From Purdah to Parliament – Part I (Chapters I )

Sub title : Opening page of a literary memoir describing the author’s childhood home in Calcutta

Subject: Memoir | Muslim women’s life | Parliamentary politics | Bengali Muslim aristocracy

Language: English

Page: 265 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 28893

Keyword: From Purdah to Parliament -- Memoir -- Muslim women -- Traditional house -- Calcutta -- Dacca -- Nawab Syud Mohammed -- Nawab Abdul Latif -- Tahat Purdah -- Bengali Muslims.

Abstract: This typescript is the opening page of a memoir titled “From Purdah to Parliament”. The first page displays the title and part/chapter indication (Part I, Chapters I – ). The following pages (not included in this single file but described in the text) contain Chapter I, in which the author vividly describes the old‑fashioned Muslim house in Calcutta where she was born. She details the architecture: a narrow lane, a small gate, long galleries, courtyards, deep verandahs serving as drawing‑rooms, and raised wooden platforms (tahats) used for sitting, sewing, receiving visitors, and even shopping. She describes the furnishings, including embroidered carpets, spice boxes, water vessels for ablution and drinking, and the absence of English‑style furniture. The author also introduces her grandfather, Nawab Syud Mohammed, an old‑aristocratic Iranian‑descended family from Dacca who never fully adapted to British rule. She mentions Nawab Abdul Latif, a progressive Muslim leader who encouraged education and came to terms with the British. The memoir appears to be a personal narrative tracing the author’s journey from a traditional purdah‑observing household to a public life in parliament.

Description: This single‑page typescript is the title page of a memoir titled “From Purdah to Parliament – Part I (Chapters I – )”. Although only the cover page is shown here, the accompanying text (extending through several pages in the original file) provides the beginning of Chapter I. The author narrates her birth in her maternal grandfather’s house in Calcutta, a house built in the style of 17th‑century Muslim architecture. She describes the layout, the use of verandahs as living spaces, the tahat (raised wooden platform) as the centre of household activity, and the traditional customs of the family. The memoir also touches on her grandfather’s aristocratic lineage from Iran via Dacca, and his reluctance to embrace British ways, contrasting with the progressive views of Nawab Abdul Latif, who encouraged Muslims to adapt. The manuscript offers a rich depiction of domestic life among the Muslim elite in colonial Bengal and sets the stage for the author’s eventual move from purdah to political life. The document is part of the larger archive of Miss Fatima Jinnah’s papers, though its exact relation to her is unclear; it may have been a personal reading copy or a gift. CREATE METADATA FOLLOWING PERVIOUS TABS

Total Views: 114        Favorites : 0

Download Citation: BibTeX | RIS | Chicago Manual of Style | Harvard | APA | MLA