All Burn Their Dead; And When
The Husband Dies, The Widow Shaves Her Head, And Wears Her Jewels No
More, Continuing This State Of Mourning As Long As She Lives.
When a Rajput dies, his wife accompanies his body to the funeral pile in
her best array, attended by
All her friends and kindred, and by music.
When the funeral pile is set on fire, she walks round it two or three
times, bewailing the death of her husband, and then rejoicing that she
is now to live with him again: After which, embracing her friends, she
sits down on the top of the pile among dry wood, taking her husband's
head on her lap, and orders fire to be put to the pile; which done, her
friends throw oil upon her and sweet perfumes, while she endures the
fire with wonderful fortitude, loose not bound. I have seen many
instances of this. The first I ever saw was at Surat, the widow being a
virgin of ten years old, and her affianced husband being a soldier slain
in the wars at a distance, whence his clothes and turban were sent to
her, and she insisted on burning herself along with these. The governor
refused to give her permission, which she took grievously to heart, and
insisted on being burnt; but they durst not, till her kindred procured
leave by giving the governor a present, to her great joy. The kindred of
the husband never force this, but the widow esteems it a disgrace to her
family not to comply with this custom, which they may refrain from if
they choose:
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