Sati

This chapter examines the history of the traditional Hindu practice of widow self-immolation, commonly known as sati, which is one of the mostly widely known and discussed forms of ritual suicide in world religions. The chapter begins by briefly placing sati within the context of other historically practiced forms of “following into death” (in German, Totenfolge), and discussing those features of sati that make it unique among these practices. Then, in three separate sections, it provides an account of the earliest surviving sources on sati, which likely date as far back as the fourth century BCE; outlines an important medieval debate on the validity of the practice that took place within the orthodox Hindu legal tradition known as Dharmaśāstra; and, lastly, notes some major later developments regarding sati, including especially its legal prohibition by the British colonial government in India in 1829.