. The Indian empire: history, topography, geology, climate, population, chief cities and provinces; tributary and protected states; military power and resources; religion, education, crime; land tenures; staple products; government, finance, and commerce . ed to revere him as a superior being; and, notwithstanding so much is exactedfrom females, nothing can exceed the contempt with which they are treated in the sacredbooks, where they are scarcely ever mentioned but in connection with some degradingepithet. Polygamy is tolerated; but females are not allowed to marry a second husband can
. The Indian empire: history, topography, geology, climate, population, chief cities and provinces; tributary and protected states; military power and resources; religion, education, crime; land tenures; staple products; government, finance, and commerce . ed to revere him as a superior being; and, notwithstanding so much is exactedfrom females, nothing can exceed the contempt with which they are treated in the sacredbooks, where they are scarcely ever mentioned but in connection with some degradingepithet. Polygamy is tolerated; but females are not allowed to marry a second husband can dismiss a wife on numerous pretexts; but nothing can absolve a wifefrom her matrimonial engagement. The wife is not permitted to eat in the presenceof her husband. Girls are generally married between the ages of seven and nine, butremain at their fathers house for a few years, when they are taken to the house oftheir new master. Marriage is considered the most important event in the life of a Hindoo; and theceremony is generally resorted to in the month^ of March, April, May, and the Brahmins it occupies five days, and closes with a procession through thestreets of the town or village, in which women hail the new-married couple with the. © & tu <g ?^ THE INDIAN EMPIRE ILLUSTRATED. 119 Arati—a song of rejoicing. In the course of events this melody is changed for thewail of death; for the husband is smitten, and the last trial of the wife is about to com-mence and find its consummation in the cruel rites of Suttee. As soon as the sick man has expired, ablutions and offerings are made by way ofpurification, and the deceased is theu dressed in his richest garments, frequently adornedwith jewels and other ornaments, and laid on a kind of state-bed while the funeral pileis prepared, which generally consists of fragrant wood intermingled with spices andodoriferous flowers, and surrounded by a trench. When ready, the body is stripped ofthe greater part of its ornament
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidindianempire, bookyear1858
