These days practice of Sati is being compared with Triple Talaq as inhuman practice. Sati is believed to be an earlier incarnation of Parvati and was daughter of Daksha. Rukimini, one of Lord Krishna’s two chief wives, committed Sati when Krishna died, while the other, Satyabhama, retired to the forest for penance. When Madri, wife of Pandu, decided to commit Sati, the assembled Sages tried to dissuade her. Sati was introduce into the Indian cultural scene relatively late; only after 500 AD did the practice begin to appear with any regularity. Many Hindus believe that Sati is an external contribution, probably triggered by the Muslim conquests. The fact is otherwise. Besides India, the custom of Sati was practiced in ancient times in Europe, Central and Western Asia and Far East, records Historian V.N. Datta in his book “Sati” published in 1988.
The Mughal Emperor Humayun was the first monarch to think of prohibiting the practice but the “credulous monarch” was led to believe that the forcible prevention of a “hallowed custom” was sure to arouse the wrath of the Devine being and result in his own death. Emperor Akbar discouraged the practice of Sati, and on one occasion rode nearly a hundred miles at utmost speed to rescue the daughter of the Raja of Jodhpur. On another occasion he prevented a Rajput widow, the daughter of Raja Udai Singh of Jaipur, from committing Sati in Sarkar Rewari. Even his critic, Al Badaoni, confirms it and writes that His Majesty ordered that a Hindu woman of tender years should not be burnt and that in no case a woman be forced to burn herself against her will. Akbar also encouraged widow-remarriage. Emperor Jahangir conducted his policy on Sati on the lines laid down by his illustrious father. “ The Mughals did not go to the extent of putting a ban on the practice by law since that would have meant interference with the religious rites of the Hindus and they did not wish to go that far.” Emperor Aurangzeb also attempted to stop the practice, says Dr. Sarvesh Dhillon, a Historian from Punjab. As per the records kept by the Bengal Presidency of the British East India Company, the known occurrences in 1813-1828 were 8135.
In reality, Sati is as old as scriptural Hinduism. There are so many myths about Sati being an age-old Indian and Hindu tradition. In fact, it existed in Indo-European and in other cultures too. An authority on the history of ancient India, A.S. Altekar finds the earliest historical record of Sati in Greek sources. Even Prof. Meenakshi Jain, in her latest book “Sati: Evangelicals, Baptist Missionaries, and the Changing Colonial Discourse” published in August 2016, throws light on some of the new dimensions. Rulers in ancient China or Egypt are sometimes found buried with a number of wives, concubines and servants. In pre-Christian Europe, the practice was related to the status of women in society. She does mention some of the Indian rulers like Shivaji and Ranjit Singh were followed on their pyres by a big handful of wives and concubines. Even Ramabai Peshwa, wife of Madhavrao Ballal Peshwa, 18th century Indian Maratha Premier, performed Sati.
The British Governor General Lord William Bentinck banned an age-old custom of Sati in 1829, with active support of Raja Rammohan Roy. It was not easy to get away with this inhuman practice in India. Despite Bentinck’s legal ban on Sati in 1829 and Lord Dalhousie’s stringent measures for its abolition, the practice of widow-burning has not disappeared from India, says Historian Datta. Even Altekar records his sister’s insistence on performing Sati in the year 1946. The British and after them, the government of independent India took a more vigorous role but performing Sati or glorification of the custom continued. The Sati (Prevention)Act,1987 was enacted to prevent the practice as also its glorification. The India Act was amended following the Roop Kunwar episode of Sati on 4 September 1987 at Deorala in Sikar district, Rajasthan. Roop Kunwar, a young, pretty, educated, city-bred woman and daughter of a transport company owner, married barely for six months, was burnt on the funeral pyre of her husband, Mal Singh, a science graduate, in the presence of about 3000 spectators frenzied with wild excitement shouting slogans like Sati Mata Ki Jai(Hail to Sati- Mother). The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 has the legal definition of Sati. “ 2.(c) “sati” means the burning or burying alive of – (i) any widow along with the body of her deceased husband or any other relative or with any article, object or thing associated with the husband or such relative; or (ii) any woman along with the body of any of her relatives, irrespective of whether such burning or burying is claimed to be voluntary on the part of the widow or the women or other-wise”.
Normally it is believed that Lord Bentinck was the first to ban the inhuman practice of Sati in India, but even before Bentinck, the Portuguese Viceroy of India, Afonso de Albuquerque, banned this custom in Goa in 1515. Even before Bentinck arrived in India as the Governor General, he had studied the Parliament papers on the practice of Sati in India, especially in Bengal Presidency. He asked personal opinion of his military officials what they thought on the inhuman practice of wife burning. He had advised them to convey him without consulting any of the Indian persons. His Chief of the Army was with him on actions to stop this practice. Even Missionaries were also geared up. Bentinck thus had the full support of his counsellors and passed Regulation XVII on 4 December 1829 declaring the practice of Sati or burning or burying alive the widows of Hindus, whether the sacrifice be voluntary on her part or not, illegal and punishable by the Criminal Courts. As was expected the cries “Hinduism in danger” were heard even in the petitions to the Privy Council against Bentinck’s decision. After appeal to Bentinck was regected, even the Privy Council dismissed the petition on 11 July 1832 and the legal battle ended. The Privy Councillors disfavoured the abolition of Sati, but were afraid of rescinding the Regulation in apprehension of worst evil. Historian of repute, Dr. R.C. Majumdar, was little harsh on Raja Rammohan Roy’s role in abolition of Sati. He stated : “ He(Roy) acted privately as a brake on Lord William Bentinck’s scheme of abolition.” Of course, the decision of abolition of Sati was that of Bentinck and Roy did gear up a minority support after hue and cry was raised against the decision.
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( The writer is a Socio-political Historian. E-mail : [email protected] )
