The practice of sati was declared illegal in British India by Regulation XVII of 1829 under the Governor-General

Lord William Bentinck, supported by the campaign of Raja Rammohan Roy, made sati punishable in 1829, first in Bengal and later in other presidencies. Canning is linked with the Revolt of 1857 and although the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856 was passed in his time, he did not abolish sati, while Ripon and Dufferin served decades later.