Forced or not forced, there were several instances of women from the Bhosale family committing sati.One was Shivaji's eldest childless widow, Putalabai committing sati after her husband's death.One controversial case was that of Chhatrapati Shahu's widow being forced to commit sati due to political intrigues regarding succession at the Satara court following Shahu's death in 1749.The most "celebrated" case of sati was that of Ramabai, the widow of Brahmin Peshwa Madhavrao I committing sati in 1772 on her husband's funeral pyre.This was considered unusual because unlike "kshatriya" widows, Brahmin widows very rarely followed the practice. South India Several sati stones have been found in Vijayanagar empire. These stones were erected as a mark of a heroic deed of sacrifice of the wife and her husband towards the land. The sati stone evidence from the time of the empire is regarded as relatively rare; only about 50 are clearly identified as such. Thus, Carla M. Sinopoli, citing Verghese, says that despite the attention European travellers paid the phenomenon, it should be regarded as having been fairly uncommon during the time of the Vijayanagara empire. The Madurai Nayak dynasty (1529–1736 CE) seems to have adopted the custom in larger measure, one Jesuit priest observing in 1609 Madurai the burning of 400 women at the death of Nayak Muttu Krishnappa. The Kongu Nadu region of Tamil Nadu has the highest number of Veera Maha Sati (வீரமாசதி) or Veeramathy temples (வீரமாத்தி) from all the native Kongu castes. A few records exist from the Princely State of Mysore, established in 1799, that say permission to commit sati could be granted. Dewan (prime minister) Purnaiah is said to have allowed it for a Brahmin widow in 1805, whereas an 1827 eye-witness to the burning of a widow in Bangalore in 1827 says it was rather uncommon there. Gangetic plain In the Upper Gangetic plain, while sati occurred, there is no indication that it was especially widespread. The earliest known attempt by a government, that of the Muslim Sultan, Muhammad ibn Tughluq, to stop this Hindu practice took place in the Delhi Sultanate in the 14th century. In the Lower Gangetic plain, the practice may have reached a high level fairly late in history. According to available evidence and the existing reports of occurrences, the greatest incidence of sati in any region and period, in total numbers, occurred in Bengal and Bihar in the late 18th and