Sultana's Dream

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"Sultana's Dream" is a classic work of Bangla science fiction and an early example of feminist science fiction. The Bengali short story was written in 1905 by Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain, a Muslim feminist, writer and social reformer who lived in British India, in what is now Bangladesh. The word sultana here means a female sultan, i.e. a Muslim ruler.

"Sultana's Dream" was originally published in English in The Indian Ladies Magazine of Madras. It depicts a feminist utopia of role reversal, in which men are locked away in seclusion, in a manner corresponding to the traditional Muslim practice of purdah for women. As a result, women run everything, aided by science fiction-esque "electrical" technology which enables labourless farming and flying cars. Crime is eliminated, since men were responsible for it all. The workday is only two hours long, since men used to waste six hours of each day in smoking. The religion is one of love and truth, rather than any traditional faith with a history of denying the rights of women.