The Practice of Sati: Relations Between British and India

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A joyful scene is in view, there is a family celebrating an event and making quite a ruckus with an abundance of food and music. The bride is beautiful in her dress, and her family picks her up and carries her to her husband. They are not headed for the alter however, but for a fiery funeral pyre. There her family will toss her into the fire, and this widow will join her dead husband in the afterlife, prove her commitment to him and to her faith. In the corner stand two well-dressed British men, with their faces turned away from the scene they find dreadful. There is a clear contrast between the British and the Indians here regarding this practice called sat. This scene paints the picture created by the missionary James Pegg and it seems to say a lot about the relationship between Britain and India during the nineteenth century. This state of the British being present but taking no action seems to summarize the relations between India and Britain when it came to sati for a time. However, there came a point when British officers started making illegal certain kinds of sati, and eventually banned it all together. This makes one wonder what sparked the change from passivity to such strong action. This article will examine the change and try to prove the point that a fear of sati on the part of the British made them want to get rid of this unfamiliar practice. The article will try to verify the stance that the British who outlawed sati felt threatened by it because of its strangeness, the lack of control they had over it, and the bad reputation it gave to Britain since they claimed to be a civilizing and good nature upon India; by outlawing it they regained control and were able to maintain a good character for their nation. Befor... ... middle of paper ... ...ni, Lata. Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India. Vol. 7. N.p.: University of Minnesota Press, 1987. 119-56. JSTOR. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. Marshall, Peter. "British India and the 'Great Rebellion'." History. BBC, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. Pegg, James. Burning of A Hindoo Widow. 1832.India’s Cries to British Humanity, Relative to Infanticide, British Connection with Idolatry, Ghau Murders, Suttee, Slavery, and Colonization in India. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. Sabin, Margery. "The Suttee Romance." Raritan 11.2 (1991): 1. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. Shah, Duru. "Overcoming Cultural And Religious Discrimination -- The Ascent Of The Woman." Climacteric 14.3 (2011): 333-338. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Mar. 2014 Walsh, W. P. "William Carey: India, 1793-1834." Wholesome Words. Worldwide Missions, Web. 7 Apr. 2014

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