Tata Shanti Devi was born on December 11, 1926, and passed away on December 27, 1987. She was also known as Tata Devi in what she claimed was a past life, which she said took place from January 18, 1902, to October 4, 1925. She was an Indian woman who said she remembered events from her previous life, which made her the focus of studies about reincarnation. A group formed by Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi supported her claim, but another report by researcher Bal Chand Nahata disagreed. Later, other researchers spoke with her and wrote articles and books about her experiences.

Reincarnation claim

Shanti Devi was born in Delhi, India. When she was a young girl, she began to remember details about a life she had lived before. At about four years old, she told her parents that her true home was in Mathura, where her husband lived. Mathura is about 145 kilometers away from Delhi.

Her parents were not supportive of her claims, but at the age of six, she left home and tried to travel to Mathura. When she returned to Delhi, she clearly told her school that she had been married and had died ten days after giving birth to a child. Her teacher and headmaster asked her questions, and she spoke using words from the Mathura dialect. She also shared the name of her husband, "Kedarnath Chaube."

The headmaster found a merchant in Mathura named Kedar Nath, who had lost his wife, Lugdi Devi, seven years earlier. Lugdi Devi had died ten days after giving birth to a son. Kedar Nath traveled to Delhi, pretending to be his brother. However, Shanti Devi immediately recognized him and identified Lugdi Devi's son. She knew many details about Kedar Nath's life with his wife, which convinced him that Shanti Devi was the reincarnation of Lugdi Devi.

Investigation

Mahatma Gandhi learned about the case and created a commission to look into it. The commission traveled with Shanti Devi to Mathura and arrived there on 15 November 1935. There, she met several family members, including the grandfather of Lugdi Devi. She discovered that Kedar Nath had failed to keep many promises he made to Lugdi Devi before her death. She then returned home with her parents. The commission’s report, published in 1936, stated that Shanti Devi was the reincarnation of Lugdi Devi.

Two more reports were written at the same time. Bal Chand Nahata’s report, published as a Hindi booklet titled Punarjanma Ki Paryalochana, said that the evidence did not prove Shanti Devi remembered her past life or that this case showed reincarnation. Indra Sen, a follower of Sri Aurobindo, later disagreed with this view in an article. Another report, based on interviews from 1936, was published in 1952 and shared with parapsychologists.

Later life

Shanti Devi did not get married. She shared her story again at the end of the 1950s and once more in 1986 during an interview with Ian Stevenson and K.S. Rawat. During this interview, she also spoke about her experiences close to death after Lugdi Devi passed away. In 1987, Rawat continued his research, and the final interview happened only four days before Shanti Devi’s death on December 27, 1987.