Choho-Gomon [sahagamana, sati]

Francois Baltazard Solvyns was a Flemish marine painter who published an ethnographic typology of ‘Hindoos’ and their way of life in 250 coloured etchings. Published in 1796 as ‘Two Hundred and Fifty Coloured Etchings: Descriptive of the Manners, Customs and Dresses of the Hindoos,’ this project was designed in ‘socially descending sections,’ spanning across caste and community groups and documenting their costumes, rituals and musical instruments, among other details. This etching depicts the ‘sahagamana ceremony,’ also known as ‘Sati,’ the notorious practice which forced widows to immolate themselves at the pyre of their husbands. Arduous struggle by social reformers led to the banning of this ceremony on 4 December 1829, though it continued to be practised, unofficially, in many parts of the country.