Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s3.t5.18

v2.c18.s3.t5.18

There may be another reason why sati was very common in Vijayanagara. The rite seems to have been popular in other lands as well. This we infer from the description of an island called "Sunda" given by Faria y Sousa. While relating the events of A.D. 1526-7, he says: "The Women (of Sunda which, according to Faria y Sousa was divided on the south from Java by a very narrow Channel) are beautiful, those of Quality chaste, contrary to what is usual in most of the other parts of the World. They have Convents into which they enter to preserve their Virginity as in Spain. The married women kill themselves when their Husbands die; a good Custom to show their Duty, and to prevent their killing them, were it not against the Law of Nature, and therefore, a brutal Error".¹ The custom may have spread from India to the southern islands.