Editing Death by burning (section)

===Indian widow burning===
{{main|Sati (practice)|l1=Sati}}
[[File:A Hindoo Widow Burning Herself with the Corpse of her Husband.jpg|thumb|A [[Hindu]] widow burning herself with the corpse of her husband, 1820s]]
[[File:Burning of a Widow.jpg|thumb|''Ceremony of Burning a Hindu Widow with the Body of her Late Husband'', from ''Pictorial History of China and India'', 1851]]

''Sati'' refers to a [[funeral]] practice among some communities of [[Indian subcontinent]] in which a recently widowed woman [[Self-immolation|immolates herself]] on her husband's [[funeral pyre]]. The first reliable evidence for the practice of ''sati'' appears from the time of the [[Gupta Empire]] (400 AD), when instances of sati began to be marked by inscribed memorial stones.<ref name="Shastri">Shakuntala Rao Shastri, ''Women in the Sacred Laws''{{snd}}the later law books (1960), also reproduced online at [http://www.hindubooks.org/women_in_the_sacredlaws/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408222221/http://www.hindubooks.org/women_in_the_sacredlaws/|date=8 April 2014}}.</ref>

According to one model of history thinking, the practice of ''sati'' only became really widespread with the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim invasions of India]], and the practice of ''sati'' now acquired a new meaning as a means to preserve the honour of women whose men had been slain. As S. S. Sashi lays out the argument, "The argument is that the practice came into effect during the Islamic invasion of India, to protect their honor from Muslims who were known to commit mass rape on the women of cities that they could capture successfully."<ref>''Sashi'' (1996), p.115</ref> It is also said that according to the memorial stone evidence, the practice was carried out in appreciable numbers in western and southern parts of India, and even in some areas, during pre-Islamic times.<ref>For Yang's full discussion back and forth, see ''Yang, Sarkar, Sarkar'' (2008), [https://books.google.com/books?id=GEPYbuzOwcQC&pg=PA21 pp. 21–23]</ref> Some of the rulers and activists of the time sought actively to suppress the practice of ''sati''.<ref name="Columbia">S.M. ''Ikram, Embree'' (1964) [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/ikram/part2_17.html XVII. "Economic and Social Developments under the Mughals"] This page maintained by Prof. [[Frances Pritchett]], [[Columbia University]]</ref>

The [[East India Company]] began to compile statistics of the incidences of ''sati'' for all their domains from 1815 and onwards. The official statistics for [[Bengal]] represents that the practice was much more common here than elsewhere, recorded numbers typically in the range 500–600 per year, up to the year 1829, when Company authorities banned the practice.<ref>These statistics are further researched and discussed by other scholars, for their reliability (in particular, ''objections'' to that) and representation, see '''For detailed official statistical information 1815–1829''',''Yang, Sarkar, Sarkar'' (2008), [https://books.google.com/books?id=GEPYbuzOwcQC&pg=PA23 pp. 23–25] see pages 24 and 25 in particular, history behind them, p. 23</ref> Since the 19th and 20th centuries, the practice remains outlawed in the Indian subcontinent.

[[Jauhar]] was a practice among royal Hindu women to prevent capture by Muslim conquerors.

In [[Nepal]], the practice was not banned until 1920.<ref>''Mittra, Kumar'' (2004), [https://books.google.com/books?id=hYEQGam5hVgC&pg=PA200 p. 200]</ref>

The practice of burning widows has not been restricted to the Indian subcontinent; at [[Bali]], the practice was called ''masatia'' and, apparently, restricted to the burning of royal widows. This practice is probably resulted from the spread of Hindu culture into Southeast Asia. Although the Dutch colonial authorities had banned the practice, one such occasion is attested as late as in 1903, probably for the last time.<ref>For notice of estimate of last time, see ''Schulte Nordholt'' (2010), [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUVlAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA211 pp. 211–212, footnote 56] For estimate of restriction to royal widows, see ''Wiener'' (1995), [https://books.google.com/books?id=GE1uc1UNXNYC&pg=PA267 p. 267]</ref>