Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/152

 118 THE PRACTICE OF SUTTEE for such superstitious fanaticism, whose characteristic feature is to suppress all natural and rational senti- ment/ Long after its abolition suttee continued to be prac- tised here and there, especially among the Rajputs. The heroic spirit of these princely rulers had fostered for ages the sentiment of sacrifice, and instances of wholesale self-immolation by Rajput women have al- ready been referred to in the preceding volumes (e. g. iv, 22). Trevor's " Rhymes of Rajputana," based upon the annals collected by Tod in that warlike dis- trict, gives well in ballad form an account of the suttee of Goran's wife when her lord fell in battle. The brev- ity and swiftness with which the verses tell the tale admirably represent the Rajput courage when called upon to act. The ballad is given in full: ' Gorah and Badal, the Chauhans and kin To fair Padmani, that fierce onslaught led. Badal, a boy, was wounded ; Gorah dead, Covered with woimds and honour, was brought in And laid upon the pyre while drums made din. His wife, the spirit of the Rajput glowing Within her breast that swelled with love and pride, Questioned the boy of how her lord had died ; What glories crowned his coming and his going. "Mother," the lad replied " as reapers reap The wheat, so he the harvest of the battle; And I who followed 'mid the noise and rattle Gleaned in the wake of his terrific sweep. Before he laid him down to rest and sleep,