The Rashtrakutas and their Times c16.s4.12

c16.s4.12

The average officer of our period was highly attached to the throne; many cases are recorded in the Kashmir chronicle of loyal and devoted officers burning themselves on the funeral pyres of their dead masters. (54) The custom seems to have been fairly common in our period, for Abu Zaid also refers to it. (55) This writer informs us that at the time of the coronation of a king his deeply attached followers used to take voluntarily a portion of the rice prepared for the king on the occasion. All such persons were obliged to burn themselves when the king was dead or slain. The custom existed in Malbar during the 13th century, for it is referred to by Marco Polo also. (56) Epigraphical evidence of our period shows that Abu Zaid's account is no cock and bull story. Honale No. 47 (57) informs us that when Taila II died, Boppana made good his vow, entered fire and went to heaven. We do not know from the record the occasion of this vow, but it is quite possible that it may have been the king's coronation. Two other records, Arkalgad Nos. 5 and 27, refer to two officers of the Ganga ruler, Nitimārga, who burnt themselves to death when their master died. From one of these records, we learn that pensions were often provided for the bereaved families of such loyal servants.