The letter of the Collector and the reply thereto typify the early official attitude on the question. When aLord Wellesley similar letter was written by the Magistrate of the Bihar district in 1805, Lord Wellesley referred it to the Court of Nizamat Adalat.
On the basis of the replies received, the Government framed regulations on the subject in 1812 and supplemented them by others in 1815 and 1817. The net result of these regulations was to prevent the burning of widows who were either of tender age, or were pregnant or had infant children. They also made it criminal to compel a woman to burn herself or to drug or intoxicate her for that purpose.
These regulations bore but little fruit and reliable evidence shows that in the districts round Calcutta alone the number of “Satis” averaged more than five hundred each year. British officials were never tired of urging upon the attention of the Government the necessity of abolishing the practice altogether. The Government, however, was unable to take its courage in both hands and preferred to rely upon the gradual enlightenment of Indian opinion for the ultimate abolition of the practice.
The signs of this progressive spirit were not lacking. Thanks to the unwearied efforts of Raja Rammohan Roy, enlightened Indian opinion gradually asserted itself. When the orthodox Hindus protested against the regulations of 1817 and sent a petition to the Government for their repeal, a counter-petition was submitted by the Raja and his coadjutors. After describing the horrors of the “Suttee” in vivid terms, they declared that ” all these instances are murders, according to every Shastra as well as to the common sense of all nations”. To educate public opinion Raja Rammohan wrote a pamphlet on the subject and organized a vigilance committee in order to ensure that the Government regulations were followed in each instance. The Raja was bitterly opposed by orthodox Hindus under the leadership of Raja Radha Kanta Deb. Feelings at last ran so high that even Raja Rammohan’s life was threatened.
When things had reached this acute stage, Lord William Bentinck was appointed Governor-General and was instructed by the Home authorities to consider definite measures for the immediate or gradual abolition of Sati. After carefully studying the situation he decided to abolish it immediately. His zeal for reform was not shared by many. Even Raja Rammohan advised caution, believing that immediate abolition might cause great discontent and excite- ment. Bentinck’s ardent desires for reform, however, brooked no delay. On 4th December, 1829, was passed the famous Regulation XVII which declared Sati illegal and punishable by courts. Not only the persons who used inducement or compulsion of any kind, but, even those who were associated in any way with the voluntary act of a Sati were to be regarded as criminals.
As expected, Bentinck’s measures evoked loud protest. A largely-signed petition of remonstrance was presented to the Governor-General, and an appeal was made to the authorities in England. To counteract these measures Raja Rammohan sent a congratulatory petition to the Governor-General, signed by 300 residents of Calcutta. One of the reasons which induced him to visit England was to thwart any attempt to have the new Regulation repealed by the Privy Council. Rammohan’s attempts were crowned with success. The new Regulation was upheld by the Home authorities and thus the inhuman practice was at last definitely brought to an end. Bentinck’s efforts were nobly supplemented by the first Lord Hardinge, who was mainly instrumental in suppressing Sati and infanticide in the Indian States.
Another great reform standing to the credit of Lord William Bentinck is the suppression of the organized bands of Thugs. These secret assemblages of criminals had peculiar modes of initiating their members, who, travelling in disguise, murdered helpless travellers, mostly by strangulation with a handkerchief or scarf used as a noose. Although the members were recruited from both Hindus and Muslims, the Thugs were reputed to be devotees of the goddess Kali, and carried on their heinous trade of murder under the mistaken belief that it had the sanction of the goddess. The organisation spread almost all over India and there are reasons to believe that they secured active help from certain chiefs, landholders and merchants. Sir William Sleeman and a number of able officers were specially selected to crush the organisation, and Bentinck passed a series of special Acts to regulate their proceedings. More than three thousand Thugs were caught during 1831-1837, and as a result of these vigorous measures India was soon rid of this great scourge.
A momentous reform, which created, however, very little sensation, was the abolition of slavery by Act V of 1843. Contrary to the general popular belief, slavery was a very ancient institution in this country, and even in 1843 ” there were many millions of slaves in India”. Still the Act which “refused to recognise slavery as a legal status” and thereby automatically set the slaves free without any compensation to the owners provoked neither opposition nor excitement. This is an evidence of the high moral tone infused by Western education and liberal English tradition. The abolition of State lotteries in the Presidency towns about the same time furnishes one more instance of the liberal spirit that actuated the Government of the day. An attempt was made to justify them on the ground that the proceeds were spent on local improvements, but the serious objection to the practice on moral grounds prevailed against any idea of pecuniary gain.
To the first Lord Hardinge’s Government belongs, the credit of taking steps to stop the human sacrifices practised by the Khonds in Orissa under the erroneous belief that thereby the fertility of the land was increased. Although the results achieved during Hardinge’s Governor-Generalship were not very satisfactory, the cruel and atrocious practices were definitely stamped out by the energetic efforts of Campbell and other officers specially appointed for the purpose during 1847 to 1854.
