Nawab Faizunnesa Government Girls' High School is a girls' school in

Comilla Comilla (), officially spelled Cumilla, is a metropolis on the banks of the Gomti River in eastern Bangladesh. Comilla was one of the cities of ancient Bengal. It was once the capital of Tripura kingdom. Comilla Airport is located in the Duli ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, established in 1873 by Faizunnesa Choudhurani, who would in 1889 be titled India's only female ''

nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

'' by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. Faizunnesa, a wealthy ''

zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...

'', established Faizunnesa Girls' Pilot High School, having noted the need for

female education Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

which would accommodate Muslim girls practising

purdah Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of sex segregation prevalent among some Muslim, Zoroastrian and Hindu communities. The purdah garment is the same as a burqa, or yashmak, i.e a veil ...

. The school taught its children in the local Bengali language rather than Urdu or Persian which were the standard languages of education at the time. The students also learned English. During the early years of its establishment, it was treated as the English medium school for girls. It was converted to a junior high school in 1889, and to a high school in 1931.

Notable alumni

* Bidya Sinha Saha Mim - renowned Bangladeshi actress. * Santi Ghose, Indian nationalist * Suniti Choudhury, Indian nationalist

References

External links

School page on Facebook
Schools in Comilla District Girls' schools in Bangladesh High schools in Bangladesh 1873 establishments in India Educational institutions established in 1873 {{Bangladesh-school-stub