Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (Bengali: বেগম রোকেয়া সাখাওয়াত হোসেন; 9 December 1880 – 9 December 1932), commonly known as Begum Rokeya, was a Bengali writer, thinker, educationist, social activist, advocate of women's rights, and widely regarded as the pioneer of women's education in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the British rule.