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Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s3: Section 3. Sati

Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s3

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English

Contents

Section 3. Sati

A. General Remarks

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We now come to a social institution of Vijayanagara which, both because of its inherent brutality and acquired notoriety, has been associated with all that is savage and uncompromising in Hindu life. This is the well known sati or *sahagamana* or the burning of Hindu widows on the funeral pyre of their husbands. We are concerned here primarily with its prevalence under Vijayanagara, and incidentally with its existence in southern India prior to the rise of the sons of Sangama. The little but definite information we have of the rite, both from the inscriptions and from foreign travellers, enables us to examine a few of the general notions of this vile custom which has been rightly condemned as a defect of the Hindu social system. It is generally stated that sati was a universal practice in India.¹ According to the evidence of a writer whose book has gained considerable popularity in some circles, the sati system originated in the caste to which the nobles belonged. "It was originally in the noble caste of Rajahs that the *suttee* originated."² The same critic has brought forward another feature of sati which has found favour with almost all writers on Indian history. "Although the ancient and barbarous custom which imposes the duty on widows of sacrificing themselves voluntarily on the funeral pyre of their husbands has not been expressly abolished, it is much more rare nowadays than formerly, especially in the southern parts of the peninsula."³ The above statement contains two divergent views which may be noted: that it was an ancient custom which imposed a *duty* on widows, and that the latter *voluntarily* sacrificed themselves on the funeral pyre.

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¹ Cf. Iswari Prasad, *Med. Ind.* p. 437—"The practice of Sati was common, and the Brahmans freely commended this sort of self-immolation".

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² Abbe Dubois, *Hindu Man. & Cust.* II., p. 361 (1897 ed.).

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³ *Ibid.*, II, p. 359. *See* Max Muller's Preface to the same (Vol. I, p. viii) where it is said that in 1817 sati was less common in the south than in Bengal where 706 cases were reported. The following may be read on sati: Wilkins, *Modern Hinduism*, pp. 374-8, 381, 388; Max Muller, *Vedic Religion*, p. 32; Colebrooke in *As. Res.*, IV. p. 41, seq.; Mandelslo, *Travels*, Lib. I, p. 32 (Davies, 1669); Peter Mundy, *Travels*, II, pp. 34-6 (Hakluyt); Tavernier, *Travels*, P. II, Bk. III., p. 171 (1678 ed.); Crooke, *Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India*, I, pp.

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Whatever may be the hideous turn which this rite took in the ages following the disappearance of the Empire of Vijayanagara, one could hardly be justified in viewing it as an institution of the mediaeval times from the reports of eyewitnesses and writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is necessary that we should record the evidence of foreign travellers and inscriptions to know the extent of its popularity under Vijayanagara.

B. Description

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Duarte Barbosa gives us a vivid picture of sati in the first half of the sixteenth century. He speaks of the three classes of people in the Hindu Empire, each with "a very distinct rule of its own", and while describing the "principal of these" to which "the King, the great Lords, the knights and fighting men" belonged, he says: "...their sons inherit their estates: the women are bound by very ancient custom, when their husbands die, to burn themselves alive with their corpses, which are also burnt. This they do to honour the husband. If such a woman is poor and of low estate, when her husband dies she goes with him to the burning ground, 'where there is a great pit' in which a pile of wood burns. When the husband's body has been laid therein, and begins to burn, she throws herself of her own free will into the midst of the said fire, where both their bodies are reduced to ashes. But if she is a woman of high rank, rich, and with distinguished kindred, whether she be a young maid or an old woman, when her husband dies she accompanies the aforesaid corpse of her husband to the aforesaid burning ground, bewailing him; and there they dig a round pit, very wide and deep, which they fill with wood (and a great quantity of sandal wood therewith), and when they have kindled it, they lay the man's body therein, and it is burnt while she weeps greatly.

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Wishing to do all honour to her husband she then causes all his kindred and her own to be called together, that they may come to feast and honour her thereby, all of whom gather together at the said field for this ceremony, where she spends with them and with her kindred and friends all that she has in festivities with music and singing and dancing and banquets. Thereafter she attires herself very richly with all the jewels she possesses, and then distributes to her sons, relatives and friends all the property that remains. Thus arrayed she mounts on a horse, light grey or quite white if possible, that she may be the better seen of all the people. Mounted on this horse they lead her through the whole city with great rejoicings, until they come back to the very spot where the husband has been burnt, where, they cast a great quantity of wood into the pit itself and on its edge they make a great fire. When it has burnt up somewhat they erect a wooden scaffold with four or five steps where they take her up just as she is. When she is on the top she turns round thereon three times, worshipping towards the direction of sunrise, and this done, she calls her sons, kindred and friends, and to each gives a jewel, whereof she has many with her, and in the same way every piece of her clothing until nothing is left except a small piece of cloth with which she is clothed from the waist down.

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All this she does and says so firmly, and with such a cheerful countenance, that she seems not about to die. Then she tells the men who are with her on the scaffold to consider what they owe to their wives who, being free to act, yet burn themselves alive for the love of them, and the women she tells to see how much they owe to their husbands, to such a degree as to go with them even to death. Then she ceases speaking, and they place in her hands a pitcher, full of oil, and she puts it on her head, and with it she again turns round thrice on the scaffold and again worships towards the rising sun. Then she casts the pitcher of oil into the fire and throws herself after it with as much good will as if she were throwing herself on a little cotton, from which she could receive no hurt. The kinsfolk all take part at once and cast into the fire many pitchers of oil and butter with which they hold ready for this purpose, and much wood on this, and therewith bursts out such a flame that no more can be seen. The ashes that remain after these ceremonies are thrown into running streams. All this they do in general without any hindrance ; as it is the custom of all.

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They who do not so, they hold in great dishonour, and their kindred shave their heads and turn them away as disgraced and a shame to their families...This abominable practice of burning is so customary, and is held in such honour among them, that when the King dies, four or five hundred women burn themselves with him in this way, for which they make the pit and the fire to such a size that they can hold any number who may wish to throw themselves in ; and for this too they keep ready great store of sanders-wood, eagle-wood, brazil-wood, and also of gingelly oil and butter to make the fire burn better. Some of these women throw themselves in suddenly while the king is burning, others with the ceremonies I have just described, and such is the rush as to who shall be burnt with him that it is a frightful thing ".¹

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¹⁸⁵ seq. (Rev. ed. 1896); Thomas Bowrey, Countries Round the Bay of Bengal, p. 38; Jahangir's India—The Remonstrantie of Francisco Pelsaert pp. 78-90 (Trans. by Moreland—Geyl, 1925). A most recent contribution on the subject is by Mr. E. Thompson Suttee (London, 1928).

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¹ Barbosa, Dames, I, pp. 212-16; Stanley, pp. 91-3. Nicolo dei Conti in the first half of the fifteenth century, also gives an account of sati. Major, India, pp. 6, 24. It "probably also refers to Vijayanagar, although it is not expressly mentioned". Dames, ibid., p. 213, n (1).

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Before we proceed with the accounts of other foreign travellers, we may estimate the value of Duarte Barbosa's narrative on the strength of his own evidence. His description is so realistic that one may accept it as genuine but for the fact that it contains certain inconsistencies. In one place he says that it was a very ancient custom which compelled the women to perform sati : " the women are bound by very ancient custom, when their husbands die, to burn themselves alive with their corpses which are also burnt"; and then he presently adds, "she throws herself of her own free will into the midst of the said fire ", suggesting thereby that there was some element of option that was allowed to the unfortunate women of the times. This latter idea is strengthened by Barbosa's other statement that "she does and says so firmly, and with such a cheerful countenance, that she seems not about to die". Evidently the women of Vijayanagara, victims as they were of an age-long orthodoxy and priest-craft, could put death to shame by assuming a cheerful countenance on such an awful occasion. This is, however, a point on which there may be a plurality of opinion. But Barbosa contradicts himself in his assertions. In one passage he tells us that sati was confined to the caste to which the King, the great lords, the knights and fighting men belonged; but at the end of his description he asserts that "it is the custom of all". As related elsewhere, the king, the lords, the fighting men and the knights of Vijayanagara never belonged to one class.¹ Moreover Barbosa assures us that this custom did not prevail among the Brahmans and the Jangamas or Lingāyats, nor among the Cheṭṭis.² Consequently, it could not have been the custom of all.

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¹ Cf. Dames, "The three classes into which Barbosa divides the Hindus do not correspond with the actual caste division, but are such as would be likely to strike an observer from Europe, viz, the King and nobility, secondly, the Brahmans and thirdly the members of the Lingāyat sect, which was very important at Vijayanagar." Barbosa, I, p. 212, n. (3).

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² Barbosa, II, p. 73, op. cit.

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There is one more consideration against Barbosa. From his description of the sati performed by the wives and queens of the Vijayanagara king, it appears that he witnessed personally one of those sad events. For he gives us the number of women who died with the king—four or five hundred; he speaks of the great pit and huge fire that was lit in it; and he says that "Some of these women throw themselves in suddenly while the king is burning, others with the ceremonies I have just described, and such is the rush as to who shall be burnt with him that it is a frightful thing". Now, we may be permitted to repeat one or two statements we made while describing the country in general. Duarte Barbosa "was in the service of the Portuguese Government in India from about 1500 till about 1516 or 1517".³ He gives us no date in his own writings,⁴ and it is difficult, if not impossible, to find out when he was in Vijayanagara. We know that his book was completed in A.D. 1517-18.⁵ Between the years when he is said to have visited India, two Vijayanagara monarchs had died—Sāḷuva Nṛisiṁha (A.D. 1496-1506) and Vīra Narasiṁha (A.D. 1504-9). The fact that Barbosa has not a word to say about either of these monarchs suggests that he may not have visited Vijayanagara till after the death of Vīra Narasiṁha in A.D. 1509. This supposition of ours is borne out by the statement of Barbosa about the wars which the ruler of Vijayanagara waged against the neighbouring states.

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"This king of Narsyngua is offtimes at war with the King of Daquem and the King of Otisa (who is another Heathen king), which is also situated in the interior; and all these do one another all the injury they can".¹ The rulers referred to here are, of course, the Muhammadan Sultans of the Deccan and the king of Orissa. Fragmentary as the evidence for the reign of Sāḷuva Nṛisiṁha is, we may admit that that powerful king may have been at war with the "King of Daquen and the King of Otisa", especially when we know that shortly after A. D. 1489 in order to aid Qāsim Barīd of Ahmadabad against Yūsūf Ādil Khān of Bijapur, he seized the two important strongholds of Mudkul and Raichur.² Further, Rājanātha Diṇḍima in his *Sāḷuvābhyudayam* informs us that Sāḷuva Nṛisiṁha marched against Kaliṅga, besieged the capital, and compelled its ruler to surrender. Then, again, the same writer tells us that the Vijayanagara ruler at the instance of a chief who is called Kuṭavāchalēndraṭaṭavāsin, invaded Nāgamaṇḍala, stationed a garrison there, and while desiring to conquer Pṛithugiri, he was attacked by a Muhammadan army. He won a complete victory over the Muhammadans and justified his titles *Dharaṇīvarāha* and *Sāḷuvēndra*.³ According to Rājanātha Diṇḍima, who was the court poet of Sāḷuva Nṛisiṁha, the latter undertook his expedition against Kaliṅga soon after his coronation.⁴ We know that Sāḷuva Nṛisiṁha came to the throne in A.D. 1496.

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We may allow two or three years for this campaign, and place the event in A. D. 1498 or 1499. Barbosa could never have been in the Hindu capital while the ruler undertook a war against the "King of Otisa", for the earliest date given to Barbosa is, as related above, A.D. 1500. There is one more point which we may note in this connection. Rāja-nātha, in spite of the fact that he describes the conventional tour of his royal master to Benares (Kāśi), does not mention anywhere the Sultans of the Deccan in the course of his narrative. These significant details make it impossible for one to believe that the ruler referred to by Barbosa could have been Sāḷuva Nṛisiṃha. As regards Vira Narasimha, it is not impossible that affairs at the capital were too engrossing to allow him to think of extending his frontiers in the north. We come now to Kṛiṣhṇa Dēva Rāya, who, as is well known, led his campaigns against the Sultans of the Deccan and the king of Orissa. The ruler mentioned by Barbosa has, therefore, rightly been identified with Kṛiṣhṇa Dēva Rāya.¹ This monarch ruled from A. D. 1509 to 1529.² We conclude, therefore, that Barbosa could not have any opportunity of witnessing the death of a Vijayanagara king who waged wars against the "King of Daquen and the King of Otisa"—in or about A. D. 1509 or A. D. 1514.³

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³ Dames, *Barbosa*, I, Intr. *ibid*, p. xxxiii. See *ante* Volume I., Chapter II., p. 43.

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⁴ Sewell, *For. Emp.*, p. 128 n, (1).

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⁵ Dames, *ibid*, I, p. xlv. According to Barbosa's own Preface as given in Stanley, he finished writing his book in A.D. 1516. Preface Sewell, *ibid*., p. 128, n. (1).

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¹ Barbosa, Dames, I., pp. 223-4.

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² Sewell, *For. Emp.*, p. 113.

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³ *Sāḷuvābhyudayam*, The Sources, pp. 91, 94, 98.

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⁴ Ibid., pp. 93-4.

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¹ *Barbosa*, Dames, I, p. 223, n. (1).

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² *Rice*, *My. and Coorg*, p. 118.

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³ Barbosa left India in A.D. 1516. or 1517 Dames, I, p. 223, n. (1) op. cit. Stanley says that Barbosa was an eye-witness: "Though Suttee has been so often described, the account of it in these possess much interest and novelty, probably from having been written by an eye-witness, before that institution was disturbed by European influence". Preface, pp. x-xi.

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This rather lengthy digression into the veracity of the account of Barbosa helps us to understand the narrative of Fernao Nuniz. "This kingdom of Bisanaga is all heathen. The women have the custom of burning themselves when their husbands die, and hold it an honour to do so. When their husbands die they mourn with their relations and those of their husbands, but they hold that the wife who weeps beyond measure has no desire to go in search of her husband; and the mourning finished their relations speak to them, advising them to burn themselves and not to dishonour their generations. After that, it is said, they place the dead man on a bed with a canopy of branches and covered with flowers, and they put the woman on the back of a worthless horse,¹ and she goes after them with many jewels on her, and covered with roses ; she carries a mirror in her hand and in the other a branch of flowers, and (she goes accompanied by) many kinds of music, and his relations (go with her) with much pleasure. A man goes also playing on a small drum, and he sings songs to her telling her that she is going to join her husband, and she answers also in singing that so she will do. As soon as she arrives at the place where they are always burned she waits with the musicians till her husband is burned, whose body they place in a very large pit that has been made ready for it, covered with much firewood. Before they light the fire his mother or his nearest relative takes a vessel of water on the head and a firebrand in the hand, and goes three times round the pit, and at each round makes a hole in the pot ; and when these three rounds are done breaks the pot, which is small, and throws the torch into the pit. Then they apply the fire, and when the body is burned comes the wife with all the feasters and washes her feet, and then a Brahman performs over her certain ceremonies according to their law ; and when he has finished doing this, she draws off with her own hand all the jewels that she wears, and divides them among her female relatives, and if she has sons she commends them to her most honoured relatives. When they have taken off all she has on, even her good clothes, they put on her some common yellow cloths, and her relatives take her hand and she takes a branch in the other, and goes singing and running to the pit where the fire is, and then mounts on some steps which are made high up by the pit. Before they do this they go three times round the fire, and then she mounts the steps and holds in front of her a mat that prevents her from seeing the fire. They throw into the fire a cloth containing rice, and another in which they carry betel leaves, and her comb and mirror with which she adorned herself, saying that all these are needed to adorn herself by her husband's side. Finally she takes leave of all, and puts a pot of oil on her head, and casts herself into the fire with such courage that it is a thing of wonder ; and as soon as she throws herself in, the relatives are ready with firewood and quickly cover her with it, and after this is done, they all raise loud lamentations. When a captain dies, however many wives he has they all burn themselves, and when the King dies they do the same,"¹

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¹ Read a note on this by Dames, *Barbosa*, I, p. 214, n. (1).

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¹ Sewell, *For. Emp.*, pp. 391-3. As regards the account of Nuniz, the following might be observed: "It (i.e. Barbosa's narrative) may be compared with the similar description given by Fernão Nuniz which agrees with it in so many details as to make it probable that Nuniz had seen a manuscript of Barbosa's work". Dames, *Barbosa*, I, p. 213, n. (1). But the difference between the two accounts is in the following: Barbosa speaks of a light grey or quite white horse; Nuniz writes about a worthless horse. Barbosa makes a woman who is going to commit sati give a speech; Nuniz is silent about it. Barbosa speaks of a pitcher full of oil; Nuniz also mentions this detail but adds a mirror and flowers. Neither of these travellers has anything to say about the inexplicable lemon carried by a woman. But, as we shall see, a later traveller observed this detail. B.A.S.

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There is another eye-witness who has left to us an account of sati. Caesar Frederick (A. D. 1567) writes thus : " And in the time I rested there (Vijayanagara City) I saw many strange and beastly deeds done by the Gentiles. First, when there is any noble man or woman dead, they burne their bodies : and if a married man or woman die, his wife must burne herself alive, for the love of her husband, and with the body of her husband : so that when any man dyeth, his wife will take a month's leave, two or three, or as shee will, to burne herself in, and that day being come, wherein she ought to be burnt, that morning she goeth out of her house very carely, either on Horseback or an Elephant, or else is borne by eight men on a small stage : in one of these orders shee goeth, being apparelled like to a Bride, carried round about the Citie, with her hair down about her shoulders, garnished with Jewels and Flowers, according to the estate of the party, and they go with as great joy as Brides doe in Venice to their Nuptials : she carrieth in her left hand a looking-glasse, and in her right-hand an arrow, and singeth through the Citie as she passeth, and saith, that she goeth to sleepe with her deere spouse and husband.

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She is accompanied with her kindred and friends untill it be one or two of the clocke in the afternoone, then they goe out of the Citie, and going along the Rivers side called Nigondin (Āneguṇḍi), which runneth under the walls of the Citie, untill they come unto a place where they use to make this burning of Women, being widdowes, there is prepared in this place a great square Cave, with a little pinnacle hard by it, foure or five steps up : the aforesaid Cave is full of dryed wood. The woman being come thither, accompanied with a great number of people which come to see the thing, then they make ready a great banquet, and she that shall be burned eateth with as great joy and gladnesse, as though it were her Wedding day: and the feast being ended, then they goe to dancing and singing a certaine time, according as she will. After this, the woman of her own accord, commandeth them to make the fire in the square Cave where the drie wood is, and when it is kindled, they come and certifie her thereof, then presently she leaveth the feast, and taketh nearest kinsman of her husband by the hand, and they both goe together to the banks of the aforesaid River, where she putteth off all her jewels and all her clothes, and giveth them to her parents or kinsfolke, and covering herself with a cloth, because shee will not bee seene of the people being naked, she throweth herselfe into the River, saying: O wretches, wash away your sinnes.

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Comming out of the water, she rowleth herselfe into a yellow cloth of fourteen braces long : and againe she taketh her husbands kinsman by the hand, and they goe both together up to the pinnacle of the square Cave, where the fire is made. When shee is on the pinnacle, she talketh and reasoneth with the people, recommending unto them her children and kindred. Before the pinnacle they use to set a Mat, because they shall not see the fierceness of the fire, yet there are many that will have them plucked away, shewing therein an heart not fearfull, and that they are not affraid of that sight. When this silly woman has reasoneth with the people a good while to her content there is another woman that taketh a pot with oyle, and sprinkleth it over her head, and with the same shee annointeth all her body, and afterwards throweth the pot into the fornace, and both the woman and the pot goe together into the fire, and presently the people that are round about the fornace throw after her into the cave great pieces of wood, so by this meanes, with the fire and with the blowes that shee hath with the wood throwen after her, she is quickly dead, and after this there groweth such sorrow and such lamentation among the people, that all their mirth is turned into howling and weeping, in such wise, that a man should scarce beare the hearing of it.

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I have seene many burnt in this manner, because my house was neere to the gate where they goe out at the place of burning : and when there dyeth any Great Man, his wife with all his slaves with whom hee hath had carnall copulation, burne themselves together with him".¹

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¹ Caesar Frederick, Purchas, Pilgrims, X, pp. 94-6.

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John Huighen Van Linschoten in A. D. 1583 wrote thus : "When the Bramenes die, all their friends assemble together, and make a hole in the ground, wherein they throwe much wood and other things : and if the man bee of any great account, they cast in sweet Sanders, and other Spices, with Rice, Corne, and such like, and much Oyle, because the fire should burn stronger. Which done, they lay the dead Bramenes in it : then commeth his wife with musike and many of her neerest friends all singing certaine praises in commendation of her husbands life, putting her in comfort, and encouraging her to follow her husband, and goe with him into the other world. Then shee taketh all her Jewels, and parteth them among her friends, and so with a cheerfull countenance, she leapeth into the fire, and is presently covered with Wood and Oyle : so shee is quickly dead, and with her Husbands body burned to ashes..."²

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² Linschoten, Purchas, ibid., pp. 256-7, Cf. Metthwold, who gives a singular reason why sati was in fashion in India. "It is amongst these Indians a received history that there was a time when wives were

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Barradas narrates the events that happened in A. D. 1614 on the death of Veṅkaṭapati Rāya I : "Three days later the King died at the age of sixty-seven years. His body was burned in his own garden with sweet scented woods, sandals, aloes, and such like ; and immediately afterwards three queens burned themselves, one of whom was of the same age as the King, and the other two aged thirty-five years. They showed great courage. They went forth richly dressed with many jewels and gold ornaments and precious stones, and arriving at the funeral pyre they divided these, giving some to their relatives, some to the Brahmans to offer prayers for them, and throwing some to be scrambled for by the people. Then they took leave of all, mounted on to a lofty place, and threw themselves into the middle of the fire, which was very great. Thus they passed into eternity ".¹ Floris confirms him in his statement that the three queens of Veṅkaṭapati committed sati. Floris writes thus : "On the five and twentieth came the newes of the death of Wencatadrapa King of Velur, after his fiftie yeares raigne, and that this three wives (of whom Obyama Queene of Paleocatte was one) had burned themselves quickly with the Corps "².

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¹ Sewell, *For. Emp.*, p. 224.

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² Floris, Purchas, *Pilgrims*, III., p. 338.

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Pietro della Valle is the only traveller who mentions the lemon held by a woman ready to die. He speaks of the affairs at Ikkēri in A. D. 1623. "As we return'd home at night we met a Woman in the City of *Ikkeri*, who, her husband being dead, was resolv'd to burn herself, as 'tis the custom with many Indian Women. She rode on Horse-back about the City with face uncover'd, holding a Looking-glass in one hand and a Lemon in the other, I know not for what purpose ; and

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generally so luxurious (immoral) that, to make way for their friends, they would poyson their husbands ; which to prevent a law was made that, the husbands dead, the wives should accompany them in the same fire, and this law stands yet in force in the Iland of Baly not far from Java". *Relations of Golconda*, p. 28. Metthwold gives us a detailed description of sati. pp. 28-9. This explanation savours much of the Portuguese profligacy spoken of elsewhere in this treatise, and whatever may be the truth as regards its antiquity in other lands (see Thompson, *Suttee*, p. 44), it is not applicable to India. B.A.S.

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beholding herself in the Glass, with a lamentable tone sufficiently pitiful to hear, went along I know not whither, speaking or singing, certain words which I understood not; but they told me they were a kind of Farewell to the World and herself; and indeed, being uttered with that passionateness which the Case requir'd and might produce they mov'd pity in all that heard them, even in us who understood not the Language. She was follow'd by many other Women and Men on foot, who, perhaps, were her Relations; they carry'd a great Umbrella over her, as all Persons of quality in *India* are wont to have, thereby to keep off the Sun, whose heat is hurtful and troublesome. Before her certain Drums were sounded, whose noise she never ceas'd to accompany with her sad Ditties, or Songs; yet with a calm and constant Countenance, without tears, evidencing more grief for her Husband's death than her own, and more desire to go with him in the other world than regret for her own departure out of this: a custom, indeed, cruel and barbarous, but withall of great generosity and virtue in such Women and therefore worthy of no small praise. They said she was to pass in the manner about the City I know not how many dayes, at the end of which she was to go out of the City and be burnt, with more company and solemnity. If I can know when it will be I will not fail to go to see her and by my presence honor her Funeral with that compassionate affection with such great Conjugal Fidelity and Love seem to me to deserve".¹ Pietro della Valle's opinion about sati is in striking contrast to that expressed by the other foreign travellers. His judgment is more balanced and interesting than that of the eye-witnesses of *sahagamana* of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

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¹ Pietro della Valle, *Travels*, II, pp. 266-7. Grey has had some remarks to make about the lemon. *Ibid*, p. 266, n. (1).

C. Sati in Pre-Vijayanagara Times

v2.c18.s3.t3.1

There are some historical notices of sati in early times. A non-sectarian inscription dated A. D. 510-511 narrates that a chieftain or nobleman called Gōparāja, in the company of a powerful king named Bhānu Gupta, came to the place where a pillar was set up, and fought a battle. Gōparāja was killed in the fight and his wife accompanied him by cremating herself on his funeral pyre.¹ In the pathetic farewell speech of the Queen Rājyavatī, the widow of king Dharma Dēva of Nepāl, as recorded in an inscription dated Samvat 386 (about A. D. 705), we have the following : "As thy father is now dead, why preserve my useless life ! Reign then, dear son ; today, even, I follow my husband on his road. Of what use are the fetters of hope that are lengthened for enjoyment, and that bind me to a widowed life in a world similar to a lying dream. I will depart ". The same epigraph however narrates that when her son dissuaded her with tears in his eyes, " then together with her virtuous son she performed the last rites for her own husband ".²

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¹ Fleet, *Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum*, III, p. 92.

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² Bhagavanlal Indraji, *I. A.*, IX, pp. 165-6, Fleet, ibid., III, p. 92, n. (2). With the evidence of these two epigraphs, we may reject the statement (made by Wilkins, *Mod Hind.*, p. 380) that the example of 'Sanjōgata' (daughter of Jāyachand of Kanouj), who performed sati in A. D. 1176 is the earliest authentic account we have of *sahagamana*.

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In southern India sati was not unknown in early times. " The practice of honouring and even worshipping women who committed sati appears to have been very old in southern India. Kannagi, the heroine of the Tamil poem Śilappadigāram, died on hearing of the unjust death inflicted upon her husband by the Pāṇḍyan king of Madura. She was thenceforth worshipped in shrines built for her throughout southern India and Ceylon. In the latter island she is known as Pattini and is very popular. The mother of Rājarāja I is stated to have committed sati and in consequence of this act, evidently an image of her was set up in the temple of Tanjore. Perantalamma, a woman who committed sati, is equally reputed in the Telugu districts ".³

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³ Krishna Sastri, *South Indian Gods*, p. 229.

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The instance of the wife of a Śūdra, given in a record dated Śaka 979 (A. D. 1057) is more an example of self-immolation rather than sati.¹ But in the same year we have a remarkable case of sati in the Karṇāṭaka. It is that of Dēkabbe, the wife of the ruler of Navile-nāḍ, Echa of Pervvayal. The epigraph composed by the poet Malla, son of Āditya, tells us the following story about her: "To the virtuous (with all praise) the jewel of women, Ponnabbe, and to Raviga, was born Dēkabbe, who was given in marriage to Echa of Pervvayal, the ruler of Navile-nāḍ, of the Kuruvanda family...While, famous as a wrestler, a mill in grinding his enemies, he (i.e., Echa) was thus living happily, having thrown and in the crush killed his (i.e. ? Rājendra Choḷa's) kinsman, the king (i.e., Rājēndra Choḷa) had him taken off straight to Talekāḍ and put to death. On hearing the report that they had put to death the Vēḷa of the Kali age, brave and generous,—that beautiful one the light of Raviga's family went forth to the fire-pit to die.

v2.c18.s3.t3.7

¹ Kittel, *Ep. Ind.*, VI, p. 215. Note the clause used against Brahmans in v. 23, p. 219. An undated and defaced inscription written in archaic characters records an instance of sati in the times of a Mahābali Bāṇarasa. 555 of 1906. These examples of sati in the south invalidate the bold statements of Elphinstone (*History of India*, p. 190) and of Grey (*Travels of Pietro della Valle*, II, p., 266, n. 1) that "the practice never occurs south of the river Kistna (or Kṛiṣṇā)", and that "cases of widow-burning in Southern India are not common". These assertions are applicable to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries but not to the earlier times. B.A.S.

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"Her father and mother together, and all her relations, coming, besought her, saying, 'Daughter, do not die',—and all falling down, embraced her feet. But the innocent Dēkabbe, becoming angry, exclaiming said, 'Being praised as the daughter of Raviga, the ruler of Nugu-nāḍ, and the wife of the ruler of Navile-nāḍ, can I have any mind to live, and disgrace the good name of his house who gave me (in marriage) and of his who took me (in marriage)?'

v2.c18.s3.t3.9

"Having thus made her decision, she presented to the god a garden to provide for a perpetual lamp, and saying it was for the offerings, that lotus-eyed one, with reverence, also presented certain other land (described). On all united again and again saying, 'Dont (do it): stop—' she said— 'Be silent: I will not stop', and with kindly words giving away (her) land, goldembroidered cloths, cows and money, and folding her hands with love to the god of gods, she entered the blazing flames, Dēakkabbe, winning the approval of all the world and the daily celebration of her praise and went to the world of gods."¹

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¹ E. C., IV., Hg. 18, p. 69: Kavicharite, I, p. 78 (Rev.ed.)

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This detailed account of Dēkkabbe's daring is necessary if we are to understand that sati was by no means a compulsory custom in the ancient times. Dēkkabbe, who is called in the same inscription "the celebrated mine of heroism", was not the only one who could enter the funeral pyre of her husband. Śākka-gāmuṇḍa's (son) Śiñja-gāmuṇḍa, evidently of Rājēndra-Śōḷa-vaḷanāḍu of Śōḷamaṇḍalam, pierced a tiger in A. D. 1118 and died. Thereupon his wife Śikkavai, daughter of Vaśava-gāmuṇḍa, entered the fire.² On Sundara Chōḷa alias Parāntaka II's death, his queen Vānavan Mahādēvi entered into sahagamana.³ In the siege of Jambūr in A. D. 1191, Biraṇa "fell upon him (i.e., Ekkalarasa of Uddare), pierced his horse, seized his money and slaying him, went to svarga. His wife Biyavve, when setting this stone, died along with him and took svarga by force".⁴

v2.c18.s3.t3.12

² E. C., IX, Kn. 12, p. 122.

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³ Ep. Report for 1906, p. 50.

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⁴ E. C., VII, Sk. 38, p. 46.

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Sometimes, the woman who committed sati explained the motive of her action. An undated inscription, which probably belongs to the reign of Vīra Rājēndra Chōḷa Dēva, registers a decision made by a woman before committing sati. She says that if she lived after her husband, she would become the slave of his co-wives. Whoever said she ought not to die, would incur the sin of prostituting his wife. If she did not die, those who did not bind her and throw her into the fire and kill her would incur the sin of prostituting their wives.⁵

v2.c18.s3.t3.16

⁵ 156 of 1906, Ep. Report for 1907, p. 77. Vīra-rājēndra Śōḷa Dēva was a name of the Chōḷa king Kulōttuṅga III, and also of Rājarāja III. Ep. Report for 1907, p. 76.

v2.c18.s3.t3.17

This compulsory levy on the cruelty of man was not, however, the order of the day. Women committed sati on the death of their husbands in a fight or in war. In A. D. 1287 Kūḍali was entered, the cows captured and Beṇṇavali-Janne-guru's village ruined. Then Bommarasa of Hosaguṇḍa, "stopped the riot, fought and slew and went to svarga". His wife, whose name is effaced in the record, "gave arm and hand and went to svarga".¹ On the death of Babbeya Nāyaka's son the Mahāsāmanta Birudara-gōva, Mahādēva Nāyaka, in the reign of Ballāḷa II, his wife Bibove Nāykitti ascended the funeral pyre (bovviḷige) of her husband and became a sati.²

v2.c18.s3.t3.18

¹ E. C., VII, Sh. 61-2, pp. 23-24.

v2.c18.s3.t3.19

² My. Arch. Report for 1914-15, p. 53.

D. Sati in Vijayanagara

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Karṇāṭaka and Tamil tradition, therefore, had sanctified the brutal custom long before Vijayanagara was founded. The instances enumerated above, which are not exhaustive, when taken in conjunction with the following relating to Vijayanagara enable us to deduce some conclusions as regards the occasion when women performed sahagamana and the communities which were addicted to this cruel rite. One of the earliest examples of sati in Vijayanagara times is that recorded in an epigraph dated A. D. 1354. In the reign of Hariyappa Oḍeyar, Mala Gauḍa went to svarga and his wife Chennakkā performed sahagamana and also went to svarga.³ In A. D. 1376 in the reign of Bukka Rāya, Āvali Chanda Gauḍa's son Bēchi Gauḍa went to svarga. His junior wife Muddi Gauṇḍi performed sahagamana and both obtained mukti.⁴ Nuṅka Gauḍa died in A.D. 1383 and his queen (arasi) Dēmāyi entered the fire⁵. In the reign Harihara II, in A.D. 1386, a mahāsati kallu, or stone commemorating a great sati, records the death of Bommakkā, wife of Malayandūr Bēḍabira who died fighting in a battle.⁶ On the death of the match-lockman Dēveya [The page is blank.]

v2.c18.s3.t4.2

³ E. C., VIII, Sb. 104, p. 15.

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⁴ Ibid., Sb. 106, p. 16.

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⁵ E. C., XI, Dg. 117, p. 73.

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⁶ My. Arch. Report for 1923, p. 90.

v2.c18.s3.t4.6

Sati memorial Stones.

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Nāyaka, who was, as we saw, bitten by a snake in A.D. 1388, his wife Muddana Kēti became a great sati and went to Vaikuṇṭha¹. Hiriya Gauḍa, in A. D. 1397, “in the presence of the god Kēśava, at the southern door of the Harihara temple, at ten gha. after sunset, went to svarga. His queen (arasi) Lakshumāyi entered the fire and went to the world of gods.”² The wife of Chokka Gauḍa went to svarga with her husband in A.D. 1391.³ Āvali Gōpa Gavuṇḍa’s workman (besemage) Baichi Nāyaka’s son Rāya went to svarga in A.D. 1393, on which his wife performed sahagamana.⁴ Būja Gauḍa, son of Bōḷa Gauḍa of Saṇḍa, the chief place of Nevalige-nāḍ in the Āraga Eighteen Kaṃpaṇa, died and his wife Tyāya (?) performed sahagamana⁵. A dependent of Nallā Chakravarti named Bommaṇṇa died in A.D. 1402, and his wife Nāgāyi died with him.⁶ About A.D. 1403 the Mande-Gāmuṇḍa Sōya’s son Vira-Nara (died), and Urivāna Bomma Nāyaka’s daughter Kāla Dēvi performed sahagamana.⁷ Nārappa Nāyaka, son of Bommeya Nāyaka of the Durgga boundary, died, as related elsewhere, in A.D. 1410, at his post; and his wife Bommakkā become a great sati.⁸ In the same year Masanakkā, wife of Birūr Bomma Gauḍa’s son Mādappa, performed sahagamana on the death of her husband.⁹ In the next year A.D. 1411 Ami Gauḍi went to svarga along with her husband Manavane Viṭharaka.¹⁰ The Lord of Ships, Maṅgaḷūr Nāga Gauḍa’s son Seṭṭi Gauḍa, who has already figured in these pages, died in A.D. 1412, and his wife, whose name is effaced, entered the fire.¹¹ On the death of Bulikhara of Sahāḍlaya pura, his three wives “gave arm and hand” (tōḷukayi), i.e., performed sahagamana, as related in an inscription dated A.D. 1417.¹ Rāma Gauḍa died in the same year under certain circumstances the nature of which cannot exactly be determined. The record, however, states that his wife Bomma Gauḍi, "uniting with Rāma Gauḍa, performed sahagamana, and Rāma Gauḍa and Bommaka took svarga by force."² Keḷadi Kariya Timme Gauḍa died in A.D. 1419, on which his wife Rāmakka became a mahā-sati.³ Kumbāra Mahābala Dēva's son Bommandira and his daughter-in-law Chandavve, "these two ascended svarga" in A.D. 1423⁴. Bayirava Gauḍa (son of Bira Gauḍa, the Mahāprabhu of Heggōḍe belonging to the Kuppe Twelve of the Eḍe-nāḍ Seventy) in A.D. 1424 together with his wife gained Vaikuṇṭha.⁵ A certain person, whose name is effaced in the record dated A.D. 1425, died, "on which Kāmāyi became a māstikal, (i.e, a mahā-sati) and by sahagamana gained svarga.⁶ Manavane Mādiga in A.D. 1429 went to svarga and his wife also went to svarga.⁷ An inscribed mahāsati-kallu, or as it is also known, a māstikal, dated A.D. 1430, found at Arunavahaḷḷi, Malavaḷḷi tāluka, states that a woman named Māla... bbe, wife of Prabha Gavuḍa, went to the world of gods.⁸ Kumbati Rāṇaya Nāyaka "ended his life" in A.D. 1432, and his wife Chauḍa Nāyaki performed sahagamana.⁹ Hunavaḷḷi Vidarikari Bomma Nāyaka died in A.D. 1437, and his wife Kāmeya Nāyakiti became a mahā-sati.¹⁰ An inscription of about A.D. 1442 relates that Amma Gauḍa of Haraūr "with his wife Bayirava Gauḍi, departed in company (i.e., died together)."¹¹ Bommarasa Gauḍa (the son of Maleyamma Gauḍa, the Master of the twelve villages belonging to Kuppe), died in A.D. 1445. "And his wife, a head-jewel of the young women in all the circle of the world, with great desire performed *sahagamana*, and they were united to the feet of Śiva."¹ Bhayirava Gauḍa, son of Rāma Gauḍa of Hārika, died in about A.D. 1445. His wife Bhayiri Gauḍi "united with him performed *sahagamana*."² In A.D. 1451 Heggōḍe Tamma Seṭṭi together with his wife Bomma Gauḍi, gained the world of gods³. Rāma Gauḍa, son of Śirūru Gauḍa, fell fighting during a siege in A.D. 1454, "on which together with his wife Chiya Gauḍi, they made *sahagamana*."⁴ Māravatūr Gaṇapa Gauḍa's son Bomma Gauḍa died in A.D. 1455, and his wife Bommi Gauḍi performed *sahagamana*.⁵

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¹ E. C., VIII, Sb. 483, p. 81, op. cit.

v2.c18.s3.t4.9

² E. C., XI, Dg. 116, p. 73.

v2.c18.s3.t4.10

³ E. C., VIII, Sb. 25, p. 5.

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⁴ Ibid., Sb., 134, p. 17.

v2.c18.s3.t4.12

⁵ E. C., VII, Sk. 302, p. 152.

v2.c18.s3.t4.13

⁶ E. C., VIII, Sb., 155, p. 23.

v2.c18.s3.t4.14

⁷ E. C., VII, Hl. 92, p. 176.

v2.c18.s3.t4.15

⁸ E. C., VIII, Sb. 484, p. 81.

v2.c18.s3.t4.16

⁹ Ibid., Sa. 8, p. 93.

v2.c18.s3.t4.17

¹⁰ Ibid., Sb., 26, p. 5.

v2.c18.s3.t4.18

¹¹ Ibid., Sb., 467, p. 78, op. cit.

v2.c18.s3.t4.19

¹ E. C., III, Md. 103 p. 49.

v2.c18.s3.t4.20

² E. C., VII, Sk. 37, p. 46.

v2.c18.s3.t4.21

³ E. C., VIII, Sa. 35, p. 97.

v2.c18.s3.t4.22

⁴ Ibid., Sb. 461, p. 78.

v2.c18.s3.t4.23

⁵ Ibid., Sb. 565, p. 90.

v2.c18.s3.t4.24

⁶ Ibid., Nr. 25, p. 131.

v2.c18.s3.t4.25

⁷ Ibid., Sb. 24, p. 5.

v2.c18.s3.t4.26

⁸ My. Arch. Report for 1920, p. 42.

v2.c18.s3.t4.27

⁹ E. C., VIII. Sb. 497, p. 83.

v2.c18.s3.t4.28

¹⁰ Ibid., Sb. 533, p. 88.

v2.c18.s3.t4.29

¹¹ Ibid., Sb. 163, p. 23.

v2.c18.s3.t4.30

¹ E. C., VIII, Sb. 495, p. 83.

v2.c18.s3.t4.31

² E. C., VII, Sk. 36, p. 46.

v2.c18.s3.t4.32

³ E. C., VIII, Sb. 566, p. 90.

v2.c18.s3.t4.33

⁴ Ibid., Sa. 48, p. 99.

v2.c18.s3.t4.34

⁵ Ibid., Sa, 50, p. 99.

E. Some Conclusions as regards Sati

v2.c18.s3.t5.1

The above instances of *sahagamana* help us to solve certain aspects of the question of sati. In most instances, if one may venture to say so, at least in the mediaeval history of southern India, the death of the husband in a fight, a siege, a cow-raid, a riot or for a cause which, according to the notions of the times, called forth their courage and endurance, their wives committed sati. More interesting than the occasion when they performed sati is the question of the classes amongst whom this custom was most popular. According to the inscriptions it was the Gauḍas, and in some instances, the Nāyakas, who were given to this rite. The Gauḍas included persons of rank as the name of *Gauḍa-arasa* and *Gauḍa-arasi* clearly indicate. Our assumption that sati was restricted to one or two classes is to some extent corroborated by the evidence of foreign travellers. But here again, as we shall relate in connection with orthodoxy in Vijayanagara, there seems to be some confusion among foreign witnesses as regards the name of the people who committed sati and similar rites. We shall revert to this subject later on.

v2.c18.s3.t5.2

We now come to the question whether sati was compulsory according to the Hindu lawgivers. On this point, we believe, there cannot be any difference of opinion: the classical canonists never sanctioned compulsory sahagamana. Thus Manu, whose well known dictum as regards the dependence of women we shall presently cite, says: "...Him to whom her father may give her, or her brother with the father's permission, she shall obey as long as he lives, and when he is dead, she must not insult (his memory)...At her pleasure let her emaciate her body by (living on) pure flowers, roots, and fruits; but she must never even mention the name of another man after her husband has died...A virtuous wife who after the death of her husband constantly remains chaste, reaches heaven, though she have no son, just like those chaste men."¹ Manu, therefore, makes provision for a pure and simple life of a widow but not for her death on the funeral pyre of her husband.

v2.c18.s3.t5.3

¹ Manu, V., I., 151, 157, 160, pp. 195-7.

v2.c18.s3.t5.4

Kauṭilya's regulations are more detailed in this connection. He lays down minute rules for the re-marriage of widows within their own gōtra. This applies to the wives of those who belong to the Śūdra, Vaiśya, Kshatriya, and Brahman castes.² There is, of course, consensus of opinion among the classical canonists on this subject.³

v2.c18.s3.t5.5

² Arthaśāstra, Bk. III, Ch. IV., 159, pp. 195-6.

v2.c18.s3.t5.6

³ Manu, IX, 75-6, pp. 340-1; Gautama; XVIII, 15-20, p. 272; Vasiṣṭha, XVII, 55-64, pp. 89-90, 74-80, pp. 92-3; Nārada, XII, 97-100, pp. 184-5.

v2.c18.s3.t5.7

According to the Hindu legists, sahagamana is optional. Thus says Viṣṇu: "After the death of her husband, to preserve her chastity or to ascend the pile after him...A good wife, who perseveres in a chaste life after the death of her husband, will go to heaven, like (perpetual) students, even though she has no son."⁴ Bṛihaspati says: "A wife is considered half the body (of her husband), equally sharing the result of his good or wicked deeds; whether she ascends the pile after him, or chooses to survive him leading a virtuous life, she promotes the welfare of her husband."¹ The freedom given to the widow in the mediaeval code of Śukra is thus stated: "When the husband is dead, the chaste women should accompany him or observe the vow, should not like to go to other's houses, and should always maintain *brahmacharyya* or control of passions, should give up the daily ornamentation of self."²

v2.c18.s3.t5.8

⁴ Viṣṇu, XXV, 14, 17, p. 111,

v2.c18.s3.t5.9

¹ Brihaspati, XXIV, 11, p. 369. Read Jolly's comment on ibid., n. See also ibid., XXIV, 8, p. 368.

v2.c18.s3.t5.10

² Sukraniti, IV, iv., 11., 57-9, p. 163.

v2.c18.s3.t5.11

One cannot determine how, in spite of a fair degree of freedom allowed by the lawgivers, *sahagamana* rose to the status of a social institution. That it was not always compulsory seems evident from the remarks of some of the foreign travellers whose evidence we have cited above. Even according to Barbosa the women, who wore a cheerful countenance on the awful occasion, made public the fact that, although they were "free to act", yet they burned themselves for the love they bore to their husbands. In pre-Vijayanagara times too, as Friar Jordanus, who visited India between A.D. 1321-3 tells us in the following passage, it may not have been compulsory. According to this eye-witness, who speaks of "Lesser India",—"In this India, on the death of a noble, or of any people of substance, their bodies are burned: and eke their wives follow them alive to the fire, and, for the sake of worldly glory, and for the love of their husbands, and for eternal life, burn along with them, with as much joy as if they were going to be wedded; and those who do this have the higher repute for virtue and perfection among the rest. Wonderful! I have sometimes seen, for one dead man who was burnt, five living women take their places on the fire with him, and die with their dead".³ If it is permissible to suppose that coercion may not have brought to bear on unfortunate women on all occasions, then, the concluding lines of the epigraph, dated A. D. 1445, already cited, recording the death of Bomma Gauḍa, may not be altogether incredible. His wife, the inscription relates, "with great desire (she) performed *sahagamana*".¹

v2.c18.s3.t5.12

³ Jordanus, Mirabilia Descripta, Preface, p.v., pp. 20-1. Cf. With the account of Ibn Batuta, Travels, p. 109 (Lee).

v2.c18.s3.t5.13

¹ E. C., VIII, Sb. 495, p. 83, op. cit. ² Sewell., *For, Emp.*, p.

v2.c18.s3.t5.14

We have yet to find out the probable causes which brought sati to the limelight of south Indian history. We admit that the following assumptions are merely suggestions. In the first place, we have to note a singular precedent set by the members of the royal families of Vijayanagara. It was the custom according to which queens committed sati. Nuniz relates the following: "Then he (Kṛṣṇa Dēva Rāya) took a ring from his finger and gave it to one of his pages, so that he might show it to his queens in token of his death, that they might burn themselves according to custom".² It is not difficult to imagine that on the failure of a campaign, the queens and women-folk should have performed *sahagamana* to escape dishonour at the hands of the Muhammadans. The king in mediaeval times stood as the embodiment of all that was great and virtuous; and the example of the queens was bound to have a profound effect on the minds of the women of Vijayanagara. This may account for the prevalence of the rite in the capital as well as in the provinces where, as related by Muhammad Sharif Hanafi in his *Majālis-u Salātin*, on the death of a ruler called "Kaner Rai" in A.D. 1628, his 700 wives performed *sahagamana*.³

v2.c18.s3.t5.15

Another cause which may have made sati popular was the idea of self-sacrifice which prompted men to lay down their lives for the sake of their rulers. We shall mention this subject in connection with patriotism. Barbosa also bears testimony to the remarkable spirit of loyalty which prevailed on those days. "So great is the haste of those who wish to burn themselves first, that it is something wonderful, and many men, confidants of the king, burn themselves with him".⁴

v2.c18.s3.t5.16

³³⁹ The Queens of Vijayanagara at least on one memorable occasion, accompanied the ruler on his campaigns. B. A. S. ³ Elliot, *Hist. of India*, VII, p. 139; Satyanatha, The *Nayaks*, p.

v2.c18.s3.t5.17

²⁵⁷ Does the name Kaner Rai stand for the Nāyaka of Madura? B.A.S. ⁴ *Barbosa*, Stanley, p. 93; I., Dames, pp. 216-17.

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