Should the East India Company ban the Hindu tradition of voluntary widow-burning in Bengal?

Calcutta, 1829, is the prosperous and populous capital of Bengal, the epicenter of British rule in India. You have gathered at the British Governor-General’s residence in Calcutta, where Governor-General Bentinck has summoned you to address an increasing contentious issue in British India: sati, the self-immolation of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre. In the 1820s, the practice of sati has come under increasingly under attack: from liberal British reformers, Christian missionaries, and upper-caste Hindu reformers. But banning sati, some British East India Company administrators fear, will antagonize the Hindu population, destabilize British control over Bengal, and thus threaten profits. Players must navigate questions of religious authority and tradition, cultural autonomy, and colonial control as they debate whether the British should abolish sati in Bengal.

This is a Level 3 game that is still under development but has been approved by the Reacting Editorial Board (REB) for general use. A detailed explanation of the editorial process and game levels can be found on our REB Page.