ABSTRACT
Though 1861 was the date of the last suttee at the funeral of a ruling prince, the rite died hard, and often swelled the death-pomp of a Rajput thakur or baron. On October 1, 1853, the widow of the Waghela chief of Aluwa, in Kuri, a district in the Gaekwar's dominions, burned; and in 1860 there was a suttee of extreme atrocity near Guna, in Gwalior. The widow's resolution failed her, and she escaped from the burning pile; the spectators struck her with sticks and twice wounded her with swords. But she was maddened and managed to hide in reeds on the banks of the river Parvati. The chapter argues that sati may or may not be forbidden by the Hindu religion, but it was once a common practice, and the sympathies of the people, at least of the unenlightened people, are all with sati and it is looked upon as a meritorious deed.
