Self-determined Sacrifices? Victimhood and Volition in British Constructions of Sati in the Rajput States, 1830-60
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2155916 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrea Major (0000-0003-0304-6365, Russian State Agrarian Correspondence University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 313-325 |
| Publication date | 2006-12-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History and Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0275-7206 • E-ISSN: 1477-2612 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02757200600914144 |
| OpenAlex | W1986870010 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 6 |
During their encounter with sati in early nineteenth century Bengal, the British constructed an image of the Hindu widow who burned on her husband’s funeral pyre as a passive victim of a barbaric oriental practice. The imagery that they produced, which denied the widow both agency and rational engagement with the processes of sati, remains influential today and has led to those who oppose sati in the present being accused of adopting “western” attitudes. Yet this was not the only interpretation of sati to emerge from the colonial encounter. When the British experienced sati in the alternate context of the Rajput States (1830–60) their understanding of it changed subtly, as the widow was increasingly depicted as self‐determined—the perpetrator rather than the victim of sati. This article explores these shifts in British understanding, and asks what implications this alternate colonial interpretation might have for discourses on sati in contemporary India
Agency (philosophy · Archaeology · BENGAL · Colonialism · Context (archaeology · Hinduism · Interpretation (philosophy · Political science · Social science · Sociology · History · Law · Literature: history, themes, analysis · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philippine History and Culture · Philosophy · Religious studies · Religious Studies
| Citations per year | 0.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2014 - 2024 (11) |
| Highly cited | No |