Poor students get a discount. If two students from the same family join, one can come for free. We hope thousands of schools like this will open in our dear country.
Signature: Bibi Khanom Astarabadi. (Published in the Majles daily newspaper on March 28, 1907).
The school taught many subjects. These included Arabic language, Arithmetic, Cookery, Geography, History, Law, Music, Persian literature, and Religion.
It's interesting to know that in 1936, almost 30 years after Bibi Khatoon's school opened, 12 women were allowed to study at the University of Tehran for the first time. They could join any department. Today, about 70% of all university students in Iran are women.
The original building of The School for Girls stayed the same for about 22 years after Bibi Khatoon died in 1921. In 1943, her family sold the building.
Edification of Women and Failings of Men
In 1895, a small book called Ta'deeb al-Nesvan (Edification of Women) was published. It was written by an unknown prince from the Qajar royal family. People joked that he must have been very scared of his wife to not put his name on it!
This book had some very old-fashioned ideas about women. Here are a few of its main points:
- Women are like children and need men to educate them.
- For a woman to be good, she must always obey her husband.
- A woman should never ask her husband for anything. It's up to him if he wants to give her favors.
- A woman's job at home is to make sure her husband is calm and happy.
- The main reason for marriage is to make the husband happy.
- A woman should always be shy, except when she is in bed.
- A woman should not talk during meals.
- A woman should walk slowly, like someone who is sick.
Bibi Khatoon was very upset by these ideas. She wrote her book, Ma'ayeb al-Rejal (Failings of Men), as a strong and witty answer. She wrote that the author of Ta'deeb al-Nesvan seemed to have lost his mind. She said he should fix his own problems before telling women what to do.
She pointed out that this anonymous writer thought he was "Westernized" and "civilized." But Bibi Khatoon argued he wasn't even "half-civilized." She wrote, "Does he not know that Europeans treat their women like flowers, and women freely associate with men?" She was showing how his ideas were outdated and unfair.
Bibi Khatoon's book, Ma'ayeb al-Rejal, has two main parts. In one part, she directly answers the points made in Ta'deeb al-Nesvan. In the other part, she describes what men's social gatherings were like at the time. Her writing style in this book is often funny and mocking.
These two important books were later published together in 1992 by Hasan Javadi.
