Sati ceremony

Sati (practice)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sati (Devanagari: सती, the feminine of sat "true"; also called suttee)[3]

refers to a funeral practice among some Indian communities in which arecently widowed woman immolates herself on her husband’s funeralpyre.

Contents

1 Etymology and usage

2 History

2.1 Origin

2.2 Muslim period

2.3 British and other European territories2.4 Modern times

3 Practice3.1 Compulsion

3.2 Royal funerals3.3 Symbolic sati

3.4 Jauhar

3.5 Burials

4 Prevalence

4.1 Numbers4.2 Communities

4.3 Regional variations

4.4 Current incidence

5 Justifications and criticisms5.1 Ancient law codes

5.2 Scriptures5.2.1 Endorsement or prohibition of sati in the Rig

Veda

5.3 Counter-arguments within Hinduism

5.4 Non-Hindu views and criticisms

6 Indian Law

7 See also

8 Notes

9 References10 Further reading

11 External links

Etymology and usage

The term is derived from the name of the goddess Sati, also known as Dakshayani, who self-immolated becauseshe was unable to bear her father Daksha's humiliation of her husband Shiva.

Description of the Balinese rite of

self-sacrifice or Suttee, in

Houtman's 1597 Verhael vande

Reyse ... Naer Oost Indien

The dominant usage of term in English is to refer to the act of self-immolation. In Indian languages the word may

refer to a virtuous wife (as exemplified by the goddess Sati) as well as a widow committing the act of sati.[1][2]

History

Origin

Few reliable records exist of the practice before the time of the Gupta empire, approximately 400 CE. Afterabout this time, instances of sati began to be marked by inscribed memorial stones. The earliest of these arefound in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, though the largest collections date from several centuries later, and are foundin Rajasthan. These stones, called devli, or sati-stones, became shrines to the dead woman, who was treated as

an object of reverence and worship. They are most common in western India.[3] A description of suttee appears

in a Greek account of the Punjab written in the first century BCE by historian Diodorus Siculus.[1] Brahminswere forbidden from the practice by the Padma Purana. A chapter dated to around the 10th century indicatesthat, while considered a noble act when committed by a Kshatriya woman, anyone caught assisting an upper-

caste Brahmin in self-immolation as a "sati" was guilty of Brahminicide.[1]

The ritual has prehistoric roots, and many parallels from other cultures are known. Compare for example the

ship burial of the Rus' described by Ibn Fadlan, where a female slave is burned with her master.[4]

Aristobulus of Cassandreia, a Greek historian who travelled to India with the expedition of Alexander the Great,recorded the practice of sati at the city of Taxila. A later instance of voluntary co-cremation appears in anaccount of an Indian soldier in the army of Eumenes of Cardia, whose two wives jumped on his funeral pyre, in

316 BC.[5]

Voluntary death at funerals has been described in northern India before the Gupta empire. The original practiceswere called anumarana, and were uncommon. Anumarana was not comparable to later understandings of sati,since the practices were not restricted to widows – rather, anyone, male or female, with personal loyalty to thedeceased could commit suicide at a loved one's funeral. These included the deceased's relatives, servants,

followers, or friends. Sometimes these deaths stemmed from vows of loyalty,[3] and bear a slight resemblance to

the later tradition of junshi in Japan.[6]

Apart from the Indian subcontinent, origins of this practice have beenfound in many parts of the world; it was followed by the ancientEgyptians, Thracians, Scythians, Scandinavians, Chinese, as well as

people of Oceania and Africa.[7]

Muslim period

Under the Delhi Sultanate, permission had to be sought from the widowprior to any practice of sati as a check against compulsion. However, this

later became more of a formality.[8] Mughals interfered little with local

customs, but they seemed intent on stopping sati.[9] Mughal emperor

Humayun (1508-1556) was the first to try a royal fiat against sati.[8]

Akbar (1542–1605) was next to issue official general orders prohibitingsati and insisted that no woman could commit sati without the specific permission of his Chief police

officers.[8][9] The Chief police officers were instructed by him to delay the woman's decision for as long as

possible.[8] Pensions, gifts and rehabilitative help were offered to the potential sati to persuade her from

committing the act.[8] Tavernier, writing in the reign of Shah Jahan, observed that widows with children were not

A Hindu widow burning herself

with the corpse of her husband,

1820s.

Suttee, by James Atkinson 1831

allowed in any circumstances to burn and that in other cases, governors did not readily give permission, but

could be bribed to do so.[9]

The emperor Aurangzeb was the strongest opponent of sati among the Mughals. In December 1663, he issued

an "order that in all lands under Mughal control, never again should the officials allow a woman to be burnt".[9]

Although the possibility of an evasion of government orders through payment of bribes existed, later Europeantravelers record that by the end of Aurangzeb’s reign, sati was much abated and very rare, except by some

Rajahs' wives.[9]

British and other European territories

By the end of the 18th century, the practice had been banned interritories held by some European powers. The Portuguese banned the

practice in Goa by about 1515.[10] The Dutch and the French banned itin Chinsurah and Pondichéry, their respective colonies. The British, whoby then ruled much of the subcontinent, and the Danes, who held thesmall territories of Tranquebar and Serampore, permitted it until the 19thcentury.

The British, following the example of the early Moghuls, for a while triedto regulate it by requiring that it be carried out in the presence of their

officials and strictly according to custom.[8] Attempts to limit or ban thepractice had been made by individual British officers in the 18th century,but without the backing of the British East India Company. The first formal British ban was imposed in 1798, inthe city of Calcutta only. The practice continued in surrounding regions. Toward the end of the 18th century, theevangelical church in Britain, and its members in India, started campaigns against sati. Leaders of thesecampaigns included William Carey and William Wilberforce, and both appeared to be motivated by their lovefor the Indian people and their desire to introduce Indians to Christianity. These movements put pressure on thecompany to ban the act. The Bengal Presidency started collecting figures on the practice in 1813.

The leader of the burgeoning Swaminarayan sect, Sahajanand Swami,was influential in the eventual eradication of sati. He argued that thepractice had no Vedic standing and only God could take a life he hadgiven. He also argued that widows could lead lives that would eventuallylead to salvation. Sir John Malcolm, the Governor of Bombay supportedSahajanand Swami in this endeavor, whose domino effect led to other

social reforms.[11]

From about 1812, the Bengali reformer Raja Rammohan Roy started hisown campaign against the practice. He was motivated by the experienceof seeing his own sister-in-law being forced to commit sati. Among hisactions, he visited Calcutta cremation grounds to persuade widowsagainst immolation, formed watch groups to do the same, and wrote anddisseminated articles to show that it was not required by scripture.

On 4 December 1829, the practice was formally banned in the BengalPresidency lands, by the then-governor general, William Bentick. The

ban was challenged in the courts, and the matter went to the Privy Council in London, but was upheld in 1832.Other company territories also banned it shortly after. Although the original ban in Bengal was fairlyuncompromising, later in the century British laws include provisions that provided mitigation for murder when"the person whose death is caused, being above the age of 18 years, suffers death or takes the risk of death

A shrine to wives of the

Maharajas of Jodhpur who have

committed sati. The palmprints

are typical.

with his own consent".[8]

General Sir Charles James Napier, the Commander-in-Chief in India from 1859 to 1861 is often noted for astory involving Hindu priests complaining to him about the prohibition of sati by British authorities.

"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. Mycarpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is

consumed. Let us all act according to national customs." [12]

Sati remained legal in some princely states for a time after it had been abolished in lands under British control.

Jaipur banned the practice in 1846.[13] Nepal continued to practice Sati well into the 20th century.

On the Indonesian island of Bali, sati (known as masatya) was practised by the aristocracy as late as 1905,

until Dutch colonial rule pushed for its termination.[14]

Modern times

Following outcries after each instance, the government has passed newmeasures against the practice, which now effectively make it illegal to bea bystander at an event of sati. The law now makes no distinctionbetween passive observers to the act and active promoters of the event;all are supposed to be held equally guilty. Other measures include effortsto stop the 'glorification' of the dead women. Glorification includes theerection of shrines to the dead, the encouragement of pilgrimages to thesite of the pyre, and the derivation of any income from such sites andpilgrims.

Another instance of systematic Sati happened in 1973, when Savitri Sonisacrificed her life with her husband in Kotadi village of Sikar District inRajasthan. Thousands of people witnessed this incident.

Following the outcry after the sati of Roop Kanwar,[15] the IndianGovernment enacted the Rajasthan Sati Prevention Ordinance, 1987 on

October 1, 1987[16] and later passed the Commission of Sati

(Prevention) Act, 1987.[17]

The Prevention of Sati Act makes it illegal to support, glorify or attemptto commit Sati. Support of Sati, including coercing or forcing someone tocommit Sati, can be punished by death sentence or life imprisonment,while glorifying Sati is punishable with 1–7 years in prison.

Enforcement of these measures is not always consistent.[18] The National Council for Women (NCW) has

suggested amendments to the law to remove some of these flaws.[19] Prohibitions of certain practices, such asworship at ancient shrines, is a matter of controversy.

Although many have tried to prevent the act of sati by banning it and reinforcing laws against it, it is still beingpracticed (on rare occasions) in India under coercion or by voluntary burning, as in the case of Charan Shah: a55 year-old widow of Manshah who burnt herself on the pyre of her husband in the village of Satpura in Uttar

Pradesh on 11 November 1999.[20] Her death on the funeral pyre has provoked much controversy, as therehave been questions as to whether she willingly performed the Sati or was coerced. Charan Shah had not

"Ceremony of Burning a Hindu

Widow with the Body of her Late

Husband" , from Pictorial History

of China and India, 1851.

professed strong feelings to become a Sati to any of her family members, and no one saw her close to theburning body of her husband before she jumped into the fire. The villagers, including her sons, say that shebecame a Sati of her own accord and that she was not forced into it. They continue to pay their respects to thehouse of Charan Shah. It has become a shrine for the villagers, as they strongly believe that one who has

become a sati is a deity; she is worshipped and endowed with gifts.[20]

Practice

The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 Part I, Section 2(c)defines Sati as:

The burning or burying alive of –

(i) any widow along with the body of her deceased husbandor 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 tobe voluntary on the part of the widow or the women or

otherwise[17]

The act of sati is said to exist voluntarily; from the existing accounts, many of these acts did indeed occurvoluntarily. The act may have been expected of widows in some communities, and the extent to which socialpressures or expectations constitute compulsion has been much debated in modern times. However, there werealso instances where the wish of the widow to commit sati was not welcomed by others, and where efforts

were made to prevent the death.[21] Women who became afraid during the act of Sati could, according towritings in the Yājñavalkya Smṛti, be called back from the act of sati by her deceased husband's relations to

cause her to rise up and stop the act of sati.[22]

Traditionally, a person's funeral would have occurred within a day of the death, requiring decisions about sati tobe made by that time. When the husband died elsewhere, the widow might still die by immolation at a later date.

Sati often emphasized the marriage between the widow and her deceased husband. For instance, rather thanmourning clothes, the to-be sati was often dressed in marriage robes or other finery. In the preliminaries of therelated act of Jauhar (or Saka), both the husbands and wives have been known to dress in their marriage clothesand re-enact their wedding ritual, before going to their separate deaths.

Accounts describe numerous variants in the sati ritual. The majority of accounts describe the woman seated orlying down on the funeral pyre beside her dead husband. Many other accounts describe women walking or

jumping into the flames after the fire had been lit,[23] and some describe women seating themselves on the

funeral pyre and then lighting it themselves.[24]

According to Dharmasātric authors, a Brahmanical branch of scholarship that is concerned with the outlining themoral right behavior, there are several conditions that could bar a woman from committing Sati. According to aninterpretation by Madhàva of the Parāsara Smrti if a the woman is pregnant, menstruating, or if she is not on herregular menstrual cycle (indicating that she may be pregnant) she is not permitted to follow her husband onto the

pyre.[25]

Some written instructions for the ritual exist. For instance, the Yallajeeyam provides detailed instructions aboutwho may commit sati, cleansing for the sati, positioning, attire, and other ritual aspects.

"A Hindu Suttee", 1885 book

Compulsion

Sati often described as voluntary, although in some cases it may have been forced. In one narrative account, thewidow appears to have been drugged either with bhang or opium and was tied to the pyre to keep her from

fleeing after the fire was lit.[26]

Royal funerals

Royal funerals sometimes have included the deaths of many wives andconcubines. A number of examples of these occur in the history of

Rajasthan.[27]

Maharani Raj Rajeshwari Devi of Nepal became regent in 1799 in thename of her son, Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah Deva, after the abdicationof her husband, Rana Bahadur Shah, who became a sanyasi. Herhusband returned and took power again in 1804. In 1806 he was

assassinated by his brother, and ten days later on 5 May 1806, his widow was forced to commit sati.[28][29]

Symbolic sati

There have been accounts of symbolic sati in some Hindu communities. A widow lies down next to her deadhusband, and certain parts of both the marriage ceremony and the funeral ceremonies are enacted, but without

her death.[30]

Jauhar

The Rajput practice of Jauhar, known from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, was the collective suicide of acommunity facing certain defeat in a battle against Muslims. It consisted of the mass immolation of women,children, the elderly and the sick, at the same time that their fighting men died in battle. Chittor is famous forjauhar of Rani Padmini, Rani Karnavati and the wives of Maharana Udai Singh.

Burials

In some Hindu communities, it is conventional to bury the dead. Deaths of widows have been known to occur inthese communities, with the widow being buried alive beside her husband, in ceremonies that are largely the

same as those performed in an immolation.[31]

Prevalence

Records of sati exist across most of the subcontinent. However, there seem to have been major differenceshistorically, in different regions, and among different communities.

Numbers

There are no reliable figures for the numbers who died by sati. A local indication of the numbers is given in therecords kept by the Bengal Presidency of the British East India Company. The total figure of known

occurrences for the period 1813 to 1828 is 8,135;[32] another source gives a comparable number of 7,941

from 1815 to 1828,[33] thus giving an average of about 507 to 567 documented incidents per year in thatperiod. Raja Ram Mohan Roy estimated that there were ten times as many cases of Sati in Bengal compared to

The bride throws herself on her

husband's funeral pyre. This

miniature painting originates from

the period of the Safavid dynasty,

first half 17th century. (Attributed

to the painter: Muhammad Qasim)

the rest of the country.[33][34] Bentinck, in his 1829 report, states that 420 occurrences took place in one(unspecified) year in the 'Lower Provinces' of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, and 44 in the 'Upper Provinces' (the

upper Gangetic plain).[35]

Communities

It is said by some authorities that the practice was more common among the higher castes, and among thosewho considered themselves to be rising in social status. It was littleknown or unknown in most of the population of India and the tribalgroups, and little known or unknown in the lowest castes. According toat least one source, it was very rare for anyone in the later Mughal

empire except royal wives to be burnt.[36] However, it has been saidelsewhere that it was unusual in higher caste women in the southern

matrilineal societies of Kerala and the Tulu regions.[37] In Karnataka andTamil Nadu however, the cult of Veeramastis was common.

Regional variations

It was known in Rajasthan from the earliest (6th century) to the present.About half the known sati stones in India are in Rajasthan. However, theextent to which individual instances of deaths resulted in veneration(glorification) implies that was not very common.

It is known to have occurred in the south from the 9th century throughthe period of the Vijayanagara empire. Madhavacharya, who is probablythe best known of those historical figures who justified the practice, wasoriginally a minister of the court of this empire. The practice continued tooccur after the collapse of the empire, though apparently at a fairly lowfrequency. In one instance more than fifty women committed Sati inVijayanagara after the Battle of Talikota. In North-western Karnatakaabout fifteen sati stones brought from Vijayanagara can be found. Theactual immolation of widows might have taken place elsewhere. Therelatives of Sati when they migrated took Sati stones along with them and resurrected at their new abodes. A

record exists of a minister of the kingdom of Mysore giving permission for a widow to commit sati in 1805.[38]

In the Upper Gangetic plain, while it occurred, there is no indication that it was especially widespread. Theearliest known attempt by a government to stop the practice took place here, that of Muhammad Tughlaq, in the

Sultanate of Delhi in the 14th century.[39]

In the Lower Gangetic plain, the practice may have reached a high level fairly late in history. According toavailable evidence and the existing reports of the occurrences of it, the greatest incidence of sati in any region

and period, in terms of total numbers, occurred in Bengal and Bihar in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.[40]

This was during the earlier period of British rule, and before its formal abolition. The Bengal Presidency keptrecords from 1813 to 1829. The frequency increased in periods of hardship and famine. An unusually largenumber of the surviving reports for this period are from Bengal.

Current incidence

Sati has occurred in the rural areas. A well documented case from 1987 was that of 18-year old Roop

Kanwar.[41][42] In response to this incident, additional recent legislation against the practice was passed, first bythe state government of Rajasthan, then by the central government of India.

In 2002, a 65-year-old woman by the name of Kuttu died after sitting on her husband's funeral pyre in the

Indian Panna district.[42] On 18 May 2006, Vidyawati, a 35-year-old woman allegedly committed sati byjumping into the blazing funeral pyre of her husband in Rari-Bujurg Village, Fatehpur district in the State of Uttar

Pradesh.[43] On 21 August 2006, Janakrani, a 40-year-old woman, burned to death on the funeral pyre of her

husband Prem Narayan in Sagar district.[44] On 11 October 2008 a 75-year-old woman committed sati byjumping into her 80-year-old husband's funeral pyre at Checher in the Kasdol block of Chhattisgarh's Raipur

district.[45]

Justifications and criticisms

Brahmin scholars justified the practice, and gave reasonings as to how the scriptures could be said to justifythem. Among them were Vijnanesvara, of the 12th-century Chalukya court, and the later Madhavacharya,theologian and minister in the late 14th century of the court of the Vijayanagara empire, according to Shastri,who quotes their reasoning. They lauded the practice as required conduct in righteous women, and said that itwas not to be considered suicide, which was otherwise variously banned or discouraged in the scriptures. Theydeemed it an act of peerless piety, which was said to purge the couple of all accumulated sin, guarantee their

salvation, and ensure their reunion in the afterlife.[3]

Ancient law codes

Justifications for the practice are given in the Vishnu Smriti (dated from 700 to 1000CE):

Now the duties of a woman (are) ... After the death of her husband, to preserve her chastity, or to

ascend the pile after him.[46]

Justification for the practice is also found in the later work of the Brihaspati Smriti (25-11).[3] Both this and theVishnu Smriti date from the first millennium.

The Manu Smriti, often regarded as the culmination of classical Hindu law, does not mention or sanction sati. Itdoes prescribe lifelong asceticism for most widows, no matter their age when widowed.

Scriptures

Although the myth of the goddess Sati is that of a wife who dies by her own volition on a fire, this is not a caseof the practice of sati. The goddess was not widowed, and the myth is quite unconnected with the justificationsfor the practice.

The Puranas have examples of women who commit sati; they suggest that this was considered desirable orpraiseworthy: A wife who dies in the company of her husband shall remain in heaven as many years asthere are hairs on his person. (Garuda Purana 1.107.29) According to 2.4.93, she stays with her husband inheaven during the rule of 14 Indras, i.e. a kalpa.

According to Ramashraya Sharma, there is no conclusive evidence of the sati practice in the Ramayana. Forinstance, Tara, Mandodari and the widows of Dasharatha, all live after their respective husband's deaths, thoughall of them announce their wish to die, while lamenting for their husbands. The first two remarry their brother-in-

law. The only instance of sati appears in the Uttara Kanda - believed to be a later addition to the original

text — in which Kushadhwaja's wife performs sati.[47] The Telugu adaptation of the Ramayana, the 14th-

century Ranganatha Ramayana, tells that Sulochana, wife of Indrajit, became sati on his funeral pyre.[48]

In the Mahabharata, Madri, the second wife of Pandu, immolates herself. She believes she is responsible for hisdeath, as he had been cursed with death if he ever had intercourse. He died while performing the forbidden actwith Madri; she blamed herself for not rejecting him, as she knew of the curse.

Passages in the Atharva Veda, including 13.3.1, offer advice to the widow on mourning and her life afterwidowhood, including her remarriage.

Endorsement or prohibition of sati in the Rig Veda

Some commentators claim that the Rig Veda sanctions sati, while others claim that it condemns sati. Theargument for condoning is based on verse 10.18.7, part of the verses to be used at funerals. Whether theydescribe sati or something else entirely, is disputed, The hymn is about funeral by burial, and not by cremation.There are differing translations of the passage. The translation below is one of those said to prescribe it.

इमा नार�र�वधवाः सप�नीरा�जनन स�प�षा स�वश�त |

अन�वो.अनमीवाः सर�ना आ रोह�त जनयोयो�नम� || (RV 10.18.7)

Let these women, whose husbands are worthy and are living, enter the house with ghee (applied)

as collyrium (to their eyes). Let these wives first step into the house, tearless without any affliction

and well adorned.[49]

The text does not mention widowhood, and other translations differ in their translation of the word hererendered as 'pyre' (yoni, literally "seat, abode"; Griffith has "first let the dames go up to where he lieth"). Inaddition, the following verse, which is unambiguously about widows, contradicts any suggestion of the woman'sdeath; it explicitly states that the widow should return to her house.

उद��व� नाय��भ जीवलोक गतासमतमप शष ए�ह |

ह�त�ाभ�य �द�धषो�तवद प�यज��न�वम�भ स�बभथ || (RV 10.18.8)

Rise, come unto the world of life, O woman — come, he is lifeless by whose side thou liest.

Wifehood with this thy husband was thy portion, who took thy hand and wooed thee as a lover.[50]

A reason given for the discrepancy in translation and interpretation of verse 10.18.7, is that one consonant in aword that meant house, yonim agree "foremost to the yoni", was deliberately changed by those who wished

claim scriptural justification, to a word that meant fire, yomiagne.[51]

Counter-arguments within Hinduism

No early descriptions or criticisms of the practice within Hinduism are known before the Gupta period, as thepractice was little known at that time.

Explicit criticisms later in the first millennium, included that of Medhatithi, a commentator on various theologicalworks. He considered it suicide, which was forbidden by the Vedas

One shall not die before the span of one's life is run out,[3]

Reform and bhakti movements within Hinduism favoured egalitarian societies, and in line with the tenor of thesebeliefs, generally condemned the practice, sometimes explicitly. The Alvars condemned sati in the 8th century[52] as did the Virashaiva movement in the 12th and 13th centuries.[53]

In a petition to the British East India Company in 1818, Ram Mohan Roy wrote that;-

"All these instances are murders according to every shastra."[54]

Non-Hindu views and criticisms

European artists in the eighteenth century produced many images for their own native markets, showing the

widows as heroic women, and moral exemplars.[55]

Europeans also showed a change in their attitudes regarding local customs as their home countries becamedominant local powers. The earliest Europeans to establish themselves were the Portuguese in Goa. They triedearly on to override local customs and practices, including sati, as they attempted to spread Christianitythroughout the territories in their control. The British entered India as a trading body, and in the earlier periods oftheir rule, they were largely indifferent to local practices.

In her article "Can the Subaltern Speak?" philosopher Gayatri Spivak discusses how sati takes the form ofregulating women in pre-colonial India according to Hindu law, and how sati takes the form of imprisoningwomen in the double bind of self-expression attributed to mental illness and social rejection, or of self-

incrimination according to British colonial law.[56] The woman who commits sati takes the form of the subalternin Spivak's work, a form much of postcolonial studies takes very seriously.

Indian Law

Sati was first banned under Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829. In 1987, the Government of Rajasthan enacted theSati (Prevention) Act, 1987.

See also

Ritual suicide

Deorala

Notes

1. ^ The spelling suttee is a phonetic spelling using the 19th-century English orthography. However the sati

transliteration is correct using the more modern IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration)

which is the academic standard for writing the Sanskrit language with the Latin alphabet system.[31][57]

References

1. a b c Doniger, Wendy (2009). The Hindus: An Alternative History. Penguin Books. p. 611.ISBN 9780143116691.

2. ^ Hawley, John Stratton, ed. (1994). Sati, the blessing and the curse: the burning of wives in India(http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=w_VbHItKQjYC). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507774-2.

a b c d e Shakuntala Rao Shastri, Women in the Sacred Laws -- The later law books (1960), also reproduced

3. a b c d e Shakuntala Rao Shastri, Women in the Sacred Laws -- The later law books (1960), also reproducedonline at [1] (http://www.hindubooks.org/women_in_the_sacredlaws/).

4. ^ Ibn Fadlan, Risala: Ibn Fadlan's Embassy to the King of Volga Bulgaria(http://membres.multimania.fr/nbulgaria/bulgaria/risala.htm) (English-language translation)

5. ^ "Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh", by S. S. Shashi, p. 196

6. ^ "Bhagwan Swaminarayan's Life: Biography — Uplift of Women"(http://www.swaminarayan.org/lordswaminarayan/biography/4.htm). Swaminarayan.org. Retrieved 2010-04-23.

7. ^ "Encyclopaedia Indica", by S. S. Shashi, p. 200-204

8. a b c d e f g Central Sati Act - An analysis (http://www.pucl.org/from-archives/Gender/sati.htm) by MajaDaruwala is an advocate practising in the Delhi High Court. Courtsy: The Lawyers January 1988. The web siteis called "People's Union for Civil Liberties (http://www.pucl.org/history.htm)"

9. a b c d e XVII. "Economic and Social Developments under the Mughals"(http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/ikram/part2_17.html) from Muslim Civilization inIndia by S. M. Ikram edited by Ainslie T. Embree New York: Columbia University Press, 1964. This pagemaintained by Prof. Frances Pritchett, Columbia University

10. ^ To Cherish and to Share: The Goan Christian Heritage (http://www.goacom.com/culture/religion/gch/) Paperpresented at the 1991 Conference on Goa at the University of Toronto by: John Correia Afonso S.J. from:"South Asian Studies Papers", no 9; Goa: Goa Continuity and Change; Edited by Narendra K. Wagle and GeorgeCoelho; University of Toronto Centre for South Asian Studies 1995

11. ^ Encyclopedia of Hinduism.(2007) Constance A. Jones. Facts on File Inc.

12. ^ Napier, William. (1851) History Of General Sir Charles Napier's Administration Of Scinde. (P. 35). London:Chapman and Hall [2] (http://books.google.com/books?id=d84BAAAAMAAJ&vq=suttee&dq=History%20of%20the%20Administration%20of%20Scinde&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q&f=false) at books.google.com. Retrieved 10 July 2011

13. ^ PUCL. "Central Sati Act — An analysis" (http://www.pucl.org/from-archives/Gender/sati.htm). Pucl.org.Retrieved 2010-04-23.

14. ^ A History of Modern Indonesia since c. 1300, by Merle Calvin Ricklefs

15. ^ Rajalakshmi, T.K. (February 28 - March 12, 2004). "`Sati' and the verdict"(http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2105/stories/20040312002504600.htm). Frontline Magazine, The Hindu

21 (5).

16. ^ Trial by fire (http://www.sabrang.com/cc/archive/2004/mar04/sreport3.html), Communalism Combat,Special Report, February–March 2004 , Volume 10, No.96, Sabrang Communications.

17. a b Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 (http://nrcw.nic.in/shared/sublinkimages/13.htm). Official textof the Act on Government of India's National Resource Centre for Women (NCRW) Website(http://nrcw.nic.in/)

18. ^ "No violation of Sati Act, say police" (http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/01/stories/2005060110150500.htm).The Hindu. June 6, 2005. Retrieved 2007-11-20.

19. ^ No. 2: Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 (http://ncw.nic.in/page2.htm) National Council forWomen, Proposed amendments to the 1987 Sati Prevention Act

20. a b "Revival and Spread of Sati Huma Khan", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 34, No. 51 (Dec. 18-24,1999), p. 3578 Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

21. ^ Letter, Panduranga Joshi Kulkarni (http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/lessons/lesson5/lesson5.php?s=3) is adescription by a man who stopped his daughter-in-law's suicide. It has been suggested that his motivationswere monetary. Women in World History (http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/index.html) A project of the Center forHistory and New Media, George Mason University.

22. ^ Brick, David. "The Dharmaśātric Debate on Widow-burning." Journal of the American Oriental Society 2.130(2010): 219. EBSCOhost. Web. 25 Sept. 2012

23. ^ See Kamat for two examples

24. ^ Primary Sources: Letter, Francois Bernier (http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/lessons/lesson5/lesson5.php?s=1)Women in World History (http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/index.html) A project of the Center for History and NewMedia, George Mason University.

25. ^ Brick, David. "The Dharmaśātric Debate on Widow-burning." Journal of the American Oriental Society 2.130(2010): 220. EBSCOhost. Web. 25 Sept. 2012.

26. ^ The Representation of Sati: Four Eighteenth Century Etchings by Baltazard Solvyns(http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/hardgrave/Satiart.rft.html), by Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr. The account uses theword "likely".

27. ^ Women In The Sacred Laws (http://www.hindubooks.org/women_in_the_sacredlaws/index.htm) byShakuntala Rao Shastri The later law - Books: Page 24(http://www.hindubooks.org/women_in_the_sacredlaws/the_later_lawbooks/page24.htm) Some of theseincluded servants. These should probably all be seen as being in the original tradition of anumarana, perhaps aseparate article.

28. ^ Genealogy, The Royal House of Shah, Nepal (http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Nepal/nepal6.htm):

1777 - 1799 H.H. Svasti Sri Giriraj Chakrachudamani Narnarayanetyadi Vividha VirudavaliVirajamana Manonnata Shriman Maharajadhiraja Sri Sri Sri Sri Sri Maharaj Rana Bahadur ShahBahadur Shamsher Jang Devanam Sada Samar Vijayinam, Maharajadhiraja of Nepal. ... m. (first)at Katmandu, 1789, Sri Sri Sri Maharani Raj Rajeshwari Devi [Sri Vidya Lakshmi Devi] (k. byforced sati on the orders of Bhimsen Thapa, on the bank of the Salinadi rivulet, at Sankhu, 5thMay 1806)

29. ^ Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership, "Women In Power, 1770-1800"(http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1770.htm) ("1799-1800 and 1802-04Regent Sri Sri Sri Maharani Raj Rajeshwari Devi of Nepal ... she was imprisoned at Helambu and killed by beingforced to commit sati.").

30. ^ Defying blessings of the goddess and the community: Disputes over sati (widow burning) in contemporaryIndia (http://www.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~shakti/EnglishHP/suttee.html) by Masakazu Tanaka. An example inTamil Sri Lanka.

31. a b The Representation of Sati: Four Eighteenth Century Etchings by Baltazard Solvyns(http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/hardgrave/Satiart.rft.html) by Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr.

32. ^ Hindu Bengali Widows Through the Centuries (http://www.datamationfoundation.org/women4.htm) from theDatamation Foundation a non-profit, apolitical, non-partisan registered Charitable Trust (Trust Deed # 3258dated March 8, 2001) with its head office at Delhi.

33. a b Sakuntala Narasimhan, Sati: widow burning in India, quoted by Matthew White, "Selected Death Tolls forWars, Massacres and Atrocities Before the 20th Century", p.2 (http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstatv.htm)(July 2005), Historical Atlas of the 20th Century (self-published, 1998-2005).

34. ^ Sakuntala Narasimhan, Sati: widow burning in India

35. ^ Modern History Sourcebook: On Ritual Murder in India(http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1829bentinck.html), 1829 by William Bentinck

36. ^ John Ovington, A Voyage to Surat:

Since the Mahometans became Masters of the Indies, this execrable custom is much abated, andalmost laid aside, by the orders which nabobs receive for suppressing and extinguishing it in alltheir provinces. And now it is very rare, except it be some Rajah's wives, that the Indian womenburn at all.

37. ^ Quoted from Kamat.

38. ^ The Tradition of Sati Through the Centuries (http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/women/sati/timeline.htm)Kamat's potpourri (http://www.kamat.com/copyrite.htm): The Sati System

39. ^ L. C. Nand, Women in Delhi Sultanate, Vohra Publishers and Distributors Allahabad 1989.

40. ^ The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 (No.3 of 1988)(http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/Organizations/healthnet/SAsia/forums/sati/prevention.html) on the web site ofthe Harvard School of Public Health

41. ^ "This Date in History: Sati in India" (http://atheism.about.com/b/2006/10/04/this-date-in-history-sati-in-india.htm). Atheism.about.com. 2006-10-04. Retrieved 2010-07-26.

42. a b "Magisterial inquiry ordered into 'sati' incident" (http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/aug/07mp.htm).rediff.com. 2002-08-07. Retrieved 2010-07-26.

43. ^ The Times of India, "Woman commits 'sati' in UP village"(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1538375.cms), May 19, 2006.

44. ^ BBC News, "India wife dies on husband's pyre" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5273336.stm), Aug.22, 2006.

45. ^ "Woman jumps into husband's funeral pyre" (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-10-13/india/27900245_1_pyre-woman-jumps-cremation-ground). The Times of India (Raipur). October 13, 2008.

46. ^ Vishnu Smriti, 25-14 (available online at sacred-texts.com (http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe07/sbe07027.htm)).

47. ^ Sharma, Ramashraya (1971). A socio-political study of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa (1 ed.). Motilal BanarsidassPubl. pp. 96–8.

48. ^ Pollet, Gilbert (1995). Indian epic values: Rāmāyana and its impact (http://books.google.com/?id=EVnK3q48dL0C&pg=PA62&dq=Sulochana&q=Sulochana). Peeters Publishers. p. 62. ISBN 90-6831-701-6.

49. ^ 3.1 Women in Indo-Aryan Societies:Sati(http://web.archive.org/web/20091027153622/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/4229/in3.htm) thistranslation is ascribed to Kane References Pages 199-200

50. ^ Compare alternative translation by Griffith:1. Let these unwidowed dames with noble husbands adorn themselves with fragrant balm and

unguent.Decked with fair jewels, tearless, free from sorrow, first let the dames go up to where he lieth.

Hymn XVIII. Various Deities. (http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv10018.htm), Rig Veda, tr. by RalphT.H. Griffith (1896)

51. ^ O. P. Gupta, "The Rigveda: Widows don’t have to burn", The Asian Age, Oct. 23, 2002, available at Hindu-religion.net (http://www.hindu-religion.net/showflat/cat/hinduism/67586/0/collapsed/5/o/1).

52. ^ The little-known Srivaisnava sect in Tamil Nadu is among the few religious traditions in India that treatswomen on par with men (http://www.sabrang.com/cc/comold/feb99/ethos1.htm) by Yoginder Sikand, inCommunalism Combat February 1999.

53. ^ "About Lingayat" (http://www.lingayat.com/alingayat/alingayat.asp) on lingayat.com

54. ^ Mani, Lata (1998). Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India. University of CaliforniaPress. p. 57.

55. ^ "The Representation of Sati: Four Eighteenth Century Etchings by Baltazard Solvyns"(http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/hardgrave/Satiart.rft.html) by Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr. Bengal Past and Present,117 (1998): 57-80.

56. ^ Sharp, J. (2008). "Chapter 6, Can the Subaltern Speak?". Geographies of Postcolonialism. SAGEPublications.

57. ^ "Not available when footnotes constructed" (http://www.vivaaha.org/sati.htm). Vivaaha.org. Retrieved 2010-04-23.

Further reading

Mani, L. (1987). Contentious traditions: the debate on sati in colonial India. Cultural Critique, (7), 119-

156.Mani, L. (1998). Contentious traditions: The debate on sati in colonial India. Univ of California Press.

Sangari, K., & Vaid, S. (1981). Sati in Modern India: a report. Economic and Political Weekly, 1284-1288.

Zechenter, E. M. (1997). In the name of culture: Cultural relativism and the abuse of the individual.Journal of Anthropological Research, 319-347.Garzilli, Enrica (August 1997). "First Greek and Latin Documents on Sahagamana and Some Connected

Problems (Part 1)"(http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/indo/1997/00000040/00000003/00072348;jsessionid=og7

13ih0tc8h.victoria). Indo-Iranian Journal 40 (3).Garzilli, Enrica (October 1997). "First Greek and Latin Documents on Sahagamana and Some

Connected Problems (Part 2)"(http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/indo/1997/00000040/00000004/00077521;jsessionid=og7

13ih0tc8h.victoria). Indo-Iranian Journal 40 (4).

Hawley, John Stratton, ed. (1994). Sati, the blessing and the curse: the burning of wives in India

(http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=w_VbHItKQjYC). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507774-2.

Kane, M. P. V. (1953). History of Dharmashastra IV. Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.Nand, L. C. (1989). Women in Delhi Sultanate. Allahabad: Vohra Publishers and Distributors.

Shastri, Shakuntala Rao (1960). Women in the Sacred Laws(http://www.hindubooks.org/women_in_the_sacredlaws/). The later law books.

Singh, Nagendra Kr. (2000). Ambedkar on religion. New Delhi: Anmol Publications. ISBN 81-261-0503-8.

External links

Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 (http://nrcw.nic.in/shared/sublinkimages/13.htm). Official textof the Act on Government of India's National Resource Centre for Women (NCRW)

Maja Daruwala, A History of Sati Legislation in India (http://www.pucl.org/from-archives/Gender/sati.htm), People's Union for Civil Liberties.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sati_(practice)&oldid=590803962"Categories: Criticism of Hinduism Death customs Fire in religion Suicide methods Superstitions of India

Women's rights in religious movements Widowhood in India Rituals Suicide in India

Gender and Hinduism Violence against women in India Women and death

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