Administrative System of the Marathas c19.s3.t6.11

c19.s3.t6.11

Another ordeal is described in a document quoted by Mr. Bhat in the journals of the Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal.¹⁶ There, the palm of the man is first bandaged with leaves of peepul tree and new thread. Then a heated ball is placed on his hand. He is then made to walk over seven concentric circles. After completing the seventh circle he drops the metal ball on a little heap of grain which is burnt and it is thus shown that no fraud has been practised. These ordeals were undoubtedly the relics of a bygone age. But the fallacy of such trials was not altogether undetected; in one case at least we find the Sabha Naik objecting to the demand of a *rava* (drawing out a piece of metal from heated oil) on the ground that when reliable evidence was available, an ordeal should not be permitted. Fire ordeal was in fact very seldom resorted to in ordinary cases.