Lord William Bentinck came to India as Governor General. Most accounts either describe women seated on their husbands’ funeral pyre or lying down next to the dead body. The princely states of India during that time were also pressurised to rule out sati completely. Thus, Bentinck and Ray, both equally deserve the honour for emancipating the destitute widows. However, records show that the practice was also popular in other traditions and in countries like Russia, Fiji and Vietnam.

He thought it the responsibility of the Government to maintain law and order in the society and to provide security for the people.

For this order and security ought to be maintained. G.B. In 1582, Mughal Emperor Akbar outlawed sati, and in 1663, Aurangzeb tried to end it again. Required fields are marked *, //

The radicals received strong support from Rammohan Ray and other progressive Indians.

During the Gupta period, incidents of sati began to be recorded with inscribed memorial stones, first in Nepal in 464 CE, and then in Madhya Pradesh from 510 CE. The barbarous and horrifying system of Sati drew the attention of Bentinck.

The reasons for such practice were primarily socio-economic nature. Scott acclaims the Guru as the first reformer who condemned the prevailing Hindu practice of Sati. It was, therefore, considered to be the greatest form of devotion of a wife towards her dead husband. She refused. They found India the most attractive one. Some widows poisoned themselves before committing Sati. The practice of sati, however, spared pregnant widows. The thugs were groups of robbers wandering in the forest and lonely tracts of Madhya Bharat and Uttar Pradesh regions. Captain Sleeman collected information about the Thugs and their hideouts. During its peak, Sati claimed thousands of widow-burning every year. His period as governor-general from 1828 to 1835 has been accepted as an important phase of reform. He raided the hideouts of the Thugs and captured them. Thus, it may be a relatively recent innovation in the extremely long history of Hinduism. Women who committed sati were said to have died chaste, which, people believed, meant she would have good karma and a much better life in her next birth. Practice of Sati was the burning of the widow in the funeral pyre for husband. Those are considered Satis who live contented, embellish themselves with good conduct; And cherish the Lord ever and call on Him.”.

Even the sister-in-law in Raja Rammohan Ray was burn to death. For accomplishment of their aims, India would Bengal transformed to a consumer of British goods. Historical records tell us that sati first appeared between 320CE to 550CE, during the rule of Gupta Empire.