Hotee Vidyalankar

Hotee Vidyalankar was a Bengali Hindu Brahmin widow who established a School in Varanasi for ALL women. She taught Poetry, Law, Mathematics and Ayurveda. She was awarded the title "Vidyalankar" by Kashi Pandits.


● "Another Brahmana lady Hoti Vidyalankar was so erudite that like other eminent male scholars, she appeared in the meeting of Pandits and discussed Shastric matters".

Source: Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar,a story of his life
and work ( Subal Chandra Mitra 1902)

● William ward, a contemporary Englishman, writes about Hoti Vidyalankar in his book published in 1811.

He says-"At length Hoti began to teach others, & obtained a number of pupils from all over the country. She is now universally known as Vidyalankara" (learning is her ornament).

● "Hoti Vidyalankar, an 18th century Child widow of Kulin Hindu brahmana family, was proficient in Sanskrit literature, philosophy and law. She ran a chatuspathi (center of learning) in Benares"

-   Historical dictionary of Bengalis (Library of
congress 2013) by Kunal Chakrabarti

● "Exceptional women like Hoti Vidyalankar ran their own schools early in the 19th century. ...it would be a mistake to think Bengali women of 19th century were uneducated".

- Feminizing Political Discourse, Women and the Novel in India, 1857-1905 (Jasbir Jain, 1997)

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