Stribodh was established in January 1857 by a group of Parsi and Hindu social reformers:[3] Kaikhosro Nowroji Kabraji, editor of the progressive newspaper Rast Goftar, along with businessman Mangaldas Nathubhoy, lawyer Nanabhai Haridas (who would later become the first Indian justice of Bombay High Court), and Karsandas Mulji, a social reformer.

[7] From 1857 to 1863, the magazine was jointly edited by Beheramji Gandhi, Sorabaji Shapurji, Karsandas Mulji, Mangaldas Nathubhoy and Nanabhai Haridas.

[7] Stribodh was primarily aimed at upper- and middle-class women of leisure, because males from those families were most open to primitive gender reforms due to their own dealings with varied elements of the British Raj.

[4] Issues usually had about 20-22 pages of double-demy size[b] and contained illustrated stories and articles ranging from fiction and poems to travelogues and discourses about historical events, inventions and everyday science.

[3][4] The motto, which was printed on the first page of every issue, was a quote from Napoleon and emphasized the role of female education in nation building.

[8] Other pieces offered instruction on domestic topics from sewing and embroidery to arranging furniture and using Western eating utensils.

[4] In light of the aforementioned themes, scholars now deem Stribodh's primary purpose as to merely conform women to then-prevalent standards of patriarchy.

[4] It viewed women as deserving of chivalrous treatment from men but not fit enough to engage in public discourse about social reforms.