The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c9.51

c9.51

Down to *c.* 1000 A. D. Satīs were rare in the Deccan. Sulaiman, an Arabian merchant who had spent some time on the western coast of India at the beginning of the 10th century, states that it was only sometimes that queens used to mount the funeral pyres of their consorts; there was no compulsion, it was entirely left to them to choose (Elliot and Dowson, Vol. I, p. 6).