Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s1.131

c7.s1.131

With the Rajput warrior, Suttee or even the slaughter of women and children was a point of honour. He only resorted to these acts of desperation when he was facing a certain defeat and there was every likelihood of his family falling into the hands of a not very kind enemy. Ordinarily, wives and favourite concubines committed Suttee on the death of a Rajput chief, but bigger and more spectacular holocausts were reserved for the scenes of a losing fight.⁴ We do not affirm that the devotion of a Hindu wife was uniformly absent in every case of Suttee. There are cases on record which somewhat encourage the belief held by the admirers of Suttee, but such examples are too few to affect our general analysis.¹ On the whole, we find ourselves in agreement with Abu’l Fazl who divides the Satis into a number of categories namely, those who were compelled by the relatives to burn themselves; those who deliberately and with a cheerful countenance accepted the ordeal owing to their devotion for their dead husbands; those who out of regard for public opinion surrendered themselves; others who were swayed by considerations of family traditions and customs; and finally, those who were actually dragged into the fire against their will.²