This article has been written by Ms. Sayantinee Bardhan, a fourth year student of KLE Society’s Law College, Bengaluru.
Abstract
As feminism rises and the focus shifts to equality and human rights, it becomes increasingly difficult to integrate the Hindu custom of ‘sati’ which means burning a widow to death on her husband’s funeral pyre, into our contemporary society. Even though the practice is prohibited and illegal in modern-day India, some Hindus still view it as the pinnacle of womanly sacrifice and devotion. It continues to occur today. This article aims to provide a vivid illustration of the meaning of the Sati system, its historical background, and the Sati system throughout the history of our country, India. This article also provides a detailed account of how the Sati system came to an end and how it impacted Indian society at large.
Introduction
There are many different cultures on different continents, and each one possesses distinct social and spiritual implications. Such cultures have often caused harm to the people in many societies as well, which is why they are outlawed. One of those is Sati, the culture of burning widows in our country, India.
In the ancient Indian custom known as sati, or suttee, a widow participated in her late husband’s funeral pyre by being burned to the ground. The widow would do this by lighting herself on fire as his body burned. She could perform the sati in a few different ways. Firstly, she had to place her hand on the Sati stone for memory. Secondly, she could ingest poison, sever her neck with a sharp object, or let a snake bite her. She had three options after that: she could sit on the pyre and light herself, enter the pyre, or lie close to the dead body. In certain communities, the woman and her deceased perform the funeral pyre in a hut built specifically for that purpose. As the woman enters the pyre, another person writes her name on it. In this article, we will be further delving into the meaning of Sati and what the Sati System entails, the historical background of the Sati System, how the Sati System prevailed throughout the history of our country, how this practice came to an end, and the impact the Sati System had on Indian society.
Meaning of ‘Sati’
The term “Sati” originally denoted a widow who committed the act of self-immolation following the passing of her spouse. The Sanskrit term “asti,” which means “she is pure or true,” is the root of the word.
According to mythology, Lord Shiva’s wife was known by the name Sati. Her father detested Shiva a lot and never showed him any respect. She set herself on fire in protest of her father’s animosity toward her husband. She prayed to be reborn as Shiva’s wife while she was burning. She did really take on this form, and her new name was Parvati. People used to use this story to defend the practice; however Sati wasn’t a window when she burned herself, so the story has little bearing on the practice.
In the past, Hindu rituals associated sati with the completion of a marriage. It was a voluntary deed where a lady went to the afterlife with her husband as evidence of her duty as a wife. As a result, it was regarded as the wife’s ultimate act of fidelity to her deceased husband. It evolved into an obligatory practice over time. Women who preferred not to die in this manner were compelled to pass away in other ways. A widow was traditionally viewed as a burden and had no place in society. So a woman was forced to take sati if she had no living children who could provide for her.
Historical Background of the Sati System
According to historical records, Sati first emerged under the Gupta Empire’s dominance, which lasted from 320 to 550 CE. The first ever reports of Sati date back to 464 CE in Nepal and 510 CE in Madhya Pradesh. Subsequently, the practice extended to Rajasthan, the state where the majority of sati instances over the ages occurred. Sati was first used only by Kshatriya royal households. It wasn’t until much later that it became common across all social levels and even reached the lowest castes. The 15th and 18th centuries saw the height of Sati’s influence. Up to 1000 widows were burned alive annually at this time, mostly in India and Nepal. Records, however, indicate that the custom was equally common in other traditions and in other countries like Vietnam, Fiji, and Russia.
Although the actual history of the Sati is unknown, experts believe that it originated for two reasons: first, it brought grandeur to the funerals of the upper class, and second, because his wife was regarded as one of his properties, the idea of cremating the deceased’s belongings with him was used here. The second reason is to protect the women against enemy invasions, such as the Mughals’ incursion into Rajput territory. According to legend, if a Rajput army member was slain in combat, his wife would sacrifice herself on his funeral pyre to keep herself safe from the Mughals. When they lost a war, only members of the Rajput caste who resided in Rajasthan, India, committed mass suicide, known as Jauhar. For instance, Queen Padmini and her womenfolk killed themselves in large numbers to evade being captured by Delhi’s Muslim monarch, Alauddin Khilji. Many people think that Sati was created specifically to prevent women from being taken captive by Muslim invaders of India as a result of this episode. Widow burning was considered a group activity among princes and upper caste members. For instance, in 1724, at the funeral of Ajit Singh of Marwar Jodhpur, sixty-six women were burned alive, and at the funeral of Budh Singh, the ruler of Bundi, eighty-four women were sacrificed. It was believed that if a widow chose to die along with her husband, she would gain strength and dignity and bring honor to her husband’s family in the process. Thus, through her honorable offering, the widow could prevent being despised by society and secure glory for her family and herself.
Sati System Throughout the History of India
A Sanskrit poet from the 7th century criticizes this deed because it was widespread among the wealthier Hindu elites. In south India, there were numerous reports of Sati instances between 1057 and 1070 AD. Nidubrolu inscriptions named Sati in the Kakatiya kingdom. Sati was practiced in all of the south Indian kingdoms between 1200 and 1700 AD. South Indian kings were believed to be accompanied in the afterlife by their wives, ministers, and palace servants. Here, Sati was not an optional act; once a woman said “yes,” there was no turning back. Bombay and Madras had fewer Sati practitioners than Bengal did. The majority of its occurrences occurred under the Kakatiya, Yadava, Hoyasala, Nayak dynasty of Musunur, Reddy Kingdoms, and Padma Nayaks.
In general, Sati was dominant in the Vijayanagar empire. During the 14th century, Sati was more common than at any other time in the Vijaynagar empire. Numerous academics have noted in their writings—including Nuniz, Caesar Frederick, and Barradas—that there were numerous instances of Sati practices in the 15th and 16th centuries. This was carried out by the warrior classes of Hindus, Goudas, and Gayakas in the fourteenth century. The smallpox that killed the young king of Madura in 1688 caused his wife to attempt Sati, but her mother-in-law stopped her. Desperate, the wife then killed herself. When the Pandyan king Kalavan passed away, his forty-seven wives set themselves ablaze on his funeral pyre, marking another Sati incident. As they stated, there is nothing left in this world for them after their husband passes away. They were all completely encrusted with jewelry. Numerous instances of Sati from the Middle Ages have been documented, including the Sati performed by Rani Yasomathi following her husband’s death. Indrajit’s wife, Sulochana, committed Sati in the Ranganatha Ramayanam. Following the deaths of their husbands, the wives of Balachandra Ayamangi and Alaraju Para Devi also performed Sati. Sati’s existence was attested to in numerous medieval Andhra Desa literary works. Following Papireddy’s death in 1822, his wife, Brudavolu Narayanamma, performed Sati in the Nellore district of south India.
The Nizam of Hyderabad forbade Sati in 1847, but this was insufficient since a woman continued to perform Sati after her husband passed away. This was due to a deal the Nizam government had with the Hindus, according to which it would respect their religious practices. However, the Nizam issued the ruling again, declaring that no Hindu woman is allowed to commit suicide by burning her dead husband’s body and that if the widow’s family believes she will carry out this forbidden custom, they must stop her. They must notify the local government officials if she defies them or doesn’t follow the relatives’ lead. The officers’ duty, upon hearing this, was to stop her from performing Sati in any way. If this practice was being carried out after it had been forbidden, the local police officers would be held accountable and punished appropriately, followed by the relatives. Even after the ban, there were still instances of Sati performed throughout Hyderabad, so this ruling, which was passed in various parts of the city, had no bearing.
Telangana (present-day Hyderabad) was home to Sati, which was also widely practiced in the Bid Perbani dynasty, Indur Elgandar, Tandur, Tandur, and Aurangabad. In south India, Sati was outlawed by Nizam ul Mulk, the Asaf Jahi dynasty’s minister of revenue. The collectors in these regions took action to outlaw Sati and label it as a crime against women. In 1876, the Nawab Salarjung outlawed Sati and declared that local officials would face consequences if any Sati-related incidents were reported. During the medieval era in south India, Sati was primarily practiced by lower-caste peasants, royal families, and nobles. Nonetheless, it was practiced by the upper class of Hindus in northern India, including Brahmins.
In the interest of humanitarianism, Christian missionaries opposed the Sati practice even before the British arrived. The Gujarati rulers, including Devgadh Baria (1840), Baroda (1840), Lunawada (1840), Rajpipla (1840), Mahikantha (1843), and Palanpur (1848), were forewarned by the Bombay government not to carry out the Sati act and were therefore forbidden from doing so. However, a large number of them broke the law and suffered the consequences.
During the Mughal era in India, Sati was a social institution. While sati was common among both Muslims and Hindus at the time, many foreign visitors were drawn to it. Almost all of Mughal India was home to sati practice; however, the Ganges Valley, Punjab, and Rajputana in the north, as well as Madura and Vijaynagar in the south, were the primary centers. Bengal was the region where Sati practice was most prevalent in the 12th century. In certain places, Della Valle claims that women practiced Sati voluntarily, but in other places, he claims that their relatives forced them to. However, some academics, including Terry, Pelsaert, and Ibn Batuta, contend that it was an optional rather than required action. According to Sidi Ali Reis, women were not compelled to practice Sati in Muslim areas. Nevertheless, Akbarnama notes that Sati is an old Indian tradition in which a woman, willing or not, commits self-immolation. According to Biruni, the wives of the king were either willingly or unwillingly set on fire. We can draw the conclusion that while Sati was optional in some regions of India, it was required in others. When the Delhi sultans first arrived in India, they did not tamper with Indian traditions, particularly the Sati practice. Nonetheless, Mohammed bin Tughlak was the first Muslim ruler to publicly criticize and oppose Sati. In an attempt to dissuade Sati and put an end to the practice of forcibly immolating widows, he made it mandatory to obtain a license before burning a widow.
He did not, however, go so far as to put an end to the Sati practice entirely. The Mughal emperor Humayun was the one who followed suit and made the bold move of attempting to put a stop to it. Even though a woman is willing to engage in this practice, he forbade it. The god-fearing king withdrew his orders out of fear that God’s wrath would bring down his kingdom, but the Hindus did not oppose this law. However, the licensing process persisted, impeding the implementation of successful Sati practices. Following him, Akbar outlawed the use of force in Sati practice within his realm and declared that a Hindu woman should be stopped from performing sati if she so chooses, but that she should not be coerced. He even nominated numerous men to put an end to this practice if it was carried out violently. He personally intervened in a few of the cases to prevent a woman from engaging in Sati. Following him, Jahangir made Sati and infanticide illegal.
However, some claim that the ban was only stated in the paper and was not strictly enforced. Following him, Shah Jahan permitted widows’ children to attend school and prohibited women with children from practicing Sati. If the people wish to practice Sati, they must obtain permission from the governor, who will not grant it lightly. In contrast to him, Aurangzeb outlawed sati in his empire. However, they were unable to completely outlaw it because there have been documented instances of Sati performed even after it was forbidden. It can be said that numerous Muslim emperors attempted to save widows through a variety of strategies and that many, if not all, of them were successful. As a result, a large number of widows were spared.
The End of the Sati System
When India was ruled by the British in the 19th century, Sati came to an end. William Bentick, a British man, outlawed Sati in 1829, and by 1862, the British had pressured the Indian princes to stop practicing Sati. The Indian penal code now considers Sati to be a crime, and anyone caught performing Sati faces a mandatory life sentence in prison. But the practice persisted, and each year, a large number of cases go unreported. This is due to the fact that, despite Sati’s prohibition, Hindu society and certain significant castes or sects still support it. Conflict arises between them because society demands that Sati be legalized, even though the state has banned it. However, Sati continues to be practiced in India. Here are several instances where the practice of Sati persisted even after it was abolished.
Roop Kanwar passed away on September 4, 1987, after going into her husband’s funeral pyre. This was a common and contentious incident. At the age of just eighteen, Roop Kanwar got married to a man from the village of Deorala in northern India. Her husband passed away in the hospital while receiving treatment. She attempted to flee while her in-laws were getting ready for the funeral because she knew she would be burned along with her husband’s corpse. Sadly, she was discovered by her husband’s family, who dragged her violently to the funeral pyre, where she was cast into the flames to perish alongside her husband. That day, at around 1:30 pm, she screamed and tried to flee, but the men gathered around the funeral pyre stopped her and threw her back into the fire to perish. Ultimately, her in-laws killed her by burning her. The individuals who forced Roop Kanwar to die were apprehended, but she rose to become a goddess, and a temple was erected in her honor. After a police investigation, those men were taken into custody.
The government passed the Prevention of Sati Act in response to this incident, which made it unlawful to coerce or induce a woman to commit sati and stipulated that those who did so would face the death penalty. However, sati is still a choice made by some widows; between 2000 and 2015, at least four such cases were documented. For instance, in Chhattisgarh, India, a 71-year-old woman recently committed self-sacrifice by carrying out the Sati act. The witness states that she went to her husband’s funeral and dressed in a new dress. She jumped into her husband’s funeral pyre and offered herself as a sacrifice by dying beside him when the villagers were prepared to depart and the husband’s body was almost completely burned. The fact that this act was carried out in the twenty-first century, even though it was against Indian law and illegal, shocked a lot of people. This incident serves as an illustration of the unfortunate events that can transpire in rural India. There are countless Sati incidents happening all over India that go unreported—this was just one incident that was reported in the twenty-first century. Kuttu Bai (65), Vidyawati (35), and Janakrani (40) were the subjects of another incident that happened in the state of Madhya Pradesh in 2002 and 2006, respectively.
Societal impact of the Sati System
People in society are impacted by sati on a material and spiritual level. For instance, when a woman performs sati, she elevates the honor and status of her family and village. The family or the village then becomes a revered and well-known location. They advance in social standing or are given more authority. Sati is seen by many as a means of boosting business profits. For example, Brahmin priests benefit financially and socially from this sacred occasion. The throngs of people who visit the sati site can generate enormous profits for the immediate family, nearby retailers, and transportation firms. The guests purchase refreshments, offerings of coconuts and incense, as well as keepsakes like pictures. Then, at yearly celebrations and fairs, people gather cash offerings. The priests and traders might gain more money than the family. The village where sati is practiced gains from trade, money inflow, and laborer employment. Donations from tourists are sometimes given to the temple and the family; many of these were used to build the temple dedicated to Sati, who is now revered as a goddess for her husband’s devotion. After that, the temple is constructed and becomes a yearly pilgrimage site. Monthly fairs, feasts, and festivals give way to yearly celebrations, which are beneficial to a large number of people. Although sati is not considered common in today’s society, it is sufficient to maintain this ideology once a year. People can profit materially from this, and women can be socially controlled by it.
Legally speaking, society would react by stating that the priest and those who carried the body should be arrested for aiding and abetting suicide or violating the sati abolition act. However, even though Sati was seen by numerous people, the cases would be dropped for lack of proof. Since the law was never applied correctly, society kind of tolerated it because of the government’s actions. Politically, society and the government did nothing when numerous female ministers opposed the sati. A large number of the members of political parties visit the temples built in Sati’s honor. Numerous public servants visit sati sites, donate there, and are supporters of sati. However, if state representatives and the government treat these issues seriously, then all of this is surmountable. Instead, they take advantage of and misuse their authority in order to defend their administrative and law enforcement personnel. Because sati is a religious issue and the police and officials do not want to offend the gods and higher priests of the religion, they do not take harsh or significant action against them.
Conclusion
It is extremely saddening how the current Indian government, pushed by her own cabinet ministers, abandoned the effort to enact strict sati laws. Although this would be considered murder in any other civilized society, killing widows is still a custom in India. The nation’s incapacity to overcome political and fundamentalist obstacles to simple and uncomplicated human rights issues like dowry and Sati is astounding. Although the terms of the Optional Protocol, CEDAW, and Sati Act must be upheld in their entirety, it also seems that some of the Sati Act’s amendments are necessary, as was previously mentioned. We urgently need a social awakening. It is imperative that women possess literacy. In addition, for the goal to be accomplished, the women also need to step forward. It is only at that point that there is a chance to save the lives of the defenseless women.
References
‘Introduction to the Custom of Sati’, this article was originally written by Kallie Szczepanski published on the ThoughtCo. Website. The link for the same is herein: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-sati-195389
‘Sati: The Widow-Burning Culture in India’, this article was originally written by Njideka Agbo on the Life website. The link for the same is herein: https://guardian.ng/life/sati-the-widow-burning-culture-in-india/
‘The Practice of Sati (Widow Burning)’, this article was originally written by Linda Heaphy on the Kashgar website. The link for the same is herein: https://kashgar.com.au/blogs/history/the-practice-of-sati-widow-burning
‘The History Behind Sati, a Banned Funeral Custom in India’, this article was originally written by Richa Jain on the Culture Trip website. The link for the same is herein: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/india/articles/the-dark-history-behind-sati-a-banned-funeral-custom-in-india
‘Sati Pratha: Widow Burning in India’, this article was originally written by Rbatishh on the Legal Service India website. The link for the same is herein: https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-12506-sati-pratha-widow-burning-in-india.html
Vasudha Dalmia-Lüderitz. “‘Sati’ as a Religious Rite: Parliamentary Papers on Widow Immolation, 1821-30.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 27, no. 4, 1992, pp. PE58–64. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4397528 Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.
Mohammed, S. (2020) ‘ Brief Historical Background of Sati Tradition in India’, Din ve Felsefe Araştırmaları, 3, pp. 44–63. Available at: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1170035 Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.