Using the Legislative Assembly for Social Reform: the Sarda Act of 1929

Abstract

In 1929, the Legislative Assembly of India, a body of representative Indian politicians, passed a law making the minimum age of marriage 14 years for girls. In contrast to the debates in the 1890s from which the 1891 Age of Consent Act was passed by the imperial legislature, there were intense debates in 1920s India involving British and Indian social reformers on the issue of marriage. Marriage affected the majority of the population and involved all communities, and this was the first legislation to impose a minimum age. Child marriage was seen in the eyes of some Indians and outsiders as an outdated and particularly harmful tradition, but many Hindus justified the practice as a religious necessity. The article explores how Indian reformers were able to defy opposition and use the new governing mechanisms given to them to pass legislation on a matter of national concern.