And this practice, as shown by Sir J.G.Frazer, tended to result in the substitution of a victim, usually a criminal or slave, who was identified with the king by being given royal honours for a short time before his death.

Sometimes the king's son or daughter was offered as a substitute for him, and such a sacrifice was occasionally made in time of peril, apparently as a means of strengthening or preserving the common life.

When Chitor, the home of the Sesodia clan of Rajputs, was besieged by the Muhammadans, the tradition is that the goddess of their house appeared and demanded the sacrifice of twelve chiefs as a condition of its preservation.

Eleven of the chiefs sons were in turn crowned as king, and each ruled for three days, while on the fourth he sallied out and fell in battle.

Lastly, the Rana offered himself in order that his favourite son, Ajeysi, might be spared and might perpetuate the clan.