India / France: 'The Manner of Burying Themselves Alive with their Husband's Corpse' [a form of sati or suttee], engraving, Bernard Picart (1673 - 1733), 1728

Sati (also spelled suttee) is an obsolete Hindu funeral custom where a widow immolates herself on her husband's pyre, or commits suicide in another fashion shortly after her husband's death.

However sati could take the form of widow burial whenever the caste or community of the deceased called for it, as for example with the Jogi weavers of Bengal, or with the Jasnathis of Rajasthan, a lost branch of Ismaili Muslims who have reconverted to Hinduism.

Copyright:

Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Credit:

Pictures From History