Widows Under Hindu Law

This book comprises the first exhaustive history of the treatment and status of widows under classical Hindu law, a complex and highly influential tradition of jurisprudence spanning over two millennia of Indian history (300 BCE-1800 CE). As such, this book both contributes to our understanding of how male attitudes toward women evolved in pre-modern India and provides crucial context for important colonial debates on Hindu widow remarriage and the Hindu custom ofwidow self-immolation or sati.