SUTTEE. Suttee or Sati is the designation of the Hindu practice of burning the widows of deceased persons. A good wife showed her devotion by burning herself on the funeral pile of her husband. The prac tice seems to have originated in the noble caste of Rajahs. It was an honour claimed first by the pet wife, then by the first wife, and finally by any devoted wife. Dubois gives vivid descriptions of the Suttee ceremony. One relates to the case of a widow, aged about thirty years, who had decided to accompany her dead husband to the funeral pyre. " The news having rapidly spread abroad, a large concourse of people flocked together from all quarters to witness the spectacle. When everything was ready for the festival, and the widow had been richly clothed and adorned, the bearers stepped forward to remove the body of the deceased, which was placed in a sort of shrine, ornamented with costly stuffs, garlands of flowers, green foliage, etc., the corpse being seated in it with crossed legs, covered with jewels and clothed in the richest attire, and the mouth filled with betel. Immed iately after the funeral car followed the widow, borne in a richly decorated palanquin. On the way to the burning-ground she was escorted by an immense crowd of eager sight-seers, lifting their hands towards her in token of admiration, and rending the air with cries of joy. She was looked upon as already translated to the paradise of Indra, and they seemed to envy her happy lot." On her way she distributed leaves of betel, which were treasured as relies. On leaving the palanquiu, she dragged herself or was dragged to a pond not far from the pyre. Into this she plunged before being led to the pyre, which " was surrounded by Brahmins, each with a lighted torch in one hand and a bowl of ghee in the other." At length the fatal signal was given. " The
poor widow was instantly divested of all her jewels, and dragged, more dead than alive, to the pyre. There she was obliged, according to custom, to walk three times round the pile, two of her nearest relatives supporting her by the arms. She accomplished the first round with tottering steps: during the second her strength wholly forsook her, and she fainted away in the arms of her conductors, who were obliged to complete the ceremony by dragging her through the third round. Then, at last, senseless and unconscious, she was cast upon the corpse of her husband. At that moment the air resounded with noisy acclamations. The Brahmins, emptying the con tents of their vessels on the dry wood, applied their torches, and in the twinkling of an eye the whole pile was ablaze. Three times was the unfortunate woman called by her name. But, alas! she made no answer." There is no authority for the Suttee custom in the Hindu religious books. The Hindu theistic reformer, Ram ruohun Roy (b. 1774) denounced the practice, and in 1829 it was abolished by statute throughout British India. But it is said still to prevail on the borders of British territory in the Independent Hill States. E. W. Hopkins is inclined to think that the present existence of widows is more horrible than death on the funeral pyre. See Monier-Williams: E. W. Hopkins; J. A. Dubois and H. K. Beauchamp: J. Campbell Oman, Cults.