A feminist study of Novel "Me Sozam"

Abstract

This article examines Dr. Humera Ashfaq's novel Mee Sozam through a feminist critical lens, focusing on the character of Princess Rabia as a symbol of intellectual and moral resistance against patriarchal authority. Set against the historical backdrop of the ancient kingdom of Khuzdar, the novel intertwines history and fiction to recover a woman's voice that traditional historiography has largely marginalized. Unlike conventional depictions of female characters in historical fiction, Rabia emerges as an active agent, a poet and thinker who challenges her Brother Prince Harith's tyrannical rule not through armed rebellion but through reasoned argument and creative expression. The study situates Rabia within a broader tradition of historically resistant women, such as the Rani of Jhansi and Razia Sultana, while also reading her character as a symbolic critique of patriarchal power structures that persist beyond the novel's
specific historical setting. The paper argues that Ashfaq's use of poetry and language as tools of resistance reflects core feminist principles: women's agency, moral authority over physical power, and the reclamation of historical narrative. Ultimately, Mee Sozam is positioned not merely as a historical novel but as a significant contribution to Urdu feminist literature, one that restores women to the center of historical narrative and affirms the timeless, universal nature of women's struggle for autonomy and voice.