Travels in India (Tavernier) 127: Remarkable histories of several women who have been burnt after the death of their husbands.
Travels in India (Ball) 127
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Remarkable histories of several women who have been burnt after the death of their husbands.
127.1
Among several examples of this more than barbarous custom of the women of the idolaters of India of burning themselves with the corpses of their husbands, I will relate three remarkable cases, of two of which I was a witness. The Raja of Vellore, of whom I have spoken in the first book of this account of India, having at the same time lost both this town and his life by the victory which the General of the King of Bijapur gained over him, there was great mourning in all his Court. Eleven of the women of his household were keenly affected by his death, and all resolved to burn themselves when his body was burnt. The General of the Bijapur army having heard of this resolve, thought that he would be able to dissuade these desperate women by flattering them, and by promising them all kinds of good treatment. But seeing that that was of no effect, and that they wished absolutely to be burnt with the body of the deceased, he directed that they should be kept shut up in a room. He who received this order, on going to execute it, was told by these infuriated women that it was in vain, that he might do his best, but that it was useless to keep them prisoners, and that if they were not allowed to do what they wished, they had resolved that in three hours there would not be one of them alive. This threat was jeered at, and it was not believed that it would be carried into effect.
127.2
But he who had these women in charge, on opening the door of the room at the end of three hours, found the eleven all dead and stretched on the ground, without any indication being apparent that they had hastened their deaths, either by steel, rope, or poison, nor could any one see how they had been able to make away with themselves. It was assuredly the case on this occasion that the evil spirit had played his game. Let us pass to another history. Two of the most powerful Rajas of India, who were brothers, having come to Agra in the year 1642 to pay their respects to Shah Jahan, who then reigned, not having properly acquitted themselves therein, in the opinion of the Grand Master of the King’s house, he one day said to one of the two Rajas, who were together under the gallery of the palace, in the presence of the King, that this was not the sort of demeanour that should be observed towards so great a monarch as the King his master. This Raja regarding himself as a King and a great Prince, and having brought 15,000 or 16,000 horse in his suite with the other Raja, his brother, was offended by the boldness the Grand Master showed in reprimanding him in that fashion, and drawing his dagger slew him on the spot, in the presence of the King, who witnessed the deed from an elevated position, where, as I have elsewhere said, he generally administers justice.
127.3
The Grand Master having fallen at the feet of his brother, who was close to him, the latter immediately set himself to avenge his death, but was anticipated by the brother of the Raja, who stabbed him in the breast with his dagger and flung his dead body on that of the Grand Master. The King, who beheld these two murders, one after the other, was frightened and withdrew into his harem; but forthwith all the Omrahs and other people who were present under the gallery, threw themselves on the two Rajas and cut them to pieces. The King, indignant at such an action being committed in his house and in his presence, ordered the bodies of the Rajas to be thrown into the river; but as soon as the troops they had left near Agra heard of the affront which was intended to be done to the memory of their Princes, they threatened to enter the city and pillage it; this caused the King, rather than expose the city to this danger, to order that the bodies should be handed over to them. This was done, and the Rajputs were appeased by this means. As they went to burn them they beheld thirteen women of the households of these two Rajas approaching, dancing and leaping, who forthwith ascended the funeral pile, which they encircled, holding one another by the hand, and being immediately enveloped by the smoke, which suffocated them, they all fell together into the fire.
127.4
The Brahmins then threw upon them a quantity of wood, pots of oil, and other drugs, according to custom, in order that the bodies should be quickly consumed. I remember another strange occurrence which happened one day in my presence at Patna, a town of Bengal. I was with the Dutch at the house of the Governor of the town, a venerable noble, nearly eighty years old, who commanded 5000 or 6000 horse, when there entered the reception room where we were seated a young and very beautiful woman, who was scarcely more than twenty-two years of age. This woman, with a firm and resolute voice, came to ask the Governor’s permission to burn herself with the body of her deceased husband. This Governor, touched by the youth and beauty of the woman, sought to turn her from her resolution, but seeing that all that he could say was useless, and that she only became more obstinate, asking him with a bold and courageous voice if he believed that she feared fire; he asked if she knew any torment equal to fire, and if it had never happened to her to burn her hand. “No, no,” this woman then replied to him with more courage than before; “I do not fear fire in any way, and in order to make you see that it is so, you have only to order a well-lighted torch to be brought here.” The Governor, being horrified with the conversation of the woman, did not wish to hear more from her, and dismissing her told her in a rage that she might go to the devil.
127.5
Some young nobles who were by him asked him to allow them to test the woman and to order a torch to be brought, persuading him that she would not have the courage to burn herself with it. At first he was unwilling to consent, but they continued to urge him with so much pressure that at length, by his order, a torch was brought, which, in India, is nothing else than a cloth twisted and steeped in oil, and put on the end of a stick after the manner of a chafing dish; this, which we call a lamp serves us at need in the crossways of towns. As soon as the woman saw the torch, which was well kindled, she ran in front of it, and holding her hand firmly in the flame without the least grimace, and advancing the arm likewise up to the elbow, it was all immediately scorched; this caused horror to all who witnessed the deed, and the Governor commanded the woman to be removed from his presence. Since we are at Patna I shall relate yet another strange thing which happened there one day, and of which I was a witness. A Brahmin, coming from outside, entered the town, and summoning all of his own tribe, told them that they must give him 2000 rupees and 27 cubits of cloth, which are, as I have said, the ells of this country. The principal among them having told him that it was impossible, and that they were poor, he persisted in his demand to have what he asked for, and declared that he would remain there without drinking or eating till they had brought the cloth and the 2000 rupees.
127.6
With this resolution he mounted on a tree which was in the square, and seated himself on a forked branch, remaining in this position without eating or drinking during several days. The report of this extravagance having reached the ears of the Dutch, with whom I then was, they and I gave money to keep men on the watch all the night close to the tree, in order to see if it was true that this man was able to remain for so long a time without eating or drinking, which he did indeed during thirty days, of which, besides the people whom we had engaged for the purpose, there were more than 100 other witnesses whom those of the tribe had sent, and who never moved by day or night from the vicinity of the tree. At length, on the thirty-first day of so surprising and extraordinary a fast, the idolaters, fearing that the Brahmin would not be able to hold out longer against hunger, and having a scruple about allowing one of their priests to die for want of giving him that which he asked for, taxed themselves all round and took him the 27 ells of cloth and the 2000 rupees. As soon as the Brahmin saw the money and cloth he descended from the tree, and after having reproached all those of the tribe who were present at this spectacle with their want of charity to the poor, he distributed to the poorest the whole sum, only reserving 5 or 6 rupees for himself.
127.7
He did the same with the cloth, which he cut up into many pieces, only keeping for himself what was sufficient to cover the middle of his body, and this distribution having been made he disappeared before all the crowd, who have never since heard what had become of him, notwithstanding all the research that they could make; this ought to show sufficiently that in these matters the work of the devil is manifested. As there are many Chinese at Batavia, I shall give here an account of a custom which I have observed among that kind of idolaters. When a Chinaman is at the point of death, all the relatives and friends who come to see him range themselves about him, and ask him, while crying, where he wishes to go, that if he wants anything he has only to say it and that they will give it to him, be it gold, silver, or women. When dead many ceremonies are performed at their funerals; these consist principally in displays of fireworks, in which the Chinese excel all the other nations of the world, and a man must be very poor if something is not expended on them at his death. Moreover, some silver is placed in a small box, which is buried near the deceased, and a quantity of food is placed near the grave in the belief that he will come to eat it. As some soldiers of the garrison are sent out of Batavia every evening to make the circuit of the town during the night, they on one occasion took it into their heads to go to these graves, where they ate up what had been left;
127.8
this they continued to do for some nights consecutively. But the Chinese were no sooner aware of it than, in order to deter them from returning, they on three or four occasions poisoned the food which they placed on the graves of their dead; this caused a great disturbance in Batavia. The Chinese occupy a leading position in commerce, and are more cunning than the Dutch, but not being liked by the people of the town, the latter took the part of the soldiers, and accused the Chinese of having poisoned some of them. But they defended themselves from this accusation very cleverly, saying, that if greed had caused these soldiers to die from eating the food which had been left on the graves of their dead, they were not the cause, as it was not for the soldiers that they had left it, and that till then among the great number whom they had interred not one of the dead persons had ever complained of such a thing; thus nothing more was said about it, and the soldiers dared not meddle with them any further.