page_title: Human sacrifice
section_title: Indian subcontinent
hierarchical_section_title: Human sacrifice / History by region / Indian subcontinent
caption_attribution_description: Suttee. Wife burning with her dead husband. Iconographic Collections
context_page_description: Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, usually intended to please or appease gods, spirits or the dead ancestors, such as a propitiatory offerings or as a retainer sacrifice when a king's servants are killed in order for them to continue to serve their master in the next life. Closely related practices found in some tribal societies are cannibalism and headhunting.
  Human sacrifice was practised in many human societies beginning in prehistoric times. By the Iron Age, with the associated developments in religion, human sacrifice was becoming less common throughout the Old World, and came to be looked down upon as barbaric during classical antiquity. In the New World, however, human sacrifice continued to be widespread to varying degrees until the European colonization of the Americas. Today, human sacrifice has become extremely rare. Most religions condemn the practice, and modern secular laws treat it as murder.
context_section_description: In India, human sacrifice is mainly known as "Narabali". Here "nara" means human and "bali" means sacrifice. It takes place in some parts of India mostly to find lost treasure. In Maharashtra, the Government made it illegal to practice with the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act.
  Currently human sacrifice is very rare in modern India. However, there have been at least three cases through 2003–2013 where men have been murdered in the name of human sacrifice implying the practice may still be ongoing in greater numbers in the unpoliced slums.
  Regarding possible Vedic mention of human sacrifice, the prevailing 19th-century view, associated above all with Henry Colebrooke, was that human sacrifice did not actually take place. Those verses which referred to purushamedha were meant to be read symbolically, or as a "priestly fantasy". However, Rajendralal Mitra published a defence of the thesis that human sacrifice, as had been practised in Bengal, was a continuation of traditions dating back to Vedic periods. Hermann Oldenberg held to Colebrooke's view; but Jan Gonda underlined its disputed status.
  Human and animal sacrifice became less common during the post-Vedic period, as ahimsa (non-violence) became part of mainstream religious thought. The Chandogya Upanishad (3.17.4) includes ahimsa in its list of virtues. The impact of Sramanic religions such as Buddhism and Jainism also became known in the Indian subcontinent.
  It was agreed even by Colebrooke, however, that by the Puranic period—at least at the time of the writing of the Kalika-Purana, human sacrifice was accepted. The Kalika Purana was composed in Northeast India in the 11th century. The text states that blood sacrifice is only permitted when the country is in danger and war is expected. According to the text, the performer of a sacrifice will obtain victory over his enemies. In the medieval period, it became increasingly common. In the 7th century, Banabhatta, in a description of the dedication of a temple of Chandika, describes a series of human sacrifices; similarly, in the 9th century, Haribhadra describes the sacrifices to Chandika in Odisha. The town of Kuknur in North Karnataka there exists an ancient Kali temple, built around the 8-9th century AD, which has a history of human sacrifices.
  Human sacrifice is reputed to have been performed on the altars of the Hatimura Temple, a Shakti (Great Goddess) temple located at Silghat, in the Nagaon district of Assam. It was built during the reign of king Pramatta Singha in 1667 Sakabda (1745–1746 AD). It used to be an important center of Shaktism in ancient Assam. Its presiding goddess is Durga in her aspect of Mahisamardini, slayer of the demon Mahisasura. It was also performed in the Tamresari Temple which was located in Sadiya under the Chutia kings.
  Human sacrifices were carried out in connection with the worship of Shakti until approximately the early modern period, and in Bengal perhaps as late as the early 19th century. Although not accepted by larger section of Hindu culture, certain Tantric cults performed human sacrifice until around the same time, both actual and symbolic; it was a highly ritualised act, and on occasion took many months to complete.
  The Khonds, an aboriginal tribe of India, inhabiting the tributary states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, became notorious, on the British occupation of their district about 1835, from the prevalence and cruelty of the human sacrifices they practised.
caption: Suttee-Wife burning with her dead husband
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