Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/113

 THE PERSIAN DABISTAN ON SUTTEE 81 the duty of every woman, excepting one that is preg- nant, to enter into the blazing fire. A Brahman's wife in particular is to devote herself in the same fire with her husband; but others are allowed to perform the rite in a separate place. It is, however, criminal to force the woman into the fire, and equally so to prevent her who voluntarily devotes herself." In addition to the passages that have already been given, there are references to " suttee ' : ' in Sanskrit literature from the early centuries of the Christian era to the time of the Mohammedan conquest, but their number precludes citing them here. It is sufficient to present three European accounts of this Indian prac- tice, and I shall first quote from the well-known Italian traveller Pietro della Valle, who visited India in the first quarter of the seventeenth century and records an instance of widow.-burning at Ikkeri, now called Ikheri, in the Mysore district of Southern India, where the practice was less common than in other parts of India. His journal, which is accessible in the Hakluyt Soci- ety's publications, contains the following memoranda among the entries for November 12, 1623. ' As we returned home at night we met a Woman in the City of Ikkeri, who, her husband being dead, was resolv'd to burn herself, as 'tis the custom with many Indian Women. She rode on Horse-back about the City with face uncovered, holding a Looking-glass in one hand and a Lemon in the other, I know not for what purpose; and beholding herself in the Glass, with a lamentable tone sufficiently pittiful to hear, went