{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 85,
  "chapterName": "1830. Address to Bentinck Following the Abolition of Sati",
  "pageFrom": 115,
  "pageTo": 116,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 115,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n115\nof any kind be resorted to, in order to abolish their distinction, the\nmajority will immediately consider it as a privilege in danger, and\nattach an importance to it which it never had before. Jealousy will\nengender discord, and social intercourse, such as it has been, will\ncease. In short, a breach will be made, which it will be difficult,\nif possible, to fill up again.\n85. ADDRESS TO BENTINCK FOLLOWING\nTHE ABOLITION OF SATI (1830 A.D.)\nIn 1830 the English Governor-General, William Bentinck, abolished\nby law the practice of sati (widow burning) within British territories.\nThis address, believed to have been written by Raja Rammohun Roy,\nis an expression of appreciation for this action. Cited in Jogendra\nChander Ghose, ed., The English Works of Raja Rammohun Roy,\npp. 283-286.\nMy Lord,\nWith hearts filled with the deepest gratitude, and impressed with\nthe utmost reverence, we, the undersigned native inhabitants of\nCalcutta and its vicinity, beg to be permitted to approach your\nLordship, to offer personally our humble but warmest acknow-\nledgements for the invaluable protection which your Lordship's\ngovernment has recently afforded to the lives of the Hindoo female\npart of your subjects, and for your humane and successful exertions\nin rescuing us for ever, from the gross stigma hitherto attached to\nour character as wilful murderers of females, and zealous promoters\nof the practice of suicide.\nExcessive jealousy of their female connections, operating on the\nbreasts of Hindu princes, rendered those despots regardless of the\ncommon bonds of society, and of their incumbent duty as protectors\nof the weaker sex, insomuch that with a view to prevent every\npossibility of their widows forming subsequent attachments, they\navailed themselves of their arbitrary power, and under the first\nimpressions of sorrow or despair, immediately after the demise of\ntheir husbands. The system of female destruction, being admirably\nsuited to the selfish and servile disposition of the populace, has been\neagerly followed by them, in defiance of the most sacred authorities,\nsuch as the Upanishads or the principal parts of the Vedas, and the\nBhagavad Gita, as well as of the direct commandment of Manu,\nthe first and the greatest of all the legislators, conveyed in the fol-\nlowing words: 'Let a widow continue till death forgiving all\ninjuries, performing austere duties, avoiding every sensual pleasure.'",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 116,
      "ocrText": "116\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nWhile in fact fulfilling the suggestions of their jealousy they\npretented to justify this hideous practice by quoting some passage\nfrom authorities of evidently inferior weight, sanctioning the wilful\nascent of a widow on the flaming pile of her husband, as if they\nwere offering such female sacrifices in obedience to the dictates of\nthe Sastras and not from the influence of jealousy. It is, however,\nvery fortunate that the British government under whose protection\nthe lives of both the males and females of India have been happily\nplaced by providence, has, after diligent inquiry, ascertained that\neven those inferior authorities, permitting wilful ascent by a widow\nto the flaming pile, have been practically set aside, and that, in\ngross violation of their language and spirit, the relatives of widows\nhave in the burning of those infatuated females, almost invariably\nused to fasten them down on the pile, and heap over them larger\nquantities of wood and other materials adequate to the prevention\nof their escape-an outrage on humanity which has been frequently\nperpetrated under the indirect sanction of native officers, undeservedly\nemployed for the security of life and preservation of peace and\ntranquillity.\nIn many instances, in which the vigilance of the magistrate has\ndeterred the native officers of police from indulging their own\ninclination, widows have either made their escape from the pile\nafter being partially burnt, or retracted their resolution to burn when\nbrought to the awful task, to the mortifying disappointment of the\ninstigators; while in some instances the resolution to die has been\nretraced, on pointing out to the widows the inpropriety of their\nintended undertaking, and on promising them safety and mainte-\nnance during life, not withstanding the severe reproaches liable\nthereby to be heaped on them by their relatives and friends.\nIn consideration of circumstances so disgraceful in themselves,\nand so incompatible with the principles of British rule, your Lord-\nship in Council, fully impressed with the duties required of you\nby justice and humanity, has deemed it incumbent on you, for the\nhonour of the British name, to come to the resolution, that the\nlives of your female Hindoo subjects should be henceforth more\nefficiently protected; that the heinous sin of cruelty to females\nmay no longer be committed, and that the most ancient and purest\nsystem of Hindoo religion should not any longer be set nought by\nthe Hindoos themselves. The magistrates, mag in consequence, are,\nwe understand, positively ordered to execute the resolution of\ngovernment by all possible means",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}