A History of the Mahrattas v1.c7.92

v1.c7.92

The women in the Mahratta country are well treated; they are the helpmates, but by no means the slaves of their husbands; nor are they in the degraded state in which some travellers have described the condition of the women in other parts of India, and in which the ordinances of the Shasters would place them. There is one custom generally observed among them, which is, that the wives of all the chiefs and military men, who pretend to Rajpoot descent, are as strictly veiled as the Mahomedan ladies of rank, and as much disgrace attaches to their being seen, particularly by persons not Hindoos. This observance they probably adopted, in the first instance, from the Deccanee Mussulmans, or the Moghuls, but they say it is handed down as a usage of the branch of Rajpoots, from whom they are descended. Mahratta ladies of this description, on the death of their husbands, frequently immolate themselves with the corpse; but in cases where they either have helpless infants, or important family affairs requiring their care, they are rarely permitted to do so. Should they for the latter reason choose to survive, their veil is in a great degree removed, as they are obliged to appear where business demands their presence, in company with men, in an assembly, or even in battle.