The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2 / Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics

by J. G. Wood

It is often said that the woman is stupefied with opium or Indian hemp before she is brought to the pile, and that the bystanders beat drums and shout in order to drown her shrieks. This, however, is not the case, the woman requiring the use of all her senses to enable her to go through the various ceremonies which precede the actual burning, and the pile being generally made so carefully that death is so rapid that the victim scarcely utters a cry or makes a single struggle to escape.

Additions to the mere burning of the widow have been mentioned by various travellers. Bernier, for example, says that, while travelling near Agra, he heard that a Suttee was about to take place. He went to the spot, and there saw a great pit, in the midst of which was a large pile of wood. On the pile lay the body of a man, and beside it sat a young and handsome woman, whose dress was almost saturated with oil, as was the wood of the pile. The fire being lighted, she sat on the pile, and as the flames wrapped her body, she exclaimed with a loud voice that, according to the Indian belief in the transmigration of souls, this was the fifth time that she had become a suttee, and that she would have to do so twice more in order to attain perfection.

Round the edge of the pit danced five women, holding each other by the hand, and appearing regardless of the fire. Presently the flames seized upon the dress of one of them; whereupon she detached herself from her companions, and flung herself headlong into the burning pit. The remaining four continued their dance, and, as the fire caught their garments, they one by one leaped into the flaming pit. These women, it appeared, had been slaves of the suttee. They were greatly attached to their mistress, and when they heard her offer the vow to die on the funeral pile, they determined to die with her.

The same traveller relates a very curious anecdote of a suttee who employed the dreadful ceremony for a strange purpose.

She was a widow by her own act, having poisoned her husband in order to carry on an intrigue with a young tailor, a Mohammedan, who was celebrated for his skill in playing the drum. He, however, was alarmed at her crime, and declined her society. On account of the caste to which she belonged, the death by burning was not a necessity, but on her lover’s refusal she went to her relations, reported the sudden death of her husband, and declared that she would be burned with him.

“Her kindred, well satisfied with so generous a resolution, and the great honor that she did to the whole family, presently had a pit made and filled with wood, exposing the corpse upon it, and kindling the fire. All being prepared, the woman goes to embrace and bid farewell to all her kindred that were there about the pit, among whom was also the tailor, who had been invited to play upon the tabor that day, with many others of that sort of men, according to the custom of the country. This fury of a woman, being also come to this young man, made sign as if she would bid him farewell with the rest, but, instead of gently embracing him, she taketh him with all her force about his collar, pull him to the pit, and tumbles him, together with herself, into the ditch, where they both were soon despatched.”

The date at which the Suttee was instituted is not known, but it was in operation at the time of Alexander the Great, and must have been established long before. Under the British rule the Suttee system has gradually been abolished, and we may hope that never again will the dread scene be repeated.

Reference has already been made to several other modifications of human sacrifice, and we will give a few pages to a description of them.

There is in the Indian mythology a certain dreadful goddess of destruction, named Kali. Her statues show her attributes, her many hands being filled with all kinds of weapons, and her person decorated with a huge necklace of human skulls. In order to propitiate this terrible divinity, a system has been developed which is perhaps the most remarkable, illogical, and best regulated system that is to be found upon the face of the earth. It is simply murder raised to the rank of a religious rite, and differs from all other human sacrifices in that blood is not shed, that the victim is always killed by stratagem, and that the worshippers need neither temple nor altar.

The members of the society call themselves Thugs, from a Hindoo word which signifies “deception,” and which is given to them in consequence of the mode in which the victims are entrapped. In some parts of India they are called Phânsigars, from a Sanscrit word which signifies “a noose.” Perhaps the strangest point, in this country of strict and separate caste, is that the Thugs do not belong to one caste, nor even to one religion. They all agree in worshipping Kali, but in other respects they admit among their numbers men and women of all castes, and a large number of them are Mahommedans, who have no caste at all. Indeed, the Mahommedan Thugs claim for themselves the origin of the system, though the Hindoos say that it was in existence long before the time of Mahommed.