Streynsham Master
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Sir Streynsham Master was an English colonial administrator who was one of the 17th-century pioneers of the English East India Company. He served as the Agent of Madras from 27 January 1678 to 3 July
Charles d' Agar Sir Streynsham Master NPG 6107 National Portrait Gallery
Sati (practice)
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Sati or suttee is a chiefly historical Hindu practice in which a widow burns alive on her deceased husband's funeral pyre, either voluntarily, by coercion, or by a perception of the lack of satisfacto
Streynsham Master
…Madras from 27 January 1678 to 3 July 1681, and is credited with having introduced the first administrative reforms in the Madras Government. He banned sati and prohibited the burning of a Hindu widow in 1680 in what is the first official British response to sati. He made English the sole official language…
Aquatint from the early 19th century purporting to show ritual preparation for the immolation of a Hindu widow—shown in a white sari near the water—on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband.
The Sati of Ramabai, wife of Peshwa Madhavrao I in 1772
Orchha Sati Shrine
The Eran inscription of Goparaja is considered as the earliest known Sati stone in India (circa 510 CE). The inscription explains: he "went to heaven, becoming equal to Indra, the best of the gods; and [his] devoted, attached, beloved, and beauteous wife, clinging [to him], entered into the mass of fire (funeral pyre)".