Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231156332
- eISBN:
- 9780231526609
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231156332.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
Before the passage of the Hindu Widow's Re-marriage Act of 1856, Hindu tradition required a woman to live as a virtual outcast after her husband's death. Widows were expected to shave their heads, ...
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Before the passage of the Hindu Widow's Re-marriage Act of 1856, Hindu tradition required a woman to live as a virtual outcast after her husband's death. Widows were expected to shave their heads, discard their jewelry, live in seclusion, and undergo regular acts of penance. This book's author was the first Indian intellectual to argue successfully against these strictures. The author was a leading proponent of widow marriage in colonial India, urging his contemporaries to reject a ban that caused countless women to suffer needlessly. The author's strategy paired a rereading of Hindu scripture with an emotional plea on behalf of the widow, resulting in an organic reimagining of Hindu law and custom. This text is one of the most important nineteenth-century treatises on Indian social reform.Less
Before the passage of the Hindu Widow's Re-marriage Act of 1856, Hindu tradition required a woman to live as a virtual outcast after her husband's death. Widows were expected to shave their heads, discard their jewelry, live in seclusion, and undergo regular acts of penance. This book's author was the first Indian intellectual to argue successfully against these strictures. The author was a leading proponent of widow marriage in colonial India, urging his contemporaries to reject a ban that caused countless women to suffer needlessly. The author's strategy paired a rereading of Hindu scripture with an emotional plea on behalf of the widow, resulting in an organic reimagining of Hindu law and custom. This text is one of the most important nineteenth-century treatises on Indian social reform.
