Page 118.--The sangfroid with which the first Ranee, here and in the
story of Panch-Phul Ranee, page 164, receives the second and more
favored wife to share her throne, however difficult to understand in
the West, is very characteristic of Oriental life. In Indian
households of the highest rank it would not be difficult to find
examples of several wives living amicably together, as described in
some of these stories; but the contrary result, as depicted in this
story of Surya Bai and others, is far more common, for as a general
rule human nature is too strong for custom, and under an external
serenity bitter jealousies exist between the several wives of a royal
Hindoo household, which are a constant source of misery and crime.
Among the curious changes of opinion which are observable of late
years in the Indian empire, none is more remarkable than the
conviction, now frequently expressed by the warmest supporters of
native governments at native courts, that the toleration of polygamy
is one of their most serious dangers, the removal of which is of vital
importance to the safety of any Indian dynasty, and indeed to the
permanence of any Indian family of rank.