Calcutta Review (Volume 2; V. 46) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1868. Excerpt: ... country in which the cruel superstitions known andjpractised in Bengal had not been so prevalent. The Judge of Trichinopoly reported about the same time, that he could trace no instance of Suttee for ten years in his district, except the case of a widow of a pleader in his own Court; and Mr. C. M. Lushington, Magistrate of the same district, had the boldness to tell the Government that the abominable custom was never sanctioned by Manu, and was only tolerated by the Mussulman Government; that it ought to be put down by legal enactment; and that no bad consequences could possibly ensue from such a prohibition. It is unnecessary to go deeply into the statistics from the Madras Government. In some Zillahs, as Cuddalore for instance, no Suttees took place, and only in Tanjore, towards the south, did the immolations, for one year and a half, amount to 24. The Judge of South Malabar mentioned the singular and encouraging fact that the custom was unknown in that part of the country. When in two instances preparations were being made for the ceremony, the inhabitants declared themselves against it, and the relatives proceeded to the district of Coimbatore where the widows were burnt on the piles of their husbands. "Since that time nothing "of the kind has ever been attempted, nor would the natives "quietly permit it on the soil of Malabar." We may sum up Madras statistics by saying, that Suttee prevailed in the -northern Zillahs, existed in a less degree in the centre, and was unknown in the west and south, except in Tanjore and one estate in Canara. In Bombay the instances were more rare than in Madras. One solitary instance had occurred in the district of Ahmedabad. The Magistrate of Anjar persuaded one widow to delay the ceremony, and by the delay her min...