In medieval times, society adhered strictly to the dictates of Dharma Shastras (Hindu legal texts), which denied women equal status. Today, some selectively cite a few favorable verses to argue that women lived with dignity in the past. However, historical evidence, exemplified by the barbaric practice of Sati-Sahagamanam (widow immolation) that persisted until recent times, reveals that women were often denied even the right to live.
Sati-Sahagamanam refers to the practice of burning a widow alive on her deceased husband’s funeral pyre, while Anumaranam involves immolating the widow alongside her husband’s belongings some time after his death. The Shastras prescribed Sahagamanam as the only acceptable practice for Brahmin women, deeming Anumaranam unfit for them.
I. Historical Context
Some claim that the practice of Sati emerged with the arrival of Muslims to protect Hindu women, but historical evidence shows that Sati predates Muslim invasions by centuries and was practiced long before.
The earliest historical reference to Sati comes from Greek historians. Diodorus Siculus, a 1st-century BCE historian, describes an instance of Sati in northern India in his work Bibliotheca Historica:
“Ceteus, an Indian military officer, died in battle. He had two wives. As the elder wife was pregnant, the commanders chose the younger wife for Sahagamanam. Her maids adorned her as a bride, placing a floral crown on her head, and sang hymns praising her virtues. She distributed her jewelry to friends and servants. Her brother led her to the pyre, where she lay beside her husband’s body as the pyre was set alight. She was consumed by the flames. Diodorus and other Greeks considered this a cruel and barbaric custom.”
This is the earliest known reference to Sati.
Clearer evidence of Sati emerges from the Gupta period (4th–6th century CE). Initially practiced among Kshatriyas, it gradually spread to Brahmins and, through the process of Sanskritization, to other communities. By 1000 CE, Puranic texts indicate that Sati had become an established societal custom.
Cremation of the dead is a practice rooted in Aryan culture, with the Rigveda emphasizing the significance of funeral rites (Rigveda 10.16). However, there is no definitive evidence of Sati during the Vedic period. A verse in the Atharva Veda (18.3.1) is sometimes interpreted to suggest that a widow lying beside her husband’s body attains heavenly realms, but when compared with other verses, this interpretation does not hold. Such interpretations are often seen as attempts to falsely claim Vedic sanction for Sati.
Smritis and Puranic epics frequently mention Sahagamanam. Key references include:
- Vishnu Smriti (Vaishnava Dharma Shastra): The earliest text to mention Sahagamanam, stating it is optional for widows (25.14).
- Parashara Smriti (4.29–31): A widow practicing celibacy reaches heaven after death, but if she undergoes Sahagamanam, she resides in heaven for as many years as there are hairs on a human body.
- Agni Purana (222:19–23): Women who undergo Sahagamanam attain heaven.
- Garuda Purana (1.107:29): A woman who performs Sahagamanam resides in heaven for as many years as there are hairs on her husband’s body.
- Kurma Purana (2.34:108b–109): A woman who performs Sahagamanam leads her husband to salvation, even if he committed heinous sins like Brahmahatya (killing a Brahmin). This is deemed the ultimate liberation for women.
- Vishnu Purana (5:38): Describes the eight wives of Lord Krishna performing Sahagamanam.
- Brahma Purana (10.75): States that dying with one’s husband is a woman’s duty, sanctioned by the Vedas. A woman who performs Sahagamanam rescues her husband from Yama’s messengers and leads him to heaven, likened to a snake-charmer drawing a snake from its burrow.
- Mahabharata (16.7.24–26): Narrates the story of Suru’s four wives performing Sahagamanam and joining their husband in heaven.
- Mahabharata: Mentions Madri’s Sahagamanam.
Notably, Kautilya’s Arthashastra and Manusmriti do not mention Sahagamanam. In Puranic texts (c. 300–1400 CE), Sahagamanam is glorified as a noble act.
In 510 CE, an inscription in Eran, Madhya Pradesh, commemorating a military officer named Goparaja, is recognized as the earliest known Sati stone. It states:
“He [Goparaja] ascended to heaven, equal to Indra, the greatest of gods. His devoted and beautiful wife, with a pure heart, performed Sahagamanam on the pyre.”
Such Sati stones, often depicting a woman’s right hand adorned with bangles as a symbol of marital auspiciousness, were erected across India until the 18th century.
Foreign travelers like Al-Biruni (973–1048 CE) and Ibn Battuta (1304 CE) documented Sati in their writings. A 1210 CE inscription from Nidubrolu mentions a Sati incident during the Kakatiya dynasty. Portuguese historians Nuniz and Barradas recorded Sati practices in the Vijayanagara Empire. In 1760, after Jagapati Raju of Peddapuram died in battle, his wife performed Sahagamanam, as noted in Mackenzie’s Kaifiyats.
II. Sati During Muslim Rule
Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325–1351) attempted to regulate Sati by requiring government permission for the practice. Akbar (1556–1605), as recorded in Akbarnama by his court historian Abul Fazl, noted:
“It is a Hindu custom to burn a woman on the pyre, whether she consents or not.”
Akbar banned Sati and appointed officials to enforce the prohibition. His successor, Jahangir, also prohibited Sati and female infanticide, but these decrees remained largely unenforced. Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb took strict measures, including orders to educate young widows, but these efforts failed to eradicate the practice permanently. This was likely due to Hindu society’s belief that adhering to Shastras was synonymous with dharma, coupled with the Muslim rulers’ policy of minimal interference in non-Muslim religious practices, as per Rajadharma.
III. Sati Under British Rule
In 1787, C. Malet, a British resident at the Peshwa court, reported the practice of Sati to his superiors. In 1788, Jonathan Dungan, the Benares resident, informed Lord Cornwallis of a horrific incident where a woman was forcibly burned alive by her relatives based on a rumor of her husband’s death. In 1789, M.H. Brooks, the Shahabad collector, stopped a Sati incident and was advised by superiors to educate people about the practice’s inhumanity rather than using force.
In 1805, JR Elphinstone, a magistrate in Bihar, intervened to prevent the forced immolation of a 12-year-old girl, who expressed gratitude. He sought further instructions on handling such cases, but issues like the Java War and Lord Cornwallis’s death delayed action.
Reports of widespread Sati incidents, often involving women drugged with high doses of intoxicants, prompted the British government in 1812 to consult Hindu scholars and propose regulations to control Sati:
- A: Ensure the woman is not coerced by relatives, scholars, or others.
- B: Confirm no intoxicants are administered during the ritual.
- C: The woman must be over 16, not menstruating, and not pregnant.
- D: The practice is permitted only for Hindus. If a woman expresses unwillingness to the police, the ritual must be stopped by force.
Despite these measures, Sati continued across India, often with the approval of Hindu scholars, bewildering British officials. To understand the scale, the British began collecting data on Sati incidents from 1815, including the names, husband’s caste, and age of the women. In Bengal, the number of recorded Sahagamanam cases was:
- 1815: 378
- 1816: 442
- 1817: 707
- 1818: 839
The spike in 1817–1818 was attributed to high cholera-related deaths. In the Madras Division, Sati incidents over three years (by 1816) included:
- Ganjam: 45
- Visakhapatnam: 6
- Rajahmundry: 2 Brahmins, 1 Raju, 6 Shudras
- Masulipatnam: 42
- Guntur: 14
- Nellore: 12
- Chittoor: 13
- Kumbakonam: 18
In 1830, a Sati incident in French-administered Yanam was documented by the renowned traveler CPT Laplace in his book Travel Around the World.
IV. Sati in British Parliamentary Papers
The East India Company submitted official reports to the British Parliament in London, known as Parliamentary Papers (PP), detailing administrative affairs in India. Governors-General acted under Parliament’s directives. Between 1821 and 1830, extensive discussions on Sati took place in these papers, shedding light on the social conditions and debates surrounding its prohibition. Key excerpts include:
- Governor-General Moira (1812–1829): “Our influence as foreign rulers over local Hindu laws is limited. British officials must act cautiously to avoid accusations of interfering in religious beliefs.” (PP 1821:243)
- Board of Directors, London (1823): “The British government will not permit Sati, nor participate in it. As legislators and Christians, we cannot condone such practices.” (PP 1824:45)
- Quarterly Friend of India, Calcutta (1822): “If British rulers had the power to freely decide on Hindu laws, they could protect unfortunate Hindu widows with compassion.” (PP 1822:22)
- Judge E. Watson: “Even if a woman consents to Sati, her consent must be legally invalid. Those who burn her should be treated as murderers under the law.” (PP 1821:99)
- British Official Ewer: “We cannot believe a woman willingly undergoes Sati. It is a process driven by coercion or inducement. Hindu women are easily influenced psychologically, and their stated consent does not reflect their true feelings.” (PP 1821:227)
- Ewer on Scholars’ Role: “Scholars realized early on that properly conducting Sati could be a lucrative income source. Revered authors portrayed Sati as a virtuous act benefiting the widow’s soul, her husband’s soul, and their family. Scholars’ presence was made mandatory for related rituals.” (PP 1821:231)
- Lord Amherst, Council Governor-General: “Women are raised with the belief that consenting to Sati fulfills a sacred duty, earns them fame, and enhances their family’s prestige. Refusal invites accusations of cowardice or disloyalty to their husband.” (PP 1824:43)
- Case of a Chandala Woman: A woman from the Ati-Shudra (Dalit) community sought permission for Sati. Local scholars granted her the status of a Shudra woman and permitted Sahagamanam. (PP 1825:42)
- Burial Among Weavers: In some weaving communities, the practice involved burying the living wife with her husband’s corpse, a deeply inhumane custom deemed objectionable by the Council Vice-President. (PP 1821:179)
V. Conclusion
Customs, servitude, and the ideal of Pativratya (wifely devotion) have historically suffocated Hindu women. The Sanskrit text Stri Dharma Paddati, authored by Tryambakayajvan in the 18th century, outlines the duties of a Hindu woman from waking to sleeping, including bodily functions, to achieve the status of a Pativrata. It glorifies the supposed merits of Sahagamanam in several verses, revealing how scholars perpetuated this practice well into the 18th century. Similarly, Dharmasindhu by Kolluri Kamashastri details rituals and mantras for conducting Sahagamanam across different castes.
In 1799, British official William Carey was horrified by witnessing a Sati immolation. Alongside friends Joshua Marshman and William Ward, he leveraged his connections in the British Parliament to advocate for Sati’s abolition, writing numerous articles. Progressive thinkers like Raja Rammohan Roy and Sahajananda Swami, founder of the Swaminarayan sect, supported these efforts, despite opposition from orthodox Hindu groups.
On December 4, 1829, Lord William Bentinck, the first Governor-General, issued Regulation XVII, declaring Sati illegal and a punishable offense. This faced fierce resistance from orthodox groups, particularly the Dharma Sabha, founded by Radhakant Deb, which also opposed the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856. Orthodox Hindus argued that banning Sati violated King George III’s assurance against interfering in Indian customs. Petitions with thousands of signatures from Bihar, Bengal, and Odisha were submitted, and in 1830, the East India Company’s ban was challenged in London’s Privy Council.
Raja Rammohan Roy countered these arguments with petitions to Parliament, explaining why Sati must be banned. His efforts culminated in the full approval of the Sati ban in 1832.
Hindu Dharma Shastras denied women equitable status, as seen in practices like child marriage, polygamy, lack of property rights, absence of personal freedom, and inability to seek divorce. Sati was the pinnacle of these oppressive customs. Among Bahujans, women who performed Sahagamanam were revered as Perantalu (sacred women).
These practices are societal maladies. At every step of India’s efforts to eradicate them, orthodox Hindus resisted, claiming these were integral to their traditions. On December 11, 1949, over a thousand orthodox Hindus besieged Parliament to block the Hindu Code Bill, which aimed to grant women modern democratic rights. Similar arguments persist today, with some labeling rational critiques as attacks on faith.
Some may argue that these are old issues irrelevant to today’s progress. However, forgetting our historical path risks repeating past mistakes. In an era where conspiracies aim to restore Manusmriti over India’s Constitution—built on the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity—and glorify the past to revert Hindus to oppressive systems, understanding history is crucial. Without it, we cannot discern which groups seek to reestablish dominance through such schemes.
Figures like Lord William Bentinck, who banned Sati; Lord Dalhousie, who introduced the Widow Remarriage Act; Lord Irwin, who abolished child marriage; and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who proposed the Hindu Code Bill, are worthy of eternal remembrance.
2. The dharmasastric debate on widow burning, David Brick, Yale University
3. మెకంజీ కైఫియ్యతులు, తూర్పుగోదావరిజిల్లా, బొల్లోజు బాబా
4. Susil Chaudhuri, ‘Sati as Social Institution and the Mughals’, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 37 (1976), pp. 218 223.)
5.Calcutta Review 1868, vol 47, pn 221
6. ఫ్రెంచిపాలనలో యానాం-బొల్లోజు బాబా
7. Hindu Pasts, Women, Religion, Histories, Vasudha Dalmia. Chapter: Sati as a Religious Rite: Parliamentary Papers on Widow Immolation
8. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4397528
9. The perfect Wife, Sridharmapaddhati, by I Julia Leslie pn.293
10. The Dharmasastric Debate on Widow-Burning,David Brick, Yale University
11. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/19B*.html
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