India`S Cries British Humanity

Front matter

A OTTTEE: OR, THE BURNING OF A HINDOO WIDOW WITH THE BODl'

INDIA’S CRIES

RELATIVE TO THE

Preface

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

The Author, during his residence in India, having wit¬ nessed the horrid rite of burning a widow with the body of her deceased husband, — the miseries of pilgrimage to the great Temple of Juggernaut in Orissa (the celebrity of which is increased by British regulation and support), — the exposure of the sick and the dead on the banks of the Ganges,— and other cruelties of Hindoism, has, since his return to his native country in 1826, laboured to diffuse information respecting these things and to urge the pro¬ priety and facility of their suppression. In prosecution of this object the Author has published two editions of a Pamphlet entitled The Suttees’ Cry to Britain two editions of Pilgrim Tax in India an edition of Ghaut Murders in India ;” and a small edition of Infanticide in India.’’ — The principal part of these Pamphlets have been put in circulation. Through the liberal exertions of nu¬ merous friends, a ‘C9nsklerable number have neen circulated gratuitously in this country, and also in the ^ different Pre¬ sidencies of India, among the various Functionaries of Government. To show the propriety of these exertions, and to encourage similar and extended efforts, the Author (though with much hesitation) is induced to refer to an ex¬ tract of a letter from the private Secretary of the present

* The Coventry Society for the abolition of Human Sacrifices in India has published an abridgment of this Pamphlet, entitled “ A Voice from. India.'’

IV

PREFACE.

Governor General of India, Lord W. Bentinck, dated Dec. 1828, acknowledging the receipt of the Suttee and Pilgrim Tax Pamphlets, which had been forwarded to his Lordship. — I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter to the Governor General, dated the 7th of April last. His Lordship desires me, at the same time, to present his best thanks for the copies of your Pamphlets which accompanied it ; and to assure you that the one on the Suttee question relates to a subject ’which has engaged his particular atten¬ tion/^^ In perfect accordance with these sentiments is the following notice, which, says a correspondent in India, in March, 1829, appears daily in the Papers : — “The Governor General invites the communication of all suggestions tend¬ ing to promote any branch of national industry ; to improve the commercial intercourse by land or water ; to amend the defects in the existing establishments; to encourage, the diffusion of education and useful knowledge; and to ad¬ vance the general prosperity and happiness of the British empire in India/’ Surely a brighter day has dawned on the East.

To this edition is added — ‘ The present State of In¬ fanticide and of Slavery in British India/ Upon these subjects but little correct information appears to be pos¬ sessed. A very general impression prevails that Infanticide is abolished ; and a late celebrated writer on India has stated — “ No slavery legally exists in the British territories at this moment with what surprise will the reader hear that there are two volumes of Parliamentary Papers on

* It appears that some steps have been taken by the Governor Ge¬ neral to abolish the Suttee. Mr. Smith, a Missionary at Benares, writes Feb. 13,1829 : — " Went out by the river side and conversed with a num¬ ber of Brahrauns on religious subjects, and also brought in the order respecting the prohibition of Suttees. On hearing which, a Brahmun exclaimed, “ What has Government now arisen from sleep ? So many years has this cruel ■practice been carried on, and has compassion at last entered into their breasts ? They ought to have prevented this horrid practice many years -ago,” “It astonished me,” says Mr. S., “to. hear such expressions from a Hindoo.”' An interesting statement is also given by him, of this prohibitory order being read by the Daroga at Gqpee gur^, before more than 200 Brahmuns and pundits : after which, the whole listened to his preaching the gospel, and some individuals seemed to he much affected by it. “ The English,” say they, now ■wish to enlighten us.” (World Paper, Jan. 20, 1830.) Letters from Calcutta and Serampore, in July, do not mention this subject; and hence it is probable that the measure is of a limited nature* The feet, as an eiTvenmentf is peculiarly encouraging.

PREPACK.

V

Infanticide, and that a very voluminous collection of Papers, of nearly 1,000 folio pages, on Slavery in India, were ordered to be printed by the Hon. House of Commons, Mar. 12, 1828.” — From these valuable documents full and accurate information may be procured.

For the Parliamentary Papers on the Burning of Hindoo Widows, which now contain six volumes, and the Papers relative to Infanticide, the Temple of Juggernaut and Slavery in India, the Author is under the highest obligation to T. F. Buxton, Esq., M.P,, and to W. Smith, Esq., M. P. If this volume contain information of a nature calculated to promote the welfare of British India, it is chiefly to be attributed to the important materials supplied by these valuable Papers. The Author’s labour, in a considerable part of the work, has been little more than selection and arrangement ; and, without such important materials, he should never have presumed to publish upon the diiSerent topics discussed in these pages- The necessity of circulat¬ ing information respecting the state of India, for the pur¬ pose of promoting the abolition of the cruelties of heathenism , appears evident. Shall superstition be suffered to issue her decrees, from year to year, and from age to age, against the lives of poor defenceless and disconsolate widows (and, it may be added, of female infants, pilgrims, and the sick ex¬ posed by the* Ganges), — hundreds of whom are annually sacrificed to its relentless cruelty, and yet no voice be lifted up on their behalf? Then where are human sym¬ pathies ? and what are nature’s claims ? But no : humanity can refrain no longer, A cry has at length been raised for the daughters of sorrow on the plains of India. It has reached the British Isle and reverberated from her shores : it has sounded in the ears of her Legislature : — it is heard in the midst of our city : — it is a loud and bitter cry !”

It is hoped that this revised, uniform, and enlarged edition, of the various piercing plaints of India to British humanity, will be encouraged by a humane and liberal public. The infatuated Suttee,- — the murdered female Infant, — the perishing Pilgrim (allured to the shrines of Idolatry, ren¬ dered more celebrated by British connexion and support), — the sick exposed by the Ganges, — and the degraded Slave, present their cry to Britain ; and shall not that cry be heard and reiterated, from “ Dan to Beersheba,” till the Senate and the Throne hear, and feel, and redress their wrongs ? — ‘“The continued sanction of these enormities is one of those

Vi

PREFACE.

7iattonal delinque^icies which press like an incubus^ with mioleralle weight, on the propriety and stability of our country ; while it opposes an almost insurmountable barrier to the’^free progress of the gospel,” (Mis. Reg. Aug. 1929.) The proceeds of the editions of those parts of the volume which have been published in Pamphets, have been devoted - to gratuitous circulation and missionary exertions in India. The profits of this edition are to be devoted to liquidate the debt on the Sabbath School Rooms belonging to the Author's friends in Coventry. It is a source of the highest gratification to him, still to labour for the welfare of the millions of India ; and the promotion of this great object, in connexion with those of a more local nature in Britain, is peculiarly grateful to the writer's feelings. With great diffidence, and humble dependence on Divine Providence, this work is sent forth into the world. May the Father of the father¬ less and the Judge of the widow, even ‘‘ God in his holy habitation,” incline those who hold in their hands the des¬ tinies of India to regard ‘‘ India’s Cries to British Hu¬ manity and thus bring upon themselves the blessing of them that were ready to perish, and cause the widow’s heart to sing for joy.”

Coventry,

Charter House Leys»

Feb. 15, 1830.

CHAP. VII. Page

A collection of European and Native testimony to the posi¬ tion that the Suttee is not absolutely enjoined by the Hin¬ doo shastras:, and hence should be suppressed — methods proposed for its abolition — objections answered — con¬ cluding appeal - . . . 79

Chap. IV

The necessity and propriety of adopting measures for the en¬ tire and immediate abolition of Infanticide — decisive steps requisite — objections answered — facilities enjoyed for its abolition — concluding remarks - 184

BOOK. HI.

BRITISH CONNEXION WITH IDOLATRY.

Chap. I

Origin, nature, atrocity, and appalling scenes connected with the practice of exposing the sick on the banks of the Ganges . 303

CHAP. H.

The extent of the prevalence of this inhuman practice - 320

CHAP. TII.

The necessity and propriety of adopting measures for the prevention of these atrocities — utility of attending to the sick— confirmation of the statements — coficlumng re- Hiarks . 330

BOOK V.

SLAVERY.

CHAP. I.

Introductory remarks. Origin, nature, and evils of slavery in India . - . . 363

X

CONTENTS.

CHAP. IL

Page.

Nature and success of efibrts for the abolition of the Slave Trade in India — ^melioration of Slavery by the Hindoos, Mussulmans, French, Dutch, and British - - 404

Chap. III

The present state and extent of Slavery in Hindostan - - - - 428 CHAP. IV.

Methods proposed for the melioration and abolition of Slavery in India — answers to objections to its abolition arising' from the supposed kind treatment of slaves — the pre¬ servation of children and adults in famine by selling themselves for support — ^the indifference of the slaves to .emancipation — decreasing the population of an Island or District — ^Mahomedan prejudices prohibiting any others than slaves attending on their women, and that they can¬ not dispense with slaves, — and the interest of the slave owners and the Government — concluding remarks - - - 459

Appendix

Containing Humane Hints for the melioration of society in British India . . . . . . . 491

Reference to the Engravings.

The Suttee . . I

Burying a Widow alive - 77

Destruction and Preservation of Infants in India - 113

Juggernaut and his Brother and Sister - - 213

Car of Juggernaut - 250

Ganges Water Carrier — . 256

Human Sacrifice to Juggernaut . - . - 257

Temples of Bobuneswer - 259

Exposure of the Sick - 303

Relieving the Sick - - - 491

XI

EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS.

The Suttees’ Cur. — “We strongly recommend the perusal of Mr. Peggs’ Pamphlet, which, to the feeling testimony of an eye-witness of the horrible practice he describes, adds a mass of information, and documents of the most valuable and decisive nature.^^ — Eclec. Rev. June, 1827.

“ This interesting Pamphlet is every way deserving of serious perusal and extensive circulation. — Chris. Guardian, June. ‘

“ To this publication we solicit the attention of such readers as desire, to make themselves acquainted with the farther details of this important question’^ (the Suttee). — Orient. Her. May, 1829.

“ Mr. Peggs’ Appeal is forcible, but dispassionate ; and we hope that, in behalf of the widows in India, he will not plead in vain.^^ — hnp. Mag. July, 1827, and May, 1828.

A valuable collection of papers.” — Rvan. Mag. Aug. 1828.

“ The able Pamphlet before us contains much information, collected from the most authentic sources.” — Wes. Mag. June, 1827.

“ This excellent Pamphlet is evidently the result of much labour and research.” — Bap. Mag. June.

See also “Congregat. Mag.” Jan. 1828 — “Missionary Reg.,” “Asiatic Journal,” “ Sailors,” “ Part. Bap. Mag.,” “ Gen. Bap. Repos.,” 1827 —

The World Paper,” April, 1829.

British Connexion with Idolatry in India, — “ We earnestly re¬ commend the perusal of these facts and observations to the consideration of the Christian public.” — Eclec. Rev. March, 1828.

“ The Pilgrim Tax levied by the Indian Government on idolaters going on pilgrimages, whatever was its design, has had the acknowledged effect of sanctioning and legalizing this destructive and wicked supersti* tion. The Rev. J. Peggs, late a Missionary near the Temple of Jugger¬ naut, has recently published a Pamphlet, in which he has collected abundant testimony to the duty, facility, and advantages of the entire and immediate abandonment of this pernicious system.” — Mis. R^g. Feb.

“ This Pamphlet relates to a subject which appears to have received a. very inadequate share of public attention, and with the details of which, we suspect, many of the best informed and most influential members of society are very imperfectly acquainted. We cordially recommend it to the attention of our readers.” — Bap. Miscellany, Oct.

“ Great credit is due to the excellent Author of these two Pamphlets (the Suttees’ Cry and Pilgrim Tax), for the pains which he has taken in collecting information concerning some of the most cruel and destructive superstitions of India, and in presenting it to the British public in a cheap form. We know of no publications in the English . language, which, in so small a compass, contain so much information on these subjects, so interesting to every friend of humanity *and religion.” — Wes. Mag. May.

“ We believe that the Pamphlet before us is the only exposure of the system which has found its way through the press to the English public. We hope it will be widely circulated, and followed by others, in increas¬ ing number.'*, until the evil is at an end, and the disgrace wiped away,” — Month. Rep. Dec. 1829.

See also “ Congregat. Magazine,” Jan. and Feb.— “ Bap. Magazine,” “ Gen. Bap. Repository,” “ The World,” April, 1828.

Xll

Ghaut Murders in India. — “ We are sorry we have lost even an hour in introducing this cheap, important, and stirring Pamphlet to, the notice of our readers. We have gone through it with astonishment and shame; — astonishment, that a practice, like that on which this work principally treats, should be allowed by the British Government ; and shame, that Christians, so much alive to the very name of oppression in England, should not have arisen as one man to ^ appeal to British hu¬ manity and justice/ in the senate of our land. We implore Christians to make a determined effort on this subject; and we entreat Mr. Peggs to allow the Christian public no rest till the great object of his desires is accomplished.” — Bap. Mag. Apr. 1829.

If there be the least spark of benevolence yet alive in the breasts of Englishmen, this appeal will not be in vain. — The World, June.

See ‘^Irap. Mag.” April, ‘‘Gen. Bap. Rep.” Jan. 1829.

“ Infanticide. — ^The author has brought an abundance of matter into a small compass; by carefully selecting the best articles written on the subject, from the pens of those best qualified to treat of it, he has compiled a work which will be read with interest, by all who are not satirely indifferent to the interests of their fellow-creatures. He is evidently impressed with the magnitude and importance of the subject, and we sincerely hope he will not labour unsuccessfuly, in making it as evident to the minds of others.” — Ori. Quar. Itev. Jan. 1830.

Indians Cries to British Humanity (First Edition). — “This volume furnishes on this subject (the safety of the abolition of Suttees), and on the several, subjects to which its title-page refers, the most accurate and ample information. Mr. Peggs has entitled himself to the thanks of the British public for his reiterated appeals- We beseech our readers to acquaint themselves with his statements, and ' to let no opportunity be neglected of advancing his benevolent aim.” — Tlte World, July, 29, 1829.

“ These publications are the fruits of Mr. P.^s observation and reading, and demand attention from all who desire to free their country from the guilt of conniving at the atrocious practices therein exposed.” — Mis. Register, March.

“ A very interesting little work.” — X S. Buckingham, Esq.

“ The public are much indebted to Mr. P., for his enlightened and indefatigable labours in the cause of humanity. He has fairly made out his premises, that all the murderous customs now practised by the Hindoos, may he abolished with safety and honour to the British Government. We earnestly entreat our readers to peruse these Tracts. They are altogether resistless in their appeals.”— Emra. Mag. March, 1829.

“ Those who, like Mr. Peggs, furnish us with a faithful representation of facts, on which to ground our efforts for the melioration of fhe state of the Hindoos, deserve the thanks, not of India alone, but every friend of humanity in the country which governs India. For the zeal and industry with which this gentleman has been enabled to lay before the public so large a body of important, facts, and for the benevolence with which he has long laboured to redress the miseries of the heathen population of India, his Christian brethren, of every denomination, must feel deeply indebted to him. We hope that his exertions will result in success; and that his appeal, to the natural sympathies and benevolent principles of his countrymen, will not be unheard or disregarded.”— Rev- Bee. 1829.

See “ Asiatic Journal,” March, “ Imp. Mag.” May, 1829.

INDIA’S CRIES

TO

BOOK I.

SUTTEES.

Chapter I

Origin — nature — number — cause of principal prevalence in Bengal — and atrocity of Suttees.

Suttee is the name given in India to a woman who im¬ molates herself on the funeral pile of her husband, and denotes that the female is considered true or faithful to him, even unto death ; the term is also applied to the rite itsetf.

Diodorus Siculus, who twice refers to the practice of Suttee, in the 103rd and 106th Olympiad, or B. C. 327 and 314 years, supposes the practice to have originated in the unfaithfulness of the women to their husbands, and their taking them off by mixing deadly plants with their food. “ This wicked practice,” says he, increasing, and many falling victims to it, and the punishment of the guilty not serving to deter others from the commission of the crime, a law was passed, that wives should be burned with their deceased husbands, except such as were pregnant and had children ; and that any individual who refused to comply w^h this law should be compelled to remain a widow, and be for ever excluded from all rights and privileges, as guilty of impiety. This measure being adopted, it followed that the abominable disposition to which the wives were addicted was converted into an opposite feeling. For, in order to avoid that climax of disgrace, every wife being .obliged to die, they not only took all possible care of their husband’s safety, but emulated each other in promoting

B his glory and renown,”* * * § Strabo is of the same opinion.f Mandello, a German, who witnessed a Suttee at Cambay, in 1638, accounts for the rise of this singular custom in the same manner.^ It is possible that this practice may have originated in a mistaken idea of the import of the injunc*- tion of the shastra, addressed by the priest to the bride in marriage : Be thou the companion of thy husband in

life and in death — or from the following passage in the Rigvad: — Let those women, no longer widows, excellent wives, anointed with collyrium and ghee, enter, without tears, without complaints, excellent jewels, let them ascend before the source of beings ” It is supposed that these words are addressed to fire, as a god, and that they justify the burning of widows. They appear to recommend it, but not with that clearness which the importance of the case requires. Since their meaning is doubtful, it cannot be a good cause which rests upon them as its chief authority, particularly when there are other passages which afford a refuge from the extreme into which they lead.

The origin of the custom,” says an intelligent magis¬ trate in India, will most probably be found in the volun^ tary sacrifice of a widow inconsolable for the loss of her husband, and who resolved to accompany him on the funeral pile ; not with any idea that such an act could be acceptable to the gpds, or any way beneficial to herself in a future existence ; but solely because her affection for the deceased made her regard life as a burden no longer to be borne. The example of this heroine, if it remained the only incentive to Suttee, would have been rarely followed ; but it of course excited admiration as a novelty; and in a short time the Brahmuns began to perceive, that, if pro¬ perly managed. Suttee might be made a very productive source of emolument ;§ and the most esteemed authors of f Geogr. lib. xv. See Asiat. Journ. May, 1827.

t Asiat. Journ. Jan, 1823.

§ The expense of the Suttee “witnessed by the author at Cuttack, Aug. 19, 1824, was, according to the pundit, as follows ; — Ghee, three rupees ; cloth, one rupee ; woman's new cloth, two rupees and a half ; wood, three rupees; adawlut pundit, three rupees; the woman gave one rupee for some purpose ; rice, one anna; betel nut, two pice; flowers, one anna; cocoa, one anna; hemp, four annas; haldee, one antia; mateeanlet, chundun, doop, cocoa nut, one anna, one pice ; carrier, five annas; musicians, half a rupee ; paring nails, four annas; cutting wood,, three annas; total, fifteen rupees, five annas; three pice. Intended shradda (funeral feast), fifteen or twenty rupees." Thus thirty rupees

British Humanity.

Z the age were mduced to recommmend it as a most me¬ ritorious act, productive of good effects to the soul of the widow and her husband, and to those of the surviving members of their families : they also prescribed forms and ceremonies, in which the attendance of Brahmuns was of course indispensable. Menu, and the most ancient and respectable writers, do not notice Suttee; it was therefore, in their time, either unknown or not approved. If the former, how comes it to be recommended in the more mo¬ dern shasters, if the custom was not of the nature sup¬ posed? No modern lawgiver would have ventured to praise an act not mentioned by his predecessors, if an example had not occurred, and been received with universal praise, though a novelty and an innovation. If known, but not mentioned because not approved by Menu, the authority of the modern shaster is not sufficient to give any merit to the sacrifice. In the first case we do not find that the practice originated in the law, but that the law is the con¬ sequence of the practice; and that sacred authority is subsequently produced to enforce the merit of an act ori¬ ginating in the mortal feelings of affection, grief, despair, or some other passion of the mind, equally incapable of affording a hope that it would be acceptable in the eyes of the Deity It is a painful circumstance, that this bar¬ barous custom, which existed prior to the Christian era, should not, before this period, have been annihilated by the progress of civilization, and especially, the diffusion of the salutary influence of Christianity in the East.

Various detailed accounts of Suttees have been commu¬ nicated to the public through the periodical publications of Missionary Societies, the six volumes of Parliamentary Papers on Hindoo Immolations, and the Newspapers of the Presidencies in India. A few instances only of the nature of this inhuman rite are here given.

The Friend of India,’’ for September, 1824, published at Serampore, contains an account of a Suttee at Cuttack, in Orissa, which the author and some of his friends wit¬ nessed :

On Aug. 19, 1824, this place was defiled with innocent blood. About twelve o’clock the Judge sent a note to the Mission House, in-

(value 2s. 6d. at par) were expended. Occasionally considerable sums must he realized by the Brahmuns and their adherents^

* Par. Papers on the Immolation of Hindoo Widows, 1821^ vol. i. p. 231.

forming us of the intended Suttee. The woman was a Telinga, the wife of a Brahmun who died that morning about daybreak. Her reply to the several questions proposed to her through the Telinga interpreter was,

What have I any more to do with the world? I must go to my husband Support for life, and a conveyance to her own home, were offered, but they were rejected. From my pundit I have gathered some particulars which cast light upon this dreadful rite. He stated, that it is customary to lament the dead with crying and noise, but she did not ; saying, she was going to her husband. She said, she was a stranger and had nothing, and therefore desired the neighbours to provide what was necessary for a Suttee, She said also, that she had been a Suttee in three former births^ and must be so four times more^ and then she should attain endless felicity. Those who should dare to prevent her, by con¬ fining her in a house or jail, their seed should die, and they should descend into hell. Some approved of this, others said, that as she had no son nor daughter therefore she wished to die. To this she replied, she had a brother and sister, and in her own country many friends, but she wished to go to her husband. From joog to joog (age to age), in this manner, with the same husband, she was to be born and die.

“ About half-past three o'clock she proceeded to the pile. I was then too unwell to venture out. Mrs. P. saw her on the way and talked with her. About six o’clock in the evening I went to the spot, expecting the tragical business to be closed. I was, however, surprised to find nothing more done than the pile partly prepared. The Judge and three other gentlemen, with some Of our English congregation, were present, and a great number of Natives. Frequent and persevering efforts were made by the above gentlemen to dissuade her from her purpose, assisted by the members of the Mission who were present. She was sitting near the pile with the corpse of her husband covered with a cloth lying near her. I knew two Telinga Brahmuns present, and, taking them, endea¬ voured to speak to the woman. I told her I was a Padree; that God had sent me and others to teach the people the true Incarnation, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins : that if she would go with me to my house she would be able to learn this knowledge ; and that I would send her in a palkee to her own countiy : but if she ate fire and died now, how could she gain this knowledge, without which she could not be saved ? I told her, thus to destroy herself was not God's will. I fear my translators were not faithful ; but all the poor woman said was, ' Narayun, Na- Irayun,’ This she repeated with a stupidity of mind truly mdescrihable. Mr. B., -one of the gentlemen present, was desirous to convince her, by some ordeal, that she could not bum; but the infatuated woman played with a piece of fire like a child, though when her hand was pressed upon a coal sheshowed no resolution. He lifted up one of bet eye-lids, and aiHrmed that she was intoxicated. This was stated to the Judge, and urged as asuflScient reason to forbid the horrid murder; but he thought it wanted evidence, and hesitated to use his authority to save her. The pile, which was slowly preparing, was about eight feet long, four feet wide, and about two feet high. At each corner was a piece of wood which supported the roof; three sides of the pile were blocked up. Baw flax was laid on the wood, upon which the corpse was placed. Ghee was forbidden to be put on the pile by the Judge, that the woman might have the opportunity to escape, by feeling the effects of the fire gradually: a practice which, if the Suttee were always, according to

BriUsh Humanity.

Micient custom, to ascend the funeral pile while burning,, or if, previous to its being lighted, she were left unbound and unincumbered, might pre¬ vent the shedding of much innocent blood. As she had, been touched by several persons aft^r her first bathing, she went to the river 'and bathed again. I saw her enter the pile as a person would get. into bed, and lay herself down by the left side of her husband and farthest from the en¬ trance of the pile. The wood under the corpse, after a short time, burned fiercely ; and it was horrible to see it consutningj the head and elevated stiffened hand of the deceased, while the poor woman was scarcely touched by the devouring element. I stopped about a quarter of an hour, hoping the unhappy sufferer might labour to escape ; but, alas ! no signs of it appeared ; and, after viewing the burning of the dead and the living, till my feelings and concern for my health determined me to go away, I left the horrid circle and hastened home. All such out¬ rages upon the principles of society are unnatural and inhuman, and, when said to be from religious motives, a species of insanity; and hence may properly be suppressed by the powerful voice of reason and authority. When shall these murders cease ? Where does the salutary godlike power lie, or from what quarter will it originate to abolish them