History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c32.40

v2.c32.40

¹⁴⁸⁷ Thomson in his book on 'Suttee' (pp. 69, 72) gives the figures for *satīs* reported from the Bengal Presidency (which then included Bihar and extended up to Benares) during 1815-1828. The lowest figure was 378 in 1815 and the highest 839 in 1818. Out of the total of 2366 cases during the four years 1815-1818, the Calcutta division alone contributed 1485, the Benares division, the seat of orthodoxy, contributed only 343. Vide H. H. Wilson's 'History of India' (ed. of 1858), vol. III (for 1805-1835 A. D.), pp 185-192. At p. 189 a table of the number of *satīs* for 1815-1828 is given, from which it appears that in 1828 there were 463 cases of *satīs* out of whom 420 came from Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, out of which 287 were from the Calcutta division alone.