Random Sad Facts About the Hindu Custom Sati, in Which Women Practice Self-Immolation (10 items)

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  (#1) At Its Peak, Several Thousand Widows a Year Burned Themselves to Death

  Sati has long been associated with India, primarily on the basis that it was the last place commonly or visibly practiced. But India was hardly the first or only culture to engage in this sort of ritual. You can find instances of widow sacrifice all the way from Korea through Norse Viking country, down to Mesoamerican Aztecs and Incans. Some say it's still practiced quietly in China and Vietnam — though in truth, you won't find many corners of the world where widow suicide doesn't happen on a somewhat regular basis.

  Still, not quite as regular as public burnings were in India at one point. It's estimated that at the peak of sati's popularity in the 15th-18th centuries, several thousand widows a year burned themselves on their husbands funeral pyres. 
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  (#2) Some Women Intentionally Poisoned or Otherwise Knocked Themselves out Beforehand

  The iconic image of sati is that of a woman climbing onto her husband's funeral pyre or being set afire with it. Certainly, this did happen, at least as recently as the 18th century. However, a woman could also choose a less painful method, and be placed on the pyre or buried with her husband afterward. Poison or drug overdose was often the first choice, though in some cases they would administer just enough to make the woman comatose. She would be "burned alive," but not while awake. Other times, she might opt for a snakebite or a blade to the wrists or throat before burning.  
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  (#3) Pregnant Women Weren't Allowed to Do It

  There have always been rules surrounding sati and who could commit it. Women with young children to care for, or who were pregnant or menstruating, couldn't commit ritual suicide. This was seen as sacrificing the life of the child along with her own. Though again, there are some practical considerations here — not least of which being that a woman capable of bearing children may wish to re-marry at some point.  
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  (#4) A Widow Had the Option of Changing Her Mind (Even Though She'd Take a Hit in Karma Points)

  At no point, all the way up until death itself, was a woman absolutely committed to sati. Women who did commit it were said to have died virtuous and chaste, which is big deal in Hindu culture. A woman who dies chaste dies has much better karma and has a better chance of being re-born into a better life in the next cycle. Perhaps, even with her husband.

  This might be another part of the justification for Brahmin women—women of a higher caste—not committing sati. As Brahmin, they were already of the highest caste possible and stood to benefit nothing karmically from sati. In any case, any woman could opt out of sati at any point. Custom demanded that a male relative remain near her funeral pyre to pull her out, should she change her mind at the last possible moment.
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  (#5) Rich People Weren't Supposed to Do It

  Vijñāneśvara, an early Dharmaśāstric scholar writing about 1100 B.C.E., references Vedic injunctions against sati in terms of social class. He writes that a Brahmin woman (one of the highest social caste) shouldn't follow her husband into death. This might have something to do with the fact that Brahmins were leaders of the community, major landholders, and the death of two such people at the same time would throw things into disarray. It might also be a safeguard against children murdering their fathers for the inheritance. Then again, it may just be a case of the upper class saying to the lower class, "Yeah... that's not for us."
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  (#6) It Was Practiced Before Recorded History

  Our best records date the concept of sati at least as far back as the Vedic Age (1500 B.C.E.). Even then, sati is spoken of largely in the past tense. Estimates say it had been practiced for at least 500 years prior — about 2000 B.C.E. That would make the practice of sati at least as old as the earliest recorded history in Asia, and probably at least as old as Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. Nobody knows exactly how old the practice of sati is, because even our oldest texts mention it in the past tense.  
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  (#7) Sati May Have Influenced the Vikings and Inspired Catholic Witch Burnings

  This connection has been made by many, but remains unproven in terms of documentation. Around the time that witch burnings became a thing in Medieval Europe, Christian culture was already well-aware of the practices of heathen Vikings and Hindus. The practice of burning witches descends directly from Viking funerary rituals, in which a king's widow or female thrall would be burned alive with her lord. No one knows precisely where this custom came from, but it is known that Vikings traded heavily throughout Central Asia with Persians and Hindus. It is fairly likely that the Vikings adopted the custom of sati from their trading partners, as it fit nicely with their own social structure and mythology. When the Church began to execute "brides of the Devil," it seemed only natural they should burn them as those brides of pagan kings burned.  
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  (#8) It's Named for the Goddess Sati, Who Burned Herself Alive

  Sati was the wife of Shiva the Destroyer. She was herself a powerful goddess, having power over all heat and energy, including lighting and thunder. Sati agreed to be born to Earth when a king and queen who couldn't have children came to her, and begged her to be born through them. Sati agreed on the condition that if she were ever to be insulted, she would assume her terrifying celestial form of Adishakti and destroy them all. 

  
  When Sati met Shiva the Destroyer in his Earthly form, her father the King disapproved. She married Shiva anyway, leading to an argument between herself and her father. In her rage, Sati assumed her celestial form (Adishakti). All the gods and Earth trembled as Adishakti rained down fire and destruction. Unfortunately, her own Earthly body of Sati was consumed and burned by Adishakti's radiance. Adishakti, seeing she had no way to return to Shiva, turned her power on herself, and burned herself alive in devotion to him. 

  
  But at least the story has a happy ending. Because then, Shiva the Destroyer went out and killed lots and lots of people. Including his in-laws. Then he brought everyone back to life, but replaced the King's head with that of a goat. Sati went on to become the goddess of marital fidelity and longevity, was later reincarnated as Parvati, and found Shiva on Earth again. They remain together to this day. And the King is still a goat. 
   
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  (#9) It's Been Controversial for a Very Long Time

  It's probably fair to say that the vast majority of Hindus now are less than supportive of sati. But Hindus have never completely supported it. First, because suicide is prohibited by the Hindu religion, instantly gaining one bad karma and sentencing one to become a unappealing in the next life. It was also previously banned by the Vedic tradition Hindus draw from, but saw a sort of revival around the 10th Century. The 12th Century Virashaiva movement sought to outlaw it completely. When the British finally did outlaw sati in India in 1861, it was largely by request of the locals. It was long in coming, as well. According to one census taken in 1829, approximately 600 acts of sati were still performed every year.   
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  (#10) You Were Probably Alive When India Made Sati Illegal

  ...As long as you were born before 1989. In 1988, the Indian Parliament finally adopted the Sati (Prevention) Act, which once and for all put out the embers of burning widows on the subcontinent. This act not only prohibited sati itself, but severely criminalized any type of aiding, abetting or glorifying of the act. It may seem strange that India took so long to finally outlaw sati, especially considering the fact that it had already been outlawed 120 years before. But that was under British colonial rule, and India only gained its independence in 1947. True, 41 years is a good bit of time to wait to outlaw the burning of wives. But then again, it took America more than 200 years to outlaw the beating of wives and burning of witches. Always good to keep things in perspective.  

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