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

This was BEFORE Savitribai was even born.

” Some ladies recieved higher education and managed to rise to great hieghts ! Amongst such rare women, Hotee Vidyalankar, Hotu Vidyalankar, Anandamayee Devi (1752 — 1772) and Priyamvada Devi (16th cent–17th cent) stands out .
Hotee Vidyalankar was the most famous of them all. Born to ‘kulin’ brahmin family she was a widow from childhood. She became an authority on Sanskrit grammer, poetry, Smriti, Navya-nyay and established her own ‘chatuspathi’ ( centers of higher learning ) at Varanasi! Brahman Pandits bestowed her with the title of Vidyalankar. She died at an advanced age in the year 1810.

Hotu Vidyalankar’s real name was Rupamanjari . She was not a brahmin, but her father, Narayan Das noticed her exceptional intellgence and sent her at the ‘chatuspaathi’ of a brahmin pandit . There Rupamanjari mastered Ayurved , Grammer and other branches of studies . Her fame spread far and wide and students used to come from far off places to learn or get opinions on Ayurved , charak samhita and grammer . Ayurvedic doctors of the age used to consult her on matters of medicine ! Rupamanjari never married and kept her head shaven with a ‘shikha’ ( Chuda / tuft of hair ) and dressed as a man . She died 100 years of age at 1875. ”

Someone in the comments mentions that Narayan Sanyal wrote a book রূপমঞ্জরী on haTI vidyAla~Nkara.

First female teacher

Why is she ignored and why is Savitribai Phule falsely acknowledged as “first female teacher”? Is it because Hotee was just an orthodox Hindu Brahmin lady and NOT an agent of British missionaries?

Harkunwar Sethani was an orthodox Jain lady. She built Maganlal Karamchand School for girls in Ahmedabad. The construction was started in 1847 (completed 1850) which was one year BEFORE Savitribai Phule’s “school”.

Why are hundreds of women like them ignored to hail Savitribai?

Savitribai Phule wrote poems glorifying British and Christianity. (p/c @onkarmantra)

Infact, Savitribai Phule’s school was sponsored by British missionaries. Savitribai herself was awarded by British on November 16, 1852. British declared Savitribai as the best teacher. The question needs to be asked. The British were colonial invaders whose had no qualms in destroying India and kiIIing lakhs of Indians.

What was their agenda in sponsoring Savitribai’s project? Why interest did British have in Indian women? The answer will be very surprising.

British treated colonial India as a dump for their men acting as soldiers of East India Company (& later the crown). Around 100 military cantonments housed them in 1850s.

These soldiers were living far away from their native country and had several needs. Including sensual needs

British used Indian women to fulfill sεxual needs of their soldiers.

In every military cantonment, many Indian women were forcibly confined. They were not allowed to leave the premises. They were allowed to consort with British soldiers only. They were registered to cantonment. 

When people like Savitribai Phule were singing praises of British, Indian women were forced to undergo “physical examination” in cantonments. This was described as “surgical rαpe”

Any Indian woman who tried to escape from the British military cantonment was severely punished.

Even the price was fixed by British. It was kept so low that licentious life in India became extremely cheap for a British soldier and this acted as a job allurement.

By making the sεxual exploitation of Indian women almost free, the British were increasing their recruitments.

As the British army’s number increased, they needed more Indian women to quench their lasciviousness . However, there was something acting as a major deterrent.

Those were the days of complete anarchy. There was no security for women & most families kept women inside the house.Before I proceed further, I pause to ask a question. Who other than a complete idiot believes that the British,who were indulging in large scale sεxual exploitation of Indian women, were interested in education and progress of Indian women?

This is where Phule comes into pictureWhat used to happen in these “British Schools”?

The British were finding it difficult to procure “beautiful, young girls” into their military slave pens.

They appointed a superintendent who would go out in search of young girls. These superintendents especially targeted schools and hospitals

New methods were devised to drag young girls into the British military harems.

Any young woman found talking to a man was labelled a “pr0stitute”. She would be dragged into the military cantonment and forced to live there serving the soldiers.

The British soldiers began indiscriminately labeling Indian women as “pr0stitutes” & dragging them into military harems.

To escape this fate, the family of the girl would often bribe the British soldier in order to be spared.

British soldiers amassed fortunes from these bribes 

References:

indictales.com