Throughout the history of the world, the position of the woman, the value given to her and the role assigned to her have changed in every society. In Indian tradition, in general, the family has a patriarchal structure in which nuclear families live under one roof. Due to the different religions and cultures in the Indian subcontinent, the view of women has also differed in all segments of society. By the end of the XIX century, the people under British rule, Indian Muslims in general – especially Muslim Indian women – had been left uneducated and had great difficulties in gaining a place in social life. Zahida Khatoon Shirwani, who lived in such a period, has written poems touching on political and social issues. In her poems, especially for women, she mentioned that they can fulfil their responsibilities at home, receive education as a basic right of them, gain a place in social and political life, and work they can do for the benefit of the Islamic World. Her poems were published in women's magazines of the period and reached a wide readership. In this article we will try to discuss the imagination of Indian Muslim women and the place of women in the Indian subcontinent in the view of Muslim female poet of Zahida Khatoon Shirwani. Also we will study the importance, the role and responsibilities that women should take on social and political life at that time through her poems for women published in various magazines.

Keywords: Urdu Language and Literature, Zahida Khatoon Shirwani, Indian Subcontinent, Woman, Imagination.