The poor little creature appeared more dead than alive when she approached the dreadful pit: the agony of her mind cannot be described; she trembled and wept bitterly; but three or four of the Brahmanas, assisted by an old woman who held her under the arm, forced the unwilling victim toward the fatal spot, seated her on the wood, tied her hands and feet, lest she should run away, and in that situation the innocent creature was burnt alive, wrote Bernier.
February 13, 2024
The practice of Sati, where a widow immolates herself on her deceased husband’s pyre, is a haunting stain on Indian history. Cloaked in the guise of religious devotion, it perpetuated the subjugation of women and became a grim symbol of patriarchal cruelty.
This article delves into the historical trajectory of Sati, exploring its origins, eyewitness accounts, the efforts to abolish it, and the enduring struggle for gender equality in India.
While the exact origins of Sati remain unclear, references appear in ancient Brahmanical texts like the Rigveda and the Mahabharata.
The ancient and sacred Atharvaveda, one of the four Vedas, believed to have been composed around 1000 BCE, describes a funerary ritual where the widow lies down by her deceased husband, but is then asked to ascend, to enjoy the blessings from the children and wealth left to her.
Some of the early Sanskrit authors like Daṇḍin in Daśakumāracarita and Banabhatta in Harshacharita mention that women who burnt themselves wore extravagant dresses.
Bana tells about Yasomati who, after choosing to mount the pyre, bids farewell to her relatives and servants. She then decks herself in jewellery which she later distributes to others.
Padma Sree asserts that other evidence for some form of sati comes from Sangam literature in Tamilkam: for instance the Silappatikaram written in the 2nd century CE. In this tale, Kannagi, the chaste wife of her wayward husband Kovalan, burns Madurai to the ground when her husband is executed unjustly, then climbs a cliff to join Kovalan in heaven.
An inscription in an urn burial from the 1st century CE tells of a widow who told the potter to make the urn big enough for both her and her husband. The Manimekalai similarly provides evidence that such practices existed in Tamil lands, and the Purananuru claims widows prefer to die with their husband due to the dangerous negative power associated with them.
There have been few instances of sati in the Chola Empire in South India. Vanavan Mahadevi, the mother of Rajaraja Chola I (10th century) and Viramahadevi the queen of Rajendra Chola I (11th century) both committed Sati upon their husband’s death by ascending the pyre.
The 510 CE inscription at Eran mentioning the wife of Goparaja, a vassal of Bhanugupta, burning herself on her husband’s pyre is considered to be a Sati stone.
Early versions often portrayed the act as voluntary, emphasizing a widow’s devotion to her husband and the promise of spiritual liberation.
However, historical research suggests that coercion and social pressure played a significant role, especially for young widows deemed economically and socially vulnerable.
Eyewitness accounts offer chilling portrayals of the practice.
The Eran pillar of Goparaja is considered as the earliest known Sati stone in India (circa 510 CE). The inscription explains: he “went to heaven, becoming equal to Indra, the best of the gods; and [his] devoted, attached, beloved, and beauteous wife, clinging [to him], entered into the mass of fire (funeral pyre)”.
François Bernier, a 17th-century French traveler, witnessed an incident in Lahore, describing a “most beautiful young widow…forced” onto the pyre, “trembling and weeping bitterly.” This stark depiction resonates with other accounts, highlighting the suffering inflicted on countless women. This is perhaps one of the most poignant descriptions by Bernier:
“At Lahore I saw a most beautiful young widow sacrificed, who could not, I think, have been more than twelve years of age. The poor little creature appeared more dead than alive when she approached the dreadful pit: the agony of her mind cannot be described; she trembled and wept bitterly; but three or four of the Brahmanas, assisted by an old woman who held her under the arm, forced the unwilling victim toward the fatal spot, seated her on the wood, tied her hands and feet, lest she should run away, and in that situation the innocent creature was burnt alive. I found it difficult to repress my feelings and to prevent their bursting forth into clamorous and unavailing rage…”
Bernier’s anguished observation serves as a potent reminder of the human cost of Sati. His words ignite a flame of critical introspection, urging us to confront the historical and socio-cultural factors that enabled such brutality. The fight for gender equality in India continues, and eradicating the shadows of Sati is not just a legal battle, but a societal and cultural transformation.
The Anglo-Indian press of the period proffered several accounts of alleged forcing of the woman. As an example, The Calcutta Review published accounts as the following one:
“In 1822, the Salt Agent at Barripore, 16 miles south of Calcutta, went out of his way to report a case which he had witnessed, in which the woman was forcibly held down by a great bamboo by two men, so as to preclude all chance of escape. In Cuttack, a woman dropt herself into a burning pit, and rose up again as if to escape, when a washerman gave her a push with a bamboo, which sent her back into the hottest part of the fire. This is said to be based on the set of official documents. Yet another such case appearing in official papers, transmitted into British journals, is case 41, page 411 here, where the woman was, apparently, thrown twice back in the fire by her relatives, in a case from 1821.”
Apart from accounts of direct compulsion, some evidence exists that precautions, at times, were taken so that the widow could not escape the flames once they were lit.
Anant S. Altekar, for example, points out that it is much more difficult to escape a fiery pit that one has jumped in, than descending from a pyre one has entered on. He mentions the custom of the fiery pit as particularly prevalent in the Deccan and western India.
From Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, where the widow typically was placed in a hut along with her husband, her leg was tied to one of the hut’s pillars. Finally, from Bengal, where the tradition of the pyre held sway, the widow’s feet could be tied to posts fixed to the ground, she was asked three times if she wished to ascend to heaven, before the flames were lit.
The Mughal emperors, including Akbar and Jahangir, attempted to curtail Sati through decrees and regulations. However, enforcement remained inconsistent, and the practice persisted.
According to Annemarie Schimmel, the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r.1556–1605) was averse to the practice of Sati and in 1582, issued an order to prevent any use of compulsion in sati.
However, the practice continued and and when it was brought to Aurangzeb’s attention, he issued an authoritative firman in 1663 ordering that “in all lands under Mughal control, never again should the officials allow a woman to be burnt”.
Aurangzeb’s order, states Sheikh Muhammad Ikram, though mentioned in the formal histories, is recorded in the official records of Aurangzeb’s time.
Although Aurangzeb’s orders could be evaded with payment of bribes to officials, adds Ikram, later European travellers record that sati was not much practised in Mughal empire, and that Sati was “very rare, except it be some Rajah’s wives, that the Indian women burn at all” by the end of Aurangzeb’s reign.
However, the Spanish missionary Domingo Navarrete wrote in 1670 of different styles of Sati during Aurangzeb’s time.
Afonso de Albuquerque banned sati immediately after the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510. Local Brahmins convinced the newly arrived Francisco Barreto to rescind the ban in 1555 in spite of protests from the local Christians and the Church authorities, but the ban was reinstated in 1560 by Constantino de Bragança with additional serious criminal penalties (including loss of property and liberty) against those encouraging the practice.
The Dutch and the French banned it in Chinsurah and Pondichéry, their respective colonies. The Danes, who held the small territories of Tranquebar and Serampore, permitted it until the 19th century.
The Danish strictly forbade, apparently early the custom of sati at Tranquebar, a colony they held from 1620 to 1845 (whereas Serampore (Frederiksnagore) was Danish colony merely from 1755 to 1845.
The British Raj took a more systematic approach. William Bentinck, Governor-General of Bengal, enacted the Regulation XVI of 1829, officially outlawing Sati across British India. This faced resistance from some sections of society, but the law gradually gained traction, marking a significant turning point.
After the ban, when Brahmins in the Sindh region complained to the British Governor, Charles Napier about what they claimed was a meddlement in a sacred custom of their nation. Napier replied:
Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs!
Thereafter, the account goes, no sati took place.
Sati remained legal in some princely states for a time after it had been banned in lands under British control. Baroda and other princely states of Kathiawar Agency banned the practice in 1840, whereas Kolhapur followed them in 1841, the princely state of Indore some time before 1843.
According to a speaker at the East India House in 1842, the princely states of Satara, Nagpur and Mysore had by then banned sati. Jaipur banned the practice in 1846, while Hyderabad, Gwalior and Jammu and Kashmir did the same in 1847. Awadh and Bhopal (both Muslim-ruled states) were actively suppressing sati by 1849. Cutch outlawed it in 1852 with Jodhpur having banned sati about the same time.
It was not until 1861 that Sati was legally banned in all the princely states of India, Mewar resisting for a long time before that time. The last legal case of Sati within a princely state dates from 1861 Udaipur the capital of Mewar, but as Anant S. Altekar shows, local opinion had then shifted strongly against the practice. The widows of Maharanna Sarup Singh declined to become sati upon his death, and the only one to follow him in death was a concubine.
Despite legal bans, sporadic incidents of Sati continued. Colonial efforts often relied on police intervention and punitive measures, raising concerns about cultural sensitivities.
After the infamous Room Kunwar incident of Rajasthan, the Indian government enacted the Sati (Prevention) Act of 1987, strengthening legal provisions and criminalizing glorification of the practice.
The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 Part I, Section 2(c) defines sati as the burning or burying alive of –
The Prevention of Sati Act makes it illegal to support, glorify or attempt to die by sati. Support of sati, including coercing or forcing someone to die by sati, can be punished by death sentence or life imprisonment, while glorifying sati is punishable with one to seven years in prison.
While Sati is largely eradicated, its shadow lingers. Isolated incidents continue to occur, raising concerns about social attitudes and patriarchal norms. Moreover, Sati temples, which celebrate women who committed the act, persist in some regions, serving as painful reminders of the past.
Addressing the lingering scars of Sati requires a multifaceted approach. Educational initiatives that challenge traditional gender roles and empower women are crucial.
Additionally, addressing poverty and fostering economic independence for widows can alleviate the desperation that may fuel such practices. The embers of Sati may have dimmed, but its chilling legacy demands continued vigilance.
Further Explorations
