Lata Mani states that all of the parties during the British colonial era that debated the issue, prescribed to the belief in a golden age of women followed by a decline in concurrence to the Muslim conquests. This discourse also resulted in promotion of a view of the British rescuing "Hindu India from Islamic tyranny". The British tried to present to the natives scriptural interpretations to say that Sati was not mandated, it being seen as part of their civilizing mission. Daniel Grey states that the understanding of origins and spread of sati were distorted in the colonial era because of a concerted effort to push "problem Hindu" theories in the 19th and early 20th centuries.