Atiya’s Journeys: A Muslim Woman from Colonial Bombay to Edwardian Britain

Born in Istanbul and raised in colonial Bombay, Atiya Fyzee (1877—1967), of the renowned Tyabji clan, was an extraordinary woman of her time. Traveller, writer, and reformer, she was a cultural icon–not least on account of her friendships with two of South Asias prominent Muslim intellectuals, Maulana Shibli Numani and Muhammed Iqbal. Her partnership with her husband, artist, and writer, Samuel Rahamin also earned the couple international acclaim in the fields of music, dance, visual arts, theatre and literature.

Atiyas Journeys is the first English translation of Atiya Fyzees travelogue-cum-diary, Zamana-i-tahsil, published in an Urdu journal in 1906—7. A fascinating account of a Muslim womans experience of Edwardian Britain, this unique narrative moves away from formulaic European travelogues by Indian men in placing its emphasis on the ‘everyday. From her visits to the opera to her experience of the lives of prominent Indians, from her accounts of daily activities of women and subaltern classes to her advice to her readers in India, Atiyas travels and writings reveal a kaleidoscope of the multicultural ethos of Edwardian Britain.