Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/106

 78 THE PEACTICE OF SUTTEE As soon as she came to the pyre, she took off her ornaments and distributed them among her household and friends, leaving a memento, so to say, to those who loved her. The ornaments were these: she had on her fingers a quantity of rings, set with precious stones of different colours; on her head she wore a number of golden stars set off by all kinds of jewels; and around her neck there were several necklaces, smaller or larger according as they hung higher or lower upon her breast. At last, when she had taken leave of her household, she was placed upon the pile by her brother, and then, amid the wonderment of the crowds that had assembled to witness the sight, she brought her life to its heroic end. The soldiers, all in full armour, marched three times around the pile before it was kindled; while she lay down by her husband's side. Not a word did she utter, not a sign of fear did she betray as the flames came on. Some of those who witnessed the spectacle were moved with pity; others were stirred to extrav- agant praise. Of the Greeks, however, some condemned the custom as savage and barbarous.' A notice of the custom of Indian widow-burning may be cited also from the well-known Arabian trav- eller Ibn Batuta, whose distant journeys led him to Hindustan in 1325 A. D. In describing his various ex- periences and the sights which he saw, Ibn Batuta says (as translated by Lee) : " I also saw those women who burn themselves when their husbands die. The woman adorns herself and is accompanied by a cavalcade of