to which the
ceremonies were directed was already attained without them. It was
also said that the wife of a man dying such a death should not regard
herself as a widow nor undergo the privations imposed on widowhood. But
this did not apply so far as self-immolation was concerned, since the
wives of warriors dying in battle very frequently became _sati_. In the
case of chiefs also it was sometimes the custom, probably for political
reasons, that the heir should not observe mourning; because if he did
so he would be incapable of appearing in an assembly for thirteen days,
or of taking the public action which might be requisite to safeguard
his succession. The body of the late chief would be carried out by the
back door of the house, and as soon as it left his successor would
take his seat on the _gaddi_ or cushion and begin to discharge the
public business of government.

7. Religion

The principal deity of the Rajputs is the goddess Devi or Durga in her
more terrible form as the goddess of war. Their swords were sacred to
her, and at the Dasahra festival they worshipped their swords and other
weapons of war and their horses. The dreadful goddess also protected
the virtue of the Rajput women and caused to be enacted the terrible
holocausts, not infrequent in Rajput history, when some stronghold
was besieged and could hold out no longer. A great furnace was then
kindled in the citadel and into this the women, young and old, threw
themselves, or else died by their husbands' swords, while the men,
drunk with _bhang_ and wearing saffron-coloured robes, sallied out to
sell their lives to the enemy as dearly as possible. It is related
that on one occasion Akbar desired to attempt the virtue of a queen
of the Sesodia clan, and for that purpose caused her to lose herself
in one of the mazes of his palace. The emperor appeared before her
suddenly as she was alone, but the lady, drawing a dagger, threatened
to plunge it into her breast if he did not respect her, and at the same
time the goddess of her house appeared riding on a tiger. The baffled
emperor gave way and retired, and her life and virtue were saved.

The Rajputs also worship the sun, whom many of them look upon as
their first ancestor. They revere the animals and trees sacred to the
Hindus, and some clans show special veneration to a particular tree,
never cutting or breaking the branches or leaves. In this manner the
Bundelas revere the _kadamb_ tree, the Pa