See also:

• SUTTEE (an English corruption of Sanskrit sail, " good woman " or true " wife ")

SUTTEE (an See also:

• ENGLISH

English corruption of See also:

• SANSKRIT

Sanskrit See also:

• SAIL

sail, " See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good woman " or true " wife ")  , the rite of widow-See also:

• SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

sacrifice, i.e. the burning the living widow on the funeral pyre of her See also:

• HUSBAND

husband, as practised among certain See also:

• HINDU

Hindu castes . As See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early as the Atharva Veda the rite is mentioned as an " old See also:

• CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom," but See also:

• EUROPEAN

European scholars have shown that the See also:

• TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text of the still earlier Rig Veda had been corrupted, probably wilfully, by the Hindu priesthood, and that there was no See also:

• INJUNCTION (from Lat. injungere, to fasten, or attach to, to lay a burden or charge on, to enjoin)

injunction that the rite should be observed . The directions of the Rig Veda seem to have involved a merely symbolic See also:

• SUTTEE (an English corruption of Sanskrit sail, " good woman " or true " wife ")

suttee: the widow taking her See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place on the funeral See also:

• PILE

pile, but being recalled to " this See also:

• WORLD

world of See also:

• LIFE

life " at the last moment by her See also:

• BROTHER

brother-in-See also:

• LAW
• LAW (0. Eng. lagu, M. Eng. lawe; from an old Teutonic root lag, " lie," what lies fixed or evenly; cf. Lat. lex, Fr. loi)
• LAW, JOHN (1671—1729)
• LAW, WILLIAM (1686-1761)

law or adopted See also:

• CHILD
• CHILD, FRANCIS JAMES (1825-1896)
• CHILD, L
• CHILD, LYDIA MARIA (1802-1880)
• CHILD, SIR FRANCIS (1642-1713)
• CHILD, SIR JOHN (d. 1690)
• CHILD, SIR JOSIAH (163o - 1699)

child . The practice was sporadically observed in See also:

• INDIA
• INDIA, FRENCH

India when the Macedonians reached India See also:

• LATE

late in the 4th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century B.C . (Diod . Sic. xix . 33—34); but the earlier See also:

• INDIAN

Indian law books do not enjoin it, and See also:

• MANN, HORACE (1796-1859)

Mann simply commands the widow to See also:

• LEAD
• LEAD (pronounced iced)

lead a life of chastity and See also:

• ASCETICISM

asceticism . About the 6th century A.D. a recrudescence of the rite took place, and with the help of corrupted Vedic texts it soon See also:

• GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew to have a full religious See also:

• SANCTION (Lat. sanctia, from sancire, to decree or ordain)

sanction . But even so it was not See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general throughout India . It was rare in the See also:

• PUNJAB

Punjab; and in See also:

• MALABAR

Malabar, the most See also:

• PRIMITIVE

primitive See also:

• PART

part of See also:

• SOUTHERN

southern India, it was forbidden . In its See also:

• MEDIEVAL

medieval See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form it was essentially a Brahminic rite, and it was where Brahminism was strongest, in See also:

• BENGAL
• BENGAL, BAY OF

Bengal and along the See also:

• GANGES (GANGA)

Ganges valley and in Oudh and See also:

• RAJPUTANA

Rajputana, that it was most usual . The manner of the sacrifice differed according to the See also:

• DISTRICT

district .

In See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south India the widow jumped or was forced into the See also:

• FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire-See also:

• PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

pit; in western India she was placed in a grass hut, supporting the See also:

• CORPSE (Lat. corpus, the body)

corpse's See also:

• HEAD (in 0. Eng. heafad; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch hoofd, Ger. Haupt, generally taken to be in origin connected with Lat. caput, Gr. KerbOvi7)
• HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART
• HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, BART

head with her right See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand while her See also:

• LEFT

left held the See also:

• TORCH (O. Fr. torche, from Med. Lat. tortia, derived from tortus, twisted, torquere, to twist)

torch; in the Ganges valley she See also:

• LAY

lay down upon the already lighted pile;while in See also:

• NEPAL, NEPAUL

Nepal she was placed beside the corpse, and when the pile was lighted the two bodies were held in place by See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long poles pressed down by relatives . The earliest See also:

• ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to stop suttee was made by See also:

• AKBAR, AKHBAR

Akbar (1542-1605), who forbade compulsion, voluntary suttees alone being permitted . Towards the end of the 18th century the See also:

• BRITISH

British authorities, on the initiative of See also:

• SIR

Sir C . See also:

• MALET, LUCAS

Malet and See also:

• JONATHAN
• JONATHAN (Heb. " Yah [weh] gives ")

Jonathan See also:

• DUNCAN
• DUNCAN, ADAM DUNCAN, 1ST VISCOUNT (1731-1804)
• DUNCAN, PETER MARTIN (1824-1891)
• DUNCAN, THOMAS (1807—1845)

Duncan in Bombay , took up the question, but nothing definite was ventured on till 1829 when See also:

• LORD
• LORD (O. Eng. hldford, i.e. hldfweard, the warder or keeper of bread, hlIf, loaf; the word is not represented in any other Teutonic language)
• LORD, JOHN (1810-1894)

Lord See also:

• WILLIAM
• WILLIAM (1143-1214)
• WILLIAM (1227-1256)
• WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
• WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
• WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
• WILLIAM, 13TH

William See also:

• BENTINCK, LORD WILLIAM (1774-1839)
• BENTINCK, LORD WILLIAM GEORGE FREDERICK CAVENDISH

Bentinck, despite fierce opposition, carried in See also:

• COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council on the 4th of See also:

• DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December a regulation which declared that all who abetted suttee were "guilty of culpable See also:

• HOMICIDE (Lat. homicidium)

homicide." Though thus illegal, widow-burning continued into See also:

• MODERN

modern days in isolated parts of India . In 1905 those who assisted at a suttee in See also:

• BEHAR, or BIHAR

Behar were sentenced to penal See also:

• SERVITUDE (Lat. servitus, from service, to serve)

servitude . Widow sacrifice is not See also:

• PECULIAR

peculiar to India, and E . B . See also:

• TYLOR, EDWARD BURNETT (1832- )

Tylor in his Primitive Culture (ch . 11) has collected See also:

• EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence to support a theory that the rite existed among all primitive See also:

• ARYAN

Aryan nations . He thinks that in enjoining it the medieval priesthood of India were making no innovation, but were simply reviving an Aryan custom of a barbaric See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period long antedating the Vedas . See also See also:

• JAKOB, LUDWIG HEINRICH VON (1759—1827)

Jakob See also:

• GRIMM, FRIEDRICH MELCHIOR, I
• GRIMM, JACOB LUDWIG CARL (1785-1863)
• GRIMM, WILHELM CARL (1786-1859)

Grimm, Verbrennen der Leichen .