New History of the Marathas v2.c24.s2.74

v2.c24.s2.74

There is no evidence to show that Sakwarbai was forced by the Peshwa to burn herself. The latter immediately on Shahu’s death put Sakwarbai’s partizans under arrest, viz., the Pratinidhi and his Mutalik Yamaji Shivdev. When she saw that she could not manage to snatch power out of the Peshwa’s hands she preferred to die. The Peshwa had no need to compel her to that course. He could easily have restrained her, if she had lived and made mischief. The custom of Sati had a strong hold on the higher society of those days, as we notice several prominent Maratha sardars such as Kanhoji Angria, Raghuji Bhosle and others being followed at their death by a number of their wives and maids burning themselves on their husband's funeral pyres as a mark of respect for the dead. An elderly lady like Sakwarbai, the only Rani then living of the pious king was bound to follow the time-honoured custom, the merits of which have to be judged by the moral standard prevailing at that period.