In a sympathetic and comprehensive study of Indian women, Geraldine Forbes considers their recent history from the nineteenth century under colonial rule, to the twentieth century after Independence. The author begins with the reform movement, which was established by men to educate women, and demonstrates how education changed their lives and enabled them to take part in public life. Through the women’s own accounts of their lives and activities, she documents the formation of their organizations, their participation in the struggle for freedom, their role in the colonial economy, and the development of the women’s movement in India since 1947. By relying on first-hand accounts, the author has been able to compile an immediate and accessible record of the achievements of Indian women over the last two centuries which will be of interest not only to students of South Asia, but to anyone concerned with women and their history.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Geraldine Forbes
Geraldine Forbs is Distinguished Teaching Professor of History at the State University of New York, Oswego. She began her research in India over three decades ago. Her focus has been colonial India, with special emphasis on women’s history. Her first book, Positivism in Bengal, was selected for the prestigious Rabindra Puroskar award by the West Bengal Government. Among her publications on the history and lives of Indian women are Women in Modern India. The Memoirs of Haimabati Sen, and a number of articles and book chapters. The series editor of Foremother Legacies, she has edited and introduced As Indian Freedom Fighter Recalls Her Life, and Memoirs of an Indian Women in this series. Geraldine Forbes is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Women’s History and the editorial collective of Gender and History. Her current work is on Photographic Imagery and the History of Indian Women. In July 2004 she was chosen by the Organizing Committee of the Conference to receive an award for her contributions to Bengali society, arts and culture. She lives in Syracuse, New York which her husband Sidney Greenblatt.
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