Memorial stelae have been found in numbers in Rajputana called Devli. They are small stone uprights, sometimes sculptured with figures, and engraved with an inscription. They were erected in commemoration of the women, mostly of the Rajput race, which immolated them selves on the funeral pyres of their husbands. The words engraved on them clearly point to this.

Many such have been found at Ghatiyala in the Jodhpur State, the earliest of which is dated V. 947-A:D. 890 and records that there, was a Rajput chief, called Ranuka, whose wife, Sampalla Devi, followed him as a Sati. 63. The same report says that not far from Ghatiyala is the village of Osia, from which Jain Oswals are supposed to bail.

This place is full of old memorial stones, the earliest of which is dated V. 895 A.D. 838. 64. In fact, the whole of Rajputana and Central India are full of such stelae. The earliest of these, however, has been traced to Eran in the Sagar district of the Central Provinces. It is a small pillar, bearing an inscription. It is dated G. 191 A.D. 510 and belongs to the reign of a Gupta prince called Bhanu Gupta.

The inscription records that Bhanu Gupta had a chieftain named Goparaja, who came, apparently, to the place where the pillar was set up and fought a battle in which he, was killed, and that his wife cremated herself on his funeral pyre. We are thus on sure ground when we say that the practice of self-immolation of a widow was coming into vogue about the beginning of the 6th century A.D.

There are, besides, other features connected with the social revolution of this period. As we have seen, Bana has made a clear reference to various types of Anumarana, not merely of a widowed wife following her dead husband, but also of relatives and friends following their dead relatives and friends.