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The Origin and Enactment of the Indian Age of Consent Bill, 1891

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

Charles H. Heimsath
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Extract

The Indian social reform movement in the nineteenth century, like the political reform movement, remained unorganized on an all-India basis until the 1880's. Local groups functioned throughout the country in many cases along similar lines, but without regular and specific knowledge of each other. Virtually the only effort for social reform well publicized throughout the country had been Vidyasagar's Widow Remarriage movement, which however was never nationally organized and which found local support only when a reformer felt inclined to press for it; the founder himself lost interest in the cause long before his death in 1891. Unlike the political reformers, the social reformers gave no evidence, so far as the present writer knows, of concern about the absence of a national organization to direct and stimulate their activities. If it had any strength, such an organization would, in fact, embarrass them into a unity of principles and methods for which, before 1880, they were quite unprepared.

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Articles
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , August 1962 , pp. 491 - 504
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1962

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References

1 The “Notes” were reproduced in Records of the Govt. of India, home Dept., No. CCXXIII, Serial No. 3, (Calcutta, 1886).

2 Many official and non-official opinions and much of the data may be found in the Home Dept. Records, op. cit. The replies sent to Malabari were reproduced in Gidumal, Dayaram, The Status of Women in India or A Hand-Book, for Hindu Social Reformers (Bombay, 1889)Google Scholar and, in a shorter form, in Infant Marriage and Enforced Widowhood in India … (Bombay, 1887)Google Scholar. See also Govt. of India, Home Dept. Public Proceedings, Nov., 1886, Nos. 131 to 138E.Google Scholar

3 To reinforce the injunction about pre-puberty marriage, the śāstras held that a father whose daughter menstruated before being married was guilty of procuring an abortion, worse than certain kinds of murder. Reasons underlying the encouragement in the sacred literature given to early marriage of females are suggested in Basham, A. L., The Wonder That Was India (London, 1954), pp. 166–7.Google Scholar

4 For example, the Jessore Indian Association (Bengal) wrote: “We hold that early marriage weakens the physical strength of the nation; it stunts its full growth and development, it affects the courage and energy of the individuals, and brings forth a race of people weak in strength and wanting in hardihood.” The Status of Women …, p. 35. This view, widely accepted among reformers, was supported by evidence of the weakening effects of child-bearing on young mothers and by the observation that young mothers were more likely than fully mature women to produce and rear sickly children. The beneficial effects of increased vigor which the reformers felt would accrue to the male population whose marriages were postponed may well have been associated with the traditional notion that asceticism brings rewards of greater physical endurance and mental keenness. Vivekenanda, Gandhi, and many modern Indian leaders have also held this view.

5 The Status of Women …, p. 55.

6 The Status of Women …, p. 188.

7 The Status of Women …., pp.136–37.

8 Home Dept. Public Proc, Nov., 1886, Nos. 131 to 138E, p. 28.

9 It is possible that Lord Dufferin's preference for a public Indian organization (the Congress) to restrict itself to political matters—as cited in W. Wedderburn's Allan Octavian Hume (London, 1913), pp. 59–60—was stated more out of his unwillingness to become involved in social reform than from his eagerness to see a political body established. Malabari was urging the Governor-General and his Government to take active roles in social reform, and a hint of willingness given to Hume, who originally suggested that an all-Indian social reform organization be started, could have trapped Dufferin into the awkward and politically hazardous role of a social reformer.

10 An organization incorporated as a public body in Hyderabad (Sind) was one example of the action evoked by the “Notes.” The Hindu Social Reform Association, founded in that city in 1887, had as objects the prevention of premature marriage, reduction of marriage expenses, promotion of female education, and improvement in the status of women.

11 Home Dept. Public Proc, Nov., 1886, Nos. 131 to 138E. The reference to renunciation of religion referred to the fact that many widow remarriages took place after the bridal couple had become Brahmos.

12 Infant Marriage and Enforced Widowhood in India, p. 17.

13 See Telang, , Select Writings and Speeches (Bombay, 1916), I, pp. 269–299.Google Scholar

14 Telang, Writings and Speeches, I, p. 242.

15 A study of the nineteenth-century Indian social reform movement would show that the predominant thrust of reform agitation was shifting in the 1880's from propaganda for social changes justified by reinterpretations of the śāstras toward appeals on grounds of social morality, human rights, and the need for more progressive legal codes. The latter approach, it was hoped, would break the impasse caused by the existence of seemingly contradictory religious texts defining proper social usages.

16 See Reports on Bengal Native Press (Imperial Record Dept.) for those years.

17 Literally, “impregnation,” performed ceremonially as the consummation of a marriage. Its value lay solely in the ceremonialism surrounding the act, which, like other ceremonies required of Hindus, had psychological value in “impressing on the mind of the person that he has assumed a new role and must strive to observe its rules.” Kane, Pandurang Vaman, History of Dharmaśāstra, Vol. II, (Poona, 1941), Pt. I, p. 193Google Scholar. For a description of the ceremony, see Kane, ibid., pp. 201–206.

18 Dainik.-o-Samachar Chandrika, a substantial Calcutta daily, charged that the Government, by passing the Bill, would be “plunging Hindu girls into sin.” The paper further maintained that the Government was going to force Hindus to produce healthy children (by postponing childbirth) and protect the health of girl brides, without any concern over the Hindus' welfare in the next life—which, for the orthodox, was held to be more important. Issue of Jan. 11, 1891, cited in Reports on Bengal Native Press, 1891.

19 See The Times (London), Dec. 8, 1890Google Scholar; Feb. 12, 16, 1891.

20 From Khair Khwaik-i-Kashmir (Lahore), Mar. 1, 1891Google Scholar, cited in Selections from the Vernacular Newspapers Published in the Punjab (Imperial Records Dept.), 1891.

21 The Times (London), Dec. 15, 1890Google Scholar.

22 Quoted in Tahmankar, D. V., Lokamanya Tilak, (London, 1956), p. 46.Google Scholar

23 Ranade, , Miscellaneous Writings (Bombay, 1915), pp. 70–86.Google Scholar

24 Chintamani, C. Y., Indian Social Reform (Madras, 1901), II, 6.Google Scholar

25 Report of the Third National Social Conference, 1889.

26 Chintamani, , Indian Social Reform, III, 140–1.Google Scholar

27 The Times (London), Oct. 8, Nov. 7, 1890.Google Scholar

28 The Times (London), Nov. 29, 1890.Google Scholar

29 See Bhandarkar, , A Note on the Age of Marriage and Its Consummation; According to Hindu Religious Law (Poona, 1891)Google Scholar. The author noted, “I have been carrying on literary controversies since 1864; but never did I hitherto meet with an opponent who treated me with such studied discourtesy as Mr. Tilak has been doing” (p. 49).

30 Authorities have long differed on the subject of the proper age for marriage, especially for girls. Even Manu's work suggests various ages for female marriage, depending on die circumstances. There seems to be no passage in Manu itself which states clearly that a girl must be married before puberty, or, for that matter, at any specific age. However, various commentators on Manu and other writers insist on specific ages, usually below twelve. See The Ordinances of Manu, transl. by Burnell, Arthur Coke (London, 1884), Lect. IX, sec. 88–94Google Scholar, and notes. For a full discussion of marriage age in the Dharmaśāstra, see Kane, op. cit., II, Pt. I, pp. 438–47.

31 In the words of Mudholkar, R. N., Chintamani, , Indian Social Reform, I, p. 173.Google Scholar

32 The Times (London) correspondent wrote: “The progressive party, though much smaller numerically, is better able to make itself heard.” Dec. 1, 1890.

33 Abstract of the Proceedings of the [Legislative] Council …, 1891 (Calcutta, 1892), p. 83.Google Scholar

34 ibid., p. 14.

35 ibid., p. 18.

36 On the other hand, the 1886 declaration asserted the State's right to enforce “the ordinary criminal law” even if it went against customary practices.

37 Ibid., p. 146.

38 Ibid., p. 14.

39 Quoted from Mahratta, March 22, 1891, in Report on Bombay Native Papers (Imperial Record Dept.), 1891.