Her husband was Munshi Haydar Ali Ahrari, a descendant of Ubaydullah Ahrar, the great sheikh of the Naqshbandi tariqa.
Author: Farid Younes, Professor Emeritus of Cultural Anthropology and Islamic Philosophy at California State University, Member of the Sanger Advisory Board.
In this situation, when the ignorant and petrified Taliban locked a woman in a cage, the story of Bibi Maryam Sangi is very instructive for everyone. Reactionaries and misogynists wanted to erase this name from history, but could not. This story not only shows the misogyny of the past but at the same time depicts the deculturation of the country and the destruction of its history.
Kutai Sangi was named after a brave woman, poetess, orator, and women's rights fighter who, at the peak of the tyrannical rule of amir Abduraahmankhan, fearlessly attacked tyrants, scolded the oppressors and sided with her people. Poet Maryam, known as Bibi Sangi and Bibi Sayyida, is one of the country's great orators in the first half of the 20th century. In those gloomy times, she not only accepted the torch of mystical literature but also participated in the struggle for the independence of the patriotic youth of the country. She called on Amanullah Khan to achieve political independence in the first minutes of his ascension to the throne of Afghanistan.
Bibi Sangi was sent to political prison because of a poem in which she criticized amir Abdulrahman's violence in suppressing the people. Because she was a learned and educated woman, amir feared that her thoughts might serve to motivate the imprisoned women and become another concern for his government.
On the other hand, a letter written by the late Abdulhadi Davi in praise of General Muhammad Wali Badakhshi's refusal to meet King George V of England in the summer of 1921 shows that Bibi Sangi was an example among courtiers of perseverance and consistency. Because he called the supporters of the deal with the British-Indian government, instead of negotiations with the London government, where they insisted during the negotiations for the independence of the country, ironically "the daughters of Bobo Sanga."
These reasons prompted Amir Abdurakhman to order the construction of a separate cell for her in one of the remote districts of Kabul. And the kutwal (police chief) of Kabul, responsible for the arrests, imprisonments, and murders of Amir, chose a place on the plain, which was located between Qal'ai Wahid, Qal'ai Niyazbek, Qal'ai Javad, and Qal'ai Kulukhak in the Kabul district of Chahordeh, and within three days a stone cell and Bibi Sangi was transferred there.
According to Farid Azimi, one of Bibi Sanga's relatives, this camera was registered in kutwali with the name of Bibi Sangi, and over time the area became known by that name. Over time, the people removed the word "Bibi" from it and called it Kutai Sangi with two words.
Despite the fact that during the reign of Amanullah Khan, the prison cell was destroyed, and the name of this area was changed during the period of “Pashto tulanai” (Pashtunization of names) and called Mirwais Maidan, to this day we call this area Kutai Sangi.
Since Bibi Sangi's husband was amir's secretary, the elders, and influential people, especially Multan Muhammadmir, the amir's secretary, obtained her pardon. The amir was forced to pardon her, and a month or two later a decree was issued that Bibi Sangi, by the grace and respect of her husband Munshi Haydar Ali Ahrari, grandson of Hazrat Ubaydullah Ahrar, the great sheikh of the Naqshbandi tariqa, was released from prison.
Bibi Sangi was born in 1243 (1864) in the city of Kabul, and her father was Sangi Muhammad, known as Sangi Baba Ghazi, from the famous sadats (descendants of the prophet) of the province of Kunar. He was one of the respected religious scholars of his time and the leader of the Mujahideen in the first and second wars against the British colonialists.
Lyceum Maryam in Khairkhan, Kabul, the first modern girls' school in Afghanistan, is also named after her.