Sati ( Widow burning on husbands pyre)is nowadays an anachronic word and people know it by passing as it is no longer the practice in India. A few persons have gone on record and said that Sati originated during Muslim rule. This is a fallacy it was not Sati but Jauhar that originated during the invasion of the Muslims and in battles with the Mughals. The encyclopaedia Britannica and Wikipedia confirm that records of Sati are available from 3CE. In 326CE when Alexander invaded India there is mention of Sati by his historian who accompanied him. Thus Sati is over 2500 year old and NO Hindu king attempted to stop it. There is only one instance when Aurangzeb shocked by this barbaric practice issued a Firman in 1664 outlawing it but it died with his death. However I will say that practice of Sati was more of a North and East India factor and in the South it was a rarity.
The British were the only power to effectively stamp out this evil and this happened with the support of Raja Ram Roy. I will quote" Thus on Sunday morning of 4 December 1829 Lord Bentinck issued Regulation XVII declaring Sati to be illegal and punishable in criminal courts. It was presented to William Carey for translation. His response is recorded as follows: “Springing to his feet and throwing off his black coat he cried, 'No church for me to-day... If I delay an hour to translate and publish this, many a widow’s life may be sacrificed,' he said. By evening the task was finished.
This is one instance that transformed India and to deny the English this credit is not history.Sadly the Sikhs also indulged in it and the 5 queens of Maharajah Ranjit Singh were forced to commit Sati in 1840. What a terrible time it would have been to live in the Sikh empire as in other Indian kingdoms in North India. Muslims' relished this and used it to covert lower caste and sane Hindus to Islam. I invite readers to comment on this.
