THE observance of sati by Roop Kanwar a few years ago sent shockwaves in the entire subcontinent. She became a hapless victim of an evil custom. In the medieval times, the greatest tragedy for a Hindu woman was the death of her husband. Widow remarriage was not permitted except among the lower classes.

Sati was an established social practice in Medieval India and the practice was so widely prevalent that it did not escape the notice of foreign travellers visiting India from time to time. The act of burning of a Hindu wife under certain conditions after the death of her husband was called sati. The practice on the whole remained confined to the upper classes of Hindu society and was especially favoured by the martial tribes of Rajasthan. But it is difficult to discern whether the practice was voluntary or obligatory. The travellers have given both aspects of the rite but at times contradictory statements have been issued by them. William Finch refers to the practice as : "When a husband dies, his wife, if she be alive, is buried with him." De Laet remarks, "When the husband dies, the widow, of her own free will, leaps upon his pyre and is burnt up together with his corpse, as is a well-known fact". Though Pelsaert observes, "When a Rajput dies, his wives allow themselves to be burned alive as is the practice among the Banias and Kshatriyas, and in Agra this commonly occurs two or three times a week," he also says, "there are hundreds and even thousands who do not do it." Bernier says, "The accounts given of it have been certainly exaggerated, and the number of victims is less than formerly, the Mahometans by whom the country is governed are doing all in their power to suppress this barbarous custom."

The life of a widow was an endless tale of suffering. She had to face harsh criticism and was treated with utter contempt by the other members of the family. Society also jeered at those who did not perform sati. Ibn Battuta, a Moorish traveller who visited India in the 14th century, stayed at the court of Mohammad Tuglaq and enjoyed various positions. He has given a graphic picture of a lady whose husband died in battle — the entire scene was enacted before his own eyes. The woman on hearing the news of her husband’s death, took a bath and put on her best clothes and jewels. A procession was soon taken to the place of cremation. Brahamins joined the procession and did not fail to explain to the young widow the transitory nature of life and the reality of the life beyond. Once she was burnt, the priest assured her, a sati was sure to find in the company of her husband all eternal riches, honour and happiness beyond measure. Approaching a shady groove, the widow first washed herself in a pool of water and then gave away her fine clothes and jewels one by one. At the end of it, she borrowed a coarse unsewn cloth and put it over her body. Then, with calm boldness she advanced to the enclosure, meditated for a while; then suddenly with a firm resolution, she threw herself into the flames, just at that point of time from another quarter a clamorous noise was raised with trumpets, drums and other vessels — obviously to distract people from the horror of the scene. Ibn Battuta himself was so horrified that he became unconscious and had to be carried away. Such was the horrifying tale of a ‘sacrificial goat’.

It looks quite obvious that sati was obligatory in some parts of the subcontinent. In Rajputana, women burnt themselves more willingly than those in other parts of India. Manucci found that it was held "a great disgrace to the family, if she (the widow) would deny to be burnt." She had to die willingly or unwillingly.

The methods of immolation varied in different parts of the country. In South India, the woman jumped or was forced into a fire pit, where her husband’s corpse had been previously laid. In western India, she was laid in a grass hut, supporting her husband’s head with her right hand. She lighted the hut with the torch held in her left hand.

According to Abul Fazl, the famous historian, the women who performed sati fell into a number of categories: those who out of sheer love for their husbands consigned themselves to flames; those who from fear of reproach surrendered to get burnt; those who were swayed by family considerations and customs; and, finally, those who were forced to get burnt with their deceased husbands.

Akbar made earnest efforts to prevent forceful immolation of women in his kingdom. His edict banning sati runs thus, "If a Hindu woman wishes to burn with husband, they should not prevent her; but she should not be forced to burn herself against her wishes." In Ain-i-Akbari, the instructions given to Kotwal by the King were, "He should not suffer a woman to be burnt against her inclination". The Emperor himself intervened in some cases and stopped widows from burning themselves. The later Mughals followed suit as Hawkins, Manucci, Palsaert, Peter Mundy and many more have recorded in their versions. It seems that the prohibition was merely on paper than in practice. But Aurangzeb took a serious view of the entire problem and in 1663 totally banned the sacrifice of widows throughout his empire. Though the rulers did not succeed in putting an end to this heinous custom, they did succeed in reducing the number of such cases.

Just like sati, jauhar was also performed by women, particularly in Rajputana. Amir Khusrau gave an account of the attack on Chittor in his Tarikh-i-Alai: One night the Rai lit a fire at the top of the hill, and threw his women and family into the flames and rushed towards the enemy (Ala-ud-din Khilji) with a few devoted adherents, they sacrificed the lives in despair. The motto was better to die rather than to be disgraced by the invader.

For the Rajput warrior, jauhar or even the slaughter of women and children was a point of honour. He resorted to such acts of desperation when he was facing certain defeat and there was every likelihood of his family falling into the hands of not a very kind enemy. When Raja of Kampila had to face Mohammad Tuglaq in a tough encounter, all ladies belonging to the royalty washed themselves, rubbed their bodies with sandalwood paste, then paid obeisance to their master and quickly threw themselves into the flames. The Raja and his warriors then proceeded to fight the besieger until everyone of them was killed. Babur has given a graphic account in his Tuzuk about the defeat of Medni Rai of Chanderi. After their defeat, the warriors of Medni Rai killed all their women and children as per the old custom and perished in the gruesome battle one by one. As many as 300 women were cremated with Suchet Singh of Kashmir; and four wives and seven concubines perished with Maharaja Ranjit Singh. This custom was also common in the small suburb of Nagar in Kulu. There are many sati monuments there, one containing as many as 70 names. Col Tod records that 84 women died with the Raja of Bundi and 64 with Maharaja Ajit Singh of Marwar.