The Hindu Widow

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Beginning with the broad theme of the Hindu widow and narrowing it down to Gujarati widows, Vatsala Mehta has made a time-sweep through three millennia of Indian social history starting with the Vedas. This historical coverage and analysis of the status of contemporary widow is set up in relation to ancient legalistic pronouncements, caste rules and practices among Gujarati Hindus, and Jains to a minor extent. The assessment ends with the passage of the post-independence Hindu Code Bill partially fulfilling the dreams of social reformers in India in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This book is based on her MA thesis, The Hindu Widow with Special Reference to Gujarat, submitted to the Department of Sociology of the University of Bombay (Mumbai) in 1956. The work purports to suggest a link between post-Vedic Hindu jurisprudence, especially in matters of succession and inheritance, the custom of child marriage, widowhood among young women and proscription of widow remarriage. These also led to the diabolical practice of widow self-immolation, or sati, which became widespread especially in certain parts of India. The well-rounded, if brief, encapsulation of major social issues associated with Gujarati Hindu widowhood provides a basis for future examinations along similar lines.