sati

Under the East India Company, Lord William Bentinck was the Governor of Madras 1803-1807, and the Governor-General of India 1828-1835.

Editor's note: This document was written in November 1829.The source is SPEECHES &amp\; DOCUMENTS ON INDIAN POLICY 1750-1921, ed. A. Berriedale Keith, Vol. I

WHETHER the question be to continue or to discontinue the practice of sati, the decision is equally surrounded by an awful responsibility.

Editor's note: This regulation was issued by the East India Company. The detailed rationale, available here, for this regulation had been given by the British Governor-General, Lord Bentinck, in November 1829.

A regulation for declaring the practice of suttee, or of burning or burying alive the widows of Hindus, illegal, and punish-able by the criminal courts. Passed by the governor-general in council on the 4th December 1829, corresponding with the 20th Aughun 1936 Bengal era\; the 23rd Aughun 1237 Fasli\; the 21st Aughun 1237 Vilayati\; the 8th Aughun 1886 Samvat\; and the 6^th Jamadi-us-Sani 1245 Hegira

Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772 - 1833) was a religious, social, and educational reformer. He challenged some aspects of traditional Hindu culture, such as sati.

Editor's note: This is a chapter from a book entitled TRANSLATION OF SEVERAL PRINCIPAL BOOKS, PASSAGES, AND TEXTS of THE VEDS, and SOME CONTROVERSIAL WORKS of BRAHMUNICAL THEOLOGY  written by RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY, Second edition, 1832. The book has four chapters related to women, all of which are available in the attached pdf file. One of the chapters is reproduced below. Footnotes in the original text have been brought into the main text, written in this manner {original footnote text}.

SEVERAL Essays, Tracts, and Letters, written in defence of or against the practice of burning Hindoo widows alive, have for some years past attracted the attention of the public.