Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 - Revision history

Rrajani: cleanup

2025-09-09T22:45:05Z

cleanup

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:15, 10 September 2025
Line 9:		Line 9:
	\| status = repealed		\| status = repealed
	}}		}}
	The ''' Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act 1856''', also '''Act XV, 1856''', passed on 16 July 1856, legalised the [[remarriage]] of [[widows]] in all jurisdictions of [[Company rule in India\|India under East India Company rule]].The act was enacted on 26 July 1856.<ref name=carroll-2008-p78/> It was drafted by [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie\|Lord Dalhousie]] and passed by [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning\|Lord Canning]] before the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. It was the first major social reform legislation after the abolition of [[Sati (practice)\|sati]] pratha in 1829 by [[Lord William Bentinck]].<ref name="Hate1948">{{cite book\|author=Chandrakala Anandrao Hate\|title=Woman and Her Future\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9igmAAAAMAAJ\|access-date=16 December 2018\|year=1948\|publisher=New Book Company\|page=156}}</ref><ref name="Carson2012">{{cite book\|author=Penelope Carson\|title=The East India Company and Religion, 1698-1858\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPZXXar1hiQC&pg=PA225\|year=2012\|publisher=Boydell Press\|isbn=978-1-84383-732-9\|pages=225–}}</ref><ref name="Sunthankar1988">{{cite book\|author=B. R. Sunthankar\|title=Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818-1857\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SoNuAAAAMAAJ\|access-date=16 December 2018\|year=1988\|publisher=Shubhada-Saraswat Prakashan\|isbn=978-81-85239-50-7\|page=522}}</ref><ref name="Tarique">{{cite book\|author=Mohammad Tarique\|title=Modern Indian History\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DR2oAQAAQBAJ&pg=SA4-PA2\|access-date=17 December 2018\|publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education\|isbn=978-0-07-066030-4\|pages=4–}}</ref><ref name="Riddick2006">{{cite book\|author=John F. Riddick\|title=The History of British India: A Chronology\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Es6x4u_g19UC&pg=PA53\|access-date=17 December 2018\|year=2006\|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group\|isbn=978-0-313-32280-8\|pages=53–}}</ref><ref name="Sen2002">{{cite book\|author=Indrani Sen\|title=Woman and Empire: Representations in the Writings of British India, 1858-1900\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uF1j0ZME1tcC&pg=PA124\|year=2002\|publisher=Orient Blackswan\|isbn=978-81-250-2111-7\|pages=124–}}</ref>		The ''' Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act 1856''', also '''Act XV, 1856''', passed on 16 July 1856, legalised the [[remarriage]] of [[widows]] in all jurisdictions of [[Company rule in India\|India under East India Company rule]]. The act was enacted on 26 July 1856.<ref name=carroll-2008-p78/> It was drafted by [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie\|Lord Dalhousie]] and passed by [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning\|Lord Canning]] before the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. It was the first major social reform legislation after the abolition of [[Sati (practice)\|sati]] pratha in 1829 by [[Lord William Bentinck]].<ref name="Hate1948">{{cite book\|author=Chandrakala Anandrao Hate\|title=Woman and Her Future\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9igmAAAAMAAJ\|access-date=16 December 2018\|year=1948\|publisher=New Book Company\|page=156}}</ref><ref name="Carson2012">{{cite book\|author=Penelope Carson\|title=The East India Company and Religion, 1698-1858\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPZXXar1hiQC&pg=PA225\|year=2012\|publisher=Boydell Press\|isbn=978-1-84383-732-9\|pages=225–}}</ref><ref name="Sunthankar1988">{{cite book\|author=B. R. Sunthankar\|title=Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818-1857\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SoNuAAAAMAAJ\|access-date=16 December 2018\|year=1988\|publisher=Shubhada-Saraswat Prakashan\|isbn=978-81-85239-50-7\|page=522}}</ref><ref name="Tarique">{{cite book\|author=Mohammad Tarique\|title=Modern Indian History\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DR2oAQAAQBAJ&pg=SA4-PA2\|access-date=17 December 2018\|publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education\|isbn=978-0-07-066030-4\|pages=4–}}</ref><ref name="Riddick2006">{{cite book\|author=John F. Riddick\|title=The History of British India: A Chronology\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Es6x4u_g19UC&pg=PA53\|access-date=17 December 2018\|year=2006\|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group\|isbn=978-0-313-32280-8\|pages=53–}}</ref><ref name="Sen2002">{{cite book\|author=Indrani Sen\|title=Woman and Empire: Representations in the Writings of British India, 1858-1900\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uF1j0ZME1tcC&pg=PA124\|year=2002\|publisher=Orient Blackswan\|isbn=978-81-250-2111-7\|pages=124–}}</ref>

	To protect what it considered family honour and family property, [[Varna (Hinduism)\|Hindu society]] had long disallowed the remarriage of widows, even [[Child marriage in India\|child and adolescent ones]], all of whom were expected to live a life of austerity and abnegation.<ref name=peers-2006-pp52-53>{{Harvnb\|Peers\|2006\|pp=52–53}}</ref> The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856,<ref name="ForbesForbes1999">{{Harvnb\|Forbes\|1999\|p=23}}</ref> provided legal safeguards against loss of certain forms of inheritance for remarrying a Hindu widow,<ref name=peers-2006-pp52-53/> though, under the Act, the widow forsook any inheritance due her from her deceased husband.<ref name=carroll-2008-p80/> Especially targeted in the act were child widows whose husbands had died before [[consummation]] of marriage.		To protect what it considered family honour and family property, [[Varna (Hinduism)\|Hindu society]] had long disallowed the remarriage of widows, even [[Child marriage in India\|child and adolescent ones]], all of whom were expected to live a life of austerity and abnegation.<ref name=peers-2006-pp52-53>{{Harvnb\|Peers\|2006\|pp=52–53}}</ref> The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856,<ref name="ForbesForbes1999">{{Harvnb\|Forbes\|1999\|p=23}}</ref> provided legal safeguards against loss of certain forms of inheritance for remarrying a Hindu widow,<ref name=peers-2006-pp52-53/> though, under the Act, the widow forsook any inheritance due her from her deceased husband.<ref name=carroll-2008-p80/> Especially targeted in the act were child widows whose husbands had died before [[consummation]] of marriage.

	[[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar]] was the most prominent campaigner. He petitioned the Legislative council,<ref name="Chakraborty2003">		[[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar]] was the most prominent campaigner. He petitioned the Legislative council,<ref name="Chakraborty2003">
	Is war Chandra was supported in this by many wise and elite gentlemen of the society and the first signatory on his application to the then Governor General was Shri Kasinath Dutta, belonging to the Hatkhola Dutta lineage,{{Harvnb\|Chakraborty\|2003\|p=125}}</ref> but there was a counter petition against the proposal with nearly four times more signatures by [[Radhakanta Deb]] and the [[Dharma Sabha]].<ref>{{cite journal \| title=THE REVOLUTION BEHIND THE REVOLT (A comparative study of the causes of the 1857 uprising) \| author=H. R. Ghosal \| journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress \| year=1957 \| volume=20 \| pages=293–305\|jstor = 44304480}}</ref><ref name="Asthana1974">{{cite book\|author=Pratima Asthana\|title=Women's Movement in India\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxAqAAAAYAAJ\|access-date=17 December 2018\|year=1974\|publisher=Vikas Publishing House\|isbn=978-0-7069-0333-1\|page=22}}</ref> But [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie\|Lord Dalhousie]] personally finalised the bill despite the opposition and it being considered a flagrant breach of customs as prevalent then.<ref name="Gupta2015">{{cite book\|author=Amit Kumar Gupta\|title=Nineteenth-Century Colonialism and the Great Indian Revolt\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yt6oCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT30\|access-date=17 December 2018\|date=5 October 2015\|publisher=Taylor & Francis\|isbn=978-1-317-38668-1\|pages=30–}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal \| title=A Wind of Change: The New British Colonial Policy in Post-Revolt India \| author=Belkacem Belmekki \| journal=AEDEAN: Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-americanos \| year=2008 \| volume=2 \|issue = 2\| pages=111–124\|jstor = 41055330}}</ref>		Is war Chandra was supported in this by many wise and elite gentlemen of the society and the first signatory on his application to the then Governor General was Shri Kasinath Dutta, belonging to the Hatkhola Dutta lineage,{{Harvnb\|Chakraborty\|2003\|p=125}}</ref> but there was a counter petition against the proposal with nearly four times more signatures by [[Radhakanta Deb]] and the [[Dharma Sabha]].<ref>{{cite journal \| title=THE REVOLUTION BEHIND THE REVOLT (A comparative study of the causes of the 1857 uprising) \| author=H. R. Ghosal \| journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress \| year=1957 \| volume=20 \| pages=293–305\|jstor = 44304480}}</ref><ref name="Asthana1974">{{cite book\|author=Pratima Asthana\|title=Women's Movement in India\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxAqAAAAYAAJ\|access-date=17 December 2018\|year=1974\|publisher=Vikas Publishing House\|isbn=978-0-7069-0333-1\|page=22}}</ref> But [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie\|Lord Dalhousie]] personally finalised the bill despite the opposition and it being considered a flagrant breach of customs as prevalent then.<ref name="Gupta2015">{{cite book\|author=Amit Kumar Gupta\|title=Nineteenth-Century Colonialism and the Great Indian Revolt\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yt6oCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT30\|access-date=17 December 2018\|date=5 October 2015\|publisher=Taylor & Francis\|isbn=978-1-317-38668-1\|pages=30–}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal \| title=A Wind of Change: The New British Colonial Policy in Post-Revolt India \| author=Belkacem Belmekki \| journal=AEDEAN: Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-americanos \| year=2008 \| volume=2 \|issue = 2\| pages=111–124\|jstor = 41055330}}</ref>

	{{Quote box		{{Quote box

UpdateBot: robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit)

2022-05-09T08:32:23Z

robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit)

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:02, 9 May 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
			{{Short description\|Act of India under East India Company rule}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=November 2018}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=November 2018}}
	{{Use Indian English\|date=August 2016}}		{{Use Indian English\|date=August 2016}}
	{{Infobox legislation		{{Infobox legislation
	\|image = Widow India 1774-1781.jpg		\| image = Widow India 1774-1781.jpg
	\|caption = A ~~Hindu~~ widow in India (seen in this engraving from 1774–1781) was not allowed to wear a blouse or ''[[choli]]'' under her sari. The sari was required to be of coarse cloth, preferably white.		\| caption = A widow in India (seen in this engraving from 1774–1781) was not allowed to wear a blouse or ''[[choli]]'' under her sari. The sari was required to be of coarse cloth, preferably white.
	\|repealed_by = THE ~~HINDU~~ WIDOWS' RE-MARRIAGE (REPEAL) ACT, 1983		\| long_title = Widow act
	\|status = repealed		\| repealed_by = THE WIDOWS' RE-MARRIAGE (REPEAL) ACT, 1983
			\| status = repealed
	}}		}}
	The '''Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856''', also '''Act XV, 1856''', ~~enacted~~ on 26 July 1856, legalised the [[remarriage]] of ~~[[Hindu]]~~ [[widows]] in all jurisdictions of [[Company rule in India\|India under East India Company rule]].<ref name=carroll-2008-p78/> It was drafted by Lord Dalhousie and passed by [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning\|Lord Canning]] before the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. It was the first major social reform legislation after the abolition of [[Sati (practice)\|sati]] by [[Lord William Bentinck]].<ref name="Hate1948">{{cite book\|author=Chandrakala Anandrao Hate\|title=~~Hindu~~ Woman and Her Future\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9igmAAAAMAAJ\|access-date=16 December 2018\|year=1948\|publisher=New Book Company\|page=156}}</ref><ref name="Carson2012">{{cite book\|author=Penelope Carson\|title=The East India Company and Religion, 1698-1858\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPZXXar1hiQC&pg=PA225\|year=2012\|publisher=Boydell Press\|isbn=978-1-84383-732-9\|pages=225–}}</ref><ref name="Sunthankar1988">{{cite book\|author=B. R. Sunthankar\|title=Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818-1857\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SoNuAAAAMAAJ\|access-date=16 December 2018\|year=1988\|publisher=Shubhada-Saraswat Prakashan\|isbn=978-81-85239-50-7\|page=522}}</ref><ref name="Tarique">{{cite book\|author=Mohammad Tarique\|title=Modern Indian History\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DR2oAQAAQBAJ&pg=SA4-PA2\|access-date=17 December 2018\|publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education\|isbn=978-0-07-066030-4\|pages=4–}}</ref><ref name="Riddick2006">{{cite book\|author=John F. Riddick\|title=The History of British India: A Chronology\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Es6x4u_g19UC&pg=PA53\|access-date=17 December 2018\|year=2006\|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group\|isbn=978-0-313-32280-8\|pages=53–}}</ref><ref name="Sen2002">{{cite book\|author=Indrani Sen\|title=Woman and Empire: Representations in the Writings of British India, 1858-1900\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uF1j0ZME1tcC&pg=PA124\|year=2002\|publisher=Orient Blackswan\|isbn=978-81-250-2111-7\|pages=124–}}</ref>		The ''' Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act 1856''', also '''Act XV, 1856''', passed on 16 July 1856, legalised the [[remarriage]] of [[widows]] in all jurisdictions of [[Company rule in India\|India under East India Company rule]].The act was enacted on 26 July 1856.<ref name=carroll-2008-p78/> It was drafted by [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie\|Lord Dalhousie]] and passed by [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning\|Lord Canning]] before the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. It was the first major social reform legislation after the abolition of [[Sati (practice)\|sati]] pratha in 1829 by [[Lord William Bentinck]].<ref name="Hate1948">{{cite book\|author=Chandrakala Anandrao Hate\|title=Woman and Her Future\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9igmAAAAMAAJ\|access-date=16 December 2018\|year=1948\|publisher=New Book Company\|page=156}}</ref><ref name="Carson2012">{{cite book\|author=Penelope Carson\|title=The East India Company and Religion, 1698-1858\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPZXXar1hiQC&pg=PA225\|year=2012\|publisher=Boydell Press\|isbn=978-1-84383-732-9\|pages=225–}}</ref><ref name="Sunthankar1988">{{cite book\|author=B. R. Sunthankar\|title=Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818-1857\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SoNuAAAAMAAJ\|access-date=16 December 2018\|year=1988\|publisher=Shubhada-Saraswat Prakashan\|isbn=978-81-85239-50-7\|page=522}}</ref><ref name="Tarique">{{cite book\|author=Mohammad Tarique\|title=Modern Indian History\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DR2oAQAAQBAJ&pg=SA4-PA2\|access-date=17 December 2018\|publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education\|isbn=978-0-07-066030-4\|pages=4–}}</ref><ref name="Riddick2006">{{cite book\|author=John F. Riddick\|title=The History of British India: A Chronology\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Es6x4u_g19UC&pg=PA53\|access-date=17 December 2018\|year=2006\|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group\|isbn=978-0-313-32280-8\|pages=53–}}</ref><ref name="Sen2002">{{cite book\|author=Indrani Sen\|title=Woman and Empire: Representations in the Writings of British India, 1858-1900\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uF1j0ZME1tcC&pg=PA124\|year=2002\|publisher=Orient Blackswan\|isbn=978-81-250-2111-7\|pages=124–}}</ref>

	To protect what it considered family honour and family property, [[Varna (Hinduism)\|~~upper-caste~~ Hindu society]] had long disallowed the remarriage of widows, even [[Child marriage in India\|child and adolescent ones]], all of whom were expected to live a life of austerity and abnegation.<ref name=peers-2006-pp52-53>{{Harvnb\|Peers\|2006\|pp=52–53}}</ref> The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856,<ref name="ForbesForbes1999">{{Harvnb\|Forbes\|1999\|p=23}}</ref> provided legal safeguards against loss of certain forms of inheritance for remarrying a Hindu widow,<ref name=peers-2006-pp52-53/> though, under the Act, the widow forsook any inheritance due her from her deceased husband.<ref name=carroll-2008-p80/> Especially targeted in the act were ~~Hindu~~ child widows whose husbands had died before [[consummation]] of marriage.		To protect what it considered family honour and family property, [[Varna (Hinduism)\|Hindu society]] had long disallowed the remarriage of widows, even [[Child marriage in India\|child and adolescent ones]], all of whom were expected to live a life of austerity and abnegation.<ref name=peers-2006-pp52-53>{{Harvnb\|Peers\|2006\|pp=52–53}}</ref> The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856,<ref name="ForbesForbes1999">{{Harvnb\|Forbes\|1999\|p=23}}</ref> provided legal safeguards against loss of certain forms of inheritance for remarrying a Hindu widow,<ref name=peers-2006-pp52-53/> though, under the Act, the widow forsook any inheritance due her from her deceased husband.<ref name=carroll-2008-p80/> Especially targeted in the act were child widows whose husbands had died before [[consummation]] of marriage.

	[[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar]] was the most prominent campaigner. He petitioned the Legislative council,<ref name="Chakraborty2003">		[[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar]] was the most prominent campaigner. He petitioned the Legislative council,<ref name="Chakraborty2003">
	Is war Chandra was supported in this by many wise and elite gentlemen of the society and the first signatory on his application to the then Governor General was Shri Kasinath Dutta, belonging to the Hatkhola Dutta lineage,{{Harvnb\|Chakraborty\|2003\|p=125}}</ref> but there was a counter petition against the proposal with nearly four times more signatures by [[Radhakanta Deb]] and the [[Dharma Sabha]].<ref>{{cite journal \| title=THE REVOLUTION BEHIND THE REVOLT (A comparative study of the causes of the 1857 uprising) \| author=H. R. Ghosal \| journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress \| year=1957 \| volume=20 \| pages=293–305\|jstor = 44304480}}</ref><ref name="Asthana1974">{{cite book\|author=Pratima Asthana\|title=Women's Movement in India\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxAqAAAAYAAJ\|access-date=17 December 2018\|year=1974\|publisher=Vikas Publishing House\|isbn=978-0-7069-0333-1\|page=22}}</ref> But [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie\|Lord Dalhousie]] personally finalised the bill despite the opposition and it being considered a flagrant breach of ~~Hindu~~ customs as prevalent then.<ref name="Gupta2015">{{cite book\|author=Amit Kumar Gupta\|title=Nineteenth-Century Colonialism and the Great Indian Revolt\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yt6oCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT30\|access-date=17 December 2018\|date=5 October 2015\|publisher=Taylor & Francis\|isbn=978-1-317-38668-1\|pages=30–}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal \| title=A Wind of Change: The New British Colonial Policy in Post-Revolt India \| author=Belkacem Belmekki \| journal=AEDEAN: Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-americanos \| year=2008 \| volume=2 \|issue = 2\| pages=111–124\|jstor = 41055330}}</ref>		Is war Chandra was supported in this by many wise and elite gentlemen of the society and the first signatory on his application to the then Governor General was Shri Kasinath Dutta, belonging to the Hatkhola Dutta lineage,{{Harvnb\|Chakraborty\|2003\|p=125}}</ref> but there was a counter petition against the proposal with nearly four times more signatures by [[Radhakanta Deb]] and the [[Dharma Sabha]].<ref>{{cite journal \| title=THE REVOLUTION BEHIND THE REVOLT (A comparative study of the causes of the 1857 uprising) \| author=H. R. Ghosal \| journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress \| year=1957 \| volume=20 \| pages=293–305\|jstor = 44304480}}</ref><ref name="Asthana1974">{{cite book\|author=Pratima Asthana\|title=Women's Movement in India\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxAqAAAAYAAJ\|access-date=17 December 2018\|year=1974\|publisher=Vikas Publishing House\|isbn=978-0-7069-0333-1\|page=22}}</ref> But [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie\|Lord Dalhousie]] personally finalised the bill despite the opposition and it being considered a flagrant breach of customs as prevalent then.<ref name="Gupta2015">{{cite book\|author=Amit Kumar Gupta\|title=Nineteenth-Century Colonialism and the Great Indian Revolt\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yt6oCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT30\|access-date=17 December 2018\|date=5 October 2015\|publisher=Taylor & Francis\|isbn=978-1-317-38668-1\|pages=30–}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal \| title=A Wind of Change: The New British Colonial Policy in Post-Revolt India \| author=Belkacem Belmekki \| journal=AEDEAN: Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-americanos \| year=2008 \| volume=2 \|issue = 2\| pages=111–124\|jstor = 41055330}}</ref>

	{{Quote box		{{Quote box
Line 23:		Line 25:
	\|title_fnt =		\|title_fnt =
	\|title =		\|title =
	\|quote = "Second marriages, after the death of the husband first espoused, are wholly unknown to the ~~Hindu~~ Law; though in practice, among ~~the inferior castes~~, nothing is so common."<ref name=carroll-2008-p78>{{Harvnb\|Carroll\|2008\|p=78}}</ref>		\|quote = "Second marriages, after the death of the husband first espoused, are wholly unknown to the Law; though in practice, among some communities, nothing is so common."<ref name=carroll-2008-p78>{{Harvnb\|Carroll\|2008\|p=78}}</ref>
	\|salign = right		\|salign = right
	\|source = — [[William Hay Macnaghten]] (1862)		\|source = — [[William Hay Macnaghten]] (1862)
Line 36:		Line 38:
	\|title_fnt =		\|title_fnt =
	\|title =		\|title =
	\|quote = "The problem of widows—and especially of child widows—was largely a prerogative of the higher ~~Hindu castes~~ among whom child marriage was practised and remarriage prohibited. Irrevocably, eternally married as a mere child, the death of the husband she had perhaps never known left the wife a widow, an inauspicious being whose sins in a previous life had deprived her of her husband, and her parents-in-law of their son, in this one. Doomed to a life of prayer, fasting, and drudgery, unwelcome at the celebrations and auspicious occasions that are so much a part of ~~Hindu~~ family and community life, her lot was scarcely to be envied.		\|quote = "The problem of widows—and especially of child widows—was largely a prerogative of the higher Class people among whom child marriage was practised and remarriage prohibited. Irrevocably, eternally married as a mere child, the death of the husband she had perhaps never known left the wife a widow, an inauspicious being whose sins in a previous life had deprived her of her husband, and her parents-in-law of their son, in this one. Doomed to a life of prayer, fasting, and drudgery, unwelcome at the celebrations and auspicious occasions that are so much a part of many communities of any religion family and community life, her lot was scarcely to be envied.

	On the other hand~~, the lower~~, particularly Sudra~~, castes~~ and ~~the (so-called) 'Un-touchables'~~—who represented approximately 80 percent of the Hindu population—neither practised child marriage nor prohibited the remarriage of widows."<ref name=carroll-2008-p79>{{Harvnb\|Carroll\|2008\|p=79}}</ref>		On the other hand, particularly Sudra caste and dalits —who represented approximately 80 percent of the Hindu population—neither practised child marriage nor prohibited the remarriage of widows."<ref name=carroll-2008-p79>{{Harvnb\|Carroll\|2008\|p=79}}</ref>
	\|salign = right		\|salign = right
	\|source = — Lucy Carroll (1983)		\|source = — Lucy Carroll (1983)
Line 66:		Line 68:
	* {{cite book\|last=Forbes\|first=Geraldine\|title=Women in modern India\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hjilIrVt9hUC&pg=PA23\|access-date=8 November 2018\|year=1999\|publisher=Cambridge University Press\|isbn=978-0-521-65377-0\|pages=21–22}}		* {{cite book\|last=Forbes\|first=Geraldine\|title=Women in modern India\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hjilIrVt9hUC&pg=PA23\|access-date=8 November 2018\|year=1999\|publisher=Cambridge University Press\|isbn=978-0-521-65377-0\|pages=21–22}}
	* {{cite book\|last=Peers\|first=Douglas M.\|title=India under colonial rule: 1700-1885\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iNuAAAAMAAJ\|access-date=8 November 2018\|year=2006\|publisher=Pearson Education\|isbn=978-0-582-31738-3}}		* {{cite book\|last=Peers\|first=Douglas M.\|title=India under colonial rule: 1700-1885\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iNuAAAAMAAJ\|access-date=8 November 2018\|year=2006\|publisher=Pearson Education\|isbn=978-0-582-31738-3}}

	~~{{Indian legislations}}~~

	[[Category:Sex laws in India]]		[[Category:Sex laws in India]]

>Hyuhanon at 11:47, 11 May 2021

2021-05-11T11:47:36Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox legislation
|image = Widow India 1774-1781.jpg
|caption = A Hindu widow in India (seen in this engraving from 1774–1781) was not allowed to wear a blouse or ''[[choli]]'' under her sari. The sari was required to be of coarse cloth, preferably white.
|repealed_by = THE HINDU WIDOWS' RE-MARRIAGE (REPEAL) ACT, 1983
|status = repealed
}}
The '''Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856''', also '''Act XV, 1856''', enacted on 26 July 1856, legalised the [[remarriage]] of [[Hindu]] [[widows]] in all jurisdictions of [[Company rule in India|India under East India Company rule]].<ref name=carroll-2008-p78/> It was drafted by Lord Dalhousie and passed by [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning|Lord Canning]] before the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. It was the first major social reform legislation after the abolition of [[Sati (practice)|sati]] by [[Lord William Bentinck]].<ref name="Hate1948">{{cite book|author=Chandrakala Anandrao Hate|title=Hindu Woman and Her Future|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9igmAAAAMAAJ|access-date=16 December 2018|year=1948|publisher=New Book Company|page=156}}</ref><ref name="Carson2012">{{cite book|author=Penelope Carson|title=The East India Company and Religion, 1698-1858|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPZXXar1hiQC&pg=PA225|year=2012|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=978-1-84383-732-9|pages=225–}}</ref><ref name="Sunthankar1988">{{cite book|author=B. R. Sunthankar|title=Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra: 1818-1857|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SoNuAAAAMAAJ|access-date=16 December 2018|year=1988|publisher=Shubhada-Saraswat Prakashan|isbn=978-81-85239-50-7|page=522}}</ref><ref name="Tarique">{{cite book|author=Mohammad Tarique|title=Modern Indian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DR2oAQAAQBAJ&pg=SA4-PA2|access-date=17 December 2018|publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education|isbn=978-0-07-066030-4|pages=4–}}</ref><ref name="Riddick2006">{{cite book|author=John F. Riddick|title=The History of British India: A Chronology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Es6x4u_g19UC&pg=PA53|access-date=17 December 2018|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32280-8|pages=53–}}</ref><ref name="Sen2002">{{cite book|author=Indrani Sen|title=Woman and Empire: Representations in the Writings of British India, 1858-1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uF1j0ZME1tcC&pg=PA124|year=2002|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-2111-7|pages=124–}}</ref>

To protect what it considered family honour and family property, [[Varna (Hinduism)|upper-caste Hindu society]] had long disallowed the remarriage of widows, even [[Child marriage in India|child and adolescent ones]], all of whom were expected to live a life of austerity and abnegation.<ref name=peers-2006-pp52-53>{{Harvnb|Peers|2006|pp=52–53}}</ref> The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856,<ref name="ForbesForbes1999">{{Harvnb|Forbes|1999|p=23}}</ref> provided legal safeguards against loss of certain forms of inheritance for remarrying a Hindu widow,<ref name=peers-2006-pp52-53/> though, under the Act, the widow forsook any inheritance due her from her deceased husband.<ref name=carroll-2008-p80/> Especially targeted in the act were Hindu child widows whose husbands had died before [[consummation]] of marriage.

[[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar]] was the most prominent campaigner. He petitioned the Legislative council,<ref name="Chakraborty2003">
Is war Chandra was supported in this by many wise and elite gentlemen of the society and the first signatory on his application to the then Governor General was Shri Kasinath Dutta, belonging to the Hatkhola Dutta lineage,{{Harvnb|Chakraborty|2003|p=125}}</ref> but there was a counter petition against the proposal with nearly four times more signatures by [[Radhakanta Deb]] and the [[Dharma Sabha]].<ref>{{cite journal | title=THE REVOLUTION BEHIND THE REVOLT (A comparative study of the causes of the 1857 uprising) | author=H. R. Ghosal | journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress | year=1957 | volume=20 | pages=293–305|jstor = 44304480}}</ref><ref name="Asthana1974">{{cite book|author=Pratima Asthana|title=Women's Movement in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxAqAAAAYAAJ|access-date=17 December 2018|year=1974|publisher=Vikas Publishing House|isbn=978-0-7069-0333-1|page=22}}</ref> But [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]] personally finalised the bill despite the opposition and it being considered a flagrant breach of Hindu customs as prevalent then.<ref name="Gupta2015">{{cite book|author=Amit Kumar Gupta|title=Nineteenth-Century Colonialism and the Great Indian Revolt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yt6oCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT30|access-date=17 December 2018|date=5 October 2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-38668-1|pages=30–}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=A Wind of Change: The New British Colonial Policy in Post-Revolt India | author=Belkacem Belmekki | journal=AEDEAN: Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-americanos | year=2008 | volume=2 |issue = 2| pages=111–124|jstor = 41055330}}</ref>

{{Quote box
|width = 20em
|border = 1px
|align = right
|bgcolor =#c6dbf7
|fontsize = 85%
|title_bg =
|title_fnt =
|title =
|quote = "Second marriages, after the death of the husband first espoused, are wholly unknown to the Hindu Law; though in practice, among the inferior castes, nothing is so common."<ref name=carroll-2008-p78>{{Harvnb|Carroll|2008|p=78}}</ref>
|salign = right
|source = — [[William Hay Macnaghten]] (1862)
}}
{{Quote box
|width = 20em
|border = 1px
|align = right
|bgcolor =#D0F0C0
|fontsize = 85%
|title_bg =
|title_fnt =
|title =
|quote = "The problem of widows—and especially of child widows—was largely a prerogative of the higher Hindu castes among whom child marriage was practised and remarriage prohibited. Irrevocably, eternally married as a mere child, the death of the husband she had perhaps never known left the wife a widow, an inauspicious being whose sins in a previous life had deprived her of her husband, and her parents-in-law of their son, in this one. Doomed to a life of prayer, fasting, and drudgery, unwelcome at the celebrations and auspicious occasions that are so much a part of Hindu family and community life, her lot was scarcely to be envied.

On the other hand, the lower, particularly Sudra, castes and the (so-called) 'Un-touchables'—who represented approximately 80 percent of the Hindu population—neither practised child marriage nor prohibited the remarriage of widows."<ref name=carroll-2008-p79>{{Harvnb|Carroll|2008|p=79}}</ref>
|salign = right
|source = — Lucy Carroll (1983)
}}

==The Law==
The preamble and sections 1, 2, and 5:<ref name=carroll-2008-p80>{{Harvnb|Carroll|2008|p=80}}</ref>

<blockquote>Whereas it is known that, by the law as administered in the Civil Courts established in the territories in the possession and under the Government of the East India Company, Hindu widows with certain exceptions are held to be, by reason of their having been once married, incapable of contracting a second valid marriage, and the offsprings of such widows by any second marriage are held to be illegitimate and incapable of inheriting property; and

Whereas many Hindus believe that this imputed legal incapacity, although it is in accordance with established custom, is not in accordance with a true interpretation of the precepts of their religion, and desire that the civil law administered by the Courts of Justice shall no longer prevent those Hindus who may he so minded from adopting a different custom, in accordance with the dictates of their own conscience, and

Where it is just to relieve all such Hindus from this legal incapacity of which they complain, and the removal of all legal obstacles to the marriage of Hindu widows will tend to the promotion of good morals and to the public welfare;

It is enacted as follows:

#No marriage contracted between Hindus shall be invalid, and the issue of no such marriage shall be illegitimate, by reason of the woman having been previously married or betrothed to another person who was dead at the time of such marriage, any custom and any interpretation of Hindu Law to the contrary notwithstanding.
#All rights and interests which any widow may have in her deceased husband's property by way of maintenance, or by inheritance to her husband or to his lineal successors, or by virtue of any will or testamentary disposition conferring upon her, without express permission to remarry, only a limited interest in such property, with no power of alienating the same, shall upon her re-marriage cease and determine as if she had then died; and the next heirs of her deceased husband or other persons entitled to the property on her death, shall thereupon succeed to the same ....
#Except as in the three preceding sections is provided, a widow shall not by reason of her re-marriage forfeit any property or any right to which she would otherwise be entitled, and every widow who has re-married shall have the same rights of inheritance as she would have had, had such marriage been her first marriage.</blockquote>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Carroll|first=Lucy |editor=Sumit Sarkar |editor2=Tanika Sarkar|title=Women and social reform in modern India: a reader|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEPYbuzOwcQC&pg=PA78|access-date=8 November 2018|year=2008|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-22049-3|pages=78–80|chapter=Law, Custom, and Statutory Social Reform: The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856}}
* {{cite book|last=Chakraborty|first=Uma|title=Gendering caste through a feminist lens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nLMDxv_L-U8C&pg=PA125|access-date=8 November 2018|year=2003|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-85604-54-1|page=125}}
* {{cite book|last=Forbes|first=Geraldine|title=Women in modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hjilIrVt9hUC&pg=PA23|access-date=8 November 2018|year=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-65377-0|pages=21–22}}
* {{cite book|last=Peers|first=Douglas M.|title=India under colonial rule: 1700-1885|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iNuAAAAMAAJ|access-date=8 November 2018|year=2006|publisher=Pearson Education|isbn=978-0-582-31738-3}}

{{Indian legislations}}

[[Category:Sex laws in India]]
[[Category:Indian family law]]
[[Category:1856 in law]]
[[Category:1856 in India]]
[[Category:Widowhood in India]]
[[Category:Legislation in British India]]
[[Category:Gender and Hinduism|Widows]]
[[Category:1856 in British law]]
[[Category:Marriage law in India]]
[[Category:Remarriage]]