A Hindu Suttee

The Hindu custom of suttee, the widow sacrificing herself by climbing onto the funeral pyre of her deceased husband, fascinated the British in India, causing both revulsion and horror but also a certain romantic admiration for this supreme act of fidelity. This practice was one of the most controversial and emotional issues of the early-19th century in India. In 1832 Lord Bentinck succeeded in having a bill passed that outlawed suttee.