This article explores the entanglement of gender, education and empire in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Habsburg period throughout the analysis of a unique institution: Sarajevo's Muslim Female School. Established at the very end of the nineteenth century, this pedagogical institution was the only school in Austria-Hungary specifically devoted to Muslim girls. The article begins by presenting the development of the Habsburg Empire's educational policy in Bosnia after 1878 and demonstrates that it was deeply bound with its imperial "civilising mission". Through an analysis of the programmes taught at Sarajevo's Muslim Female School, the article detects the model of "Hapsburg Muslim femininity" promoted by this institution. By investigating the reports the teachers sent to the authorities, it explores how this school was perceived by the Muslim population. The last section is devoted to the schoolgirls' experience of this school, and especially to their access to the written word.