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| CATEGORIES ABOUT THUGGEE | |
| british rule in india | |
| criminal organizations | |
| illegal occupations | |
| indian murderers | |
| robbery | |
| secret societies | |
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ORIGINS The thuggee religion was allegedly a Cult with Hindu , Muslim and some Sikh members who practiced large-scale robbery and murder of travellers by Strangulation . Induction was typically passed from father to son, with the women of the household being kept ignorant of the cult's activities. The two factions into which the Thuggee belonged were divided by the Nerbudda river. Also, both Thuggee factions laid claim to antiquity. While members of the northern faction , however, did not trace their origin further back than the period of the early Muslim kings of Delhi , members of the southern faction not only claimed an earlier and purer descent, but adhered also with greater strictness to the rules of their profession. The earliest authenticated mention of the Thugs is found in the following passage of Ziau-d din Barni's ''History of Firoz Shah'' (written about 1356 ):
Though they themselves trace their origin to seven Muslim tribes, the Hindu followers only seem to be related during the early periods of Islamic development; at any rate, their religious creed and staunch worship of Kali , one of the Hindu Tantric Goddesses, showed no Islamic influence. Assassination for gain was a religious duty for them, and was considered a holy and honorable profession, in which moral feelings did not come into play. It should be noted, however, that not all followers of Kali are thuggees, and the majority do not share the thuggee viewpoint. BELIEFS AND PRACTICES The Thugs were a well-organized confederacy of professional Assassin s who travelled in various guises through India in gangs of 10 to 200, worming themselves into the confidence of wayfarers of the wealthier class. When a favorable opportunity arose, the Thug strangled his victim by throwing a yellow scarf or ''Rumal'' (symbolic of Kal Bhairab (Bhairav ) around the neck, and then plundered and buried him. All this was done according to certain ancient and rigidly prescribed forms, and after the performance of special religious rites, in which the consecration of the Pickaxe and the sacrifice of sugar formed a prominent part. Due to the fact that they used strangulation as the method of murder they were also frequently called "Phansigars", or "noose-operators." The will of the goddess by whose command and in whose honor they followed their calling was revealed to them through a very complicated system of omens. In obedience to these, they often travelled hundreds of miles in company with, or in the wake of, their intended victims before a safe opportunity presented itself for executing their design. When the deed was done, rites were performed in the deity's honor, and a significant portion of the spoils was set apart for Her. They believed each murder prevented Kali's (their goddess's) arrival for 1000 years. The fraternity also possessed a jargon of their own ( Ramasi ), as well as certain signs by which its members recognized each other in the most remote parts of India. Even those who from age or infirmities could no longer take an active part in the ritual murder continued to aid the cause as watchers, spies, or dressers of food. Because of their thorough organization, the secrecy and security of their operation, and the religious pretext in which they shrouded their murders, they were recognized as a regular tax-paying profession and continued for centuries to practice their craft, free of inquiry from Hindu rulers. BRITISH DESTRUCTION OF THE CULT Thuggee was suppressed by the British rulers of India in the 1830s, due largely to the efforts of William Sleeman , who started an extensive campaign involving profiling, intelligence, and executions. A police organisation known as the Thuggee and Dacoity Department was established within the Government of India and remained in existence until 1904 when it was replaced by the Central Criminal Intelligence Department. The defeat of the Thuggees played a part in securing Indian loyalty to the British Raj . According to the '' Guinness Book Of Records '' the Thuggee cult was responsible for approximately 2,000,000 deaths. Gang leader Behram (or Burham) has often been considered to be the world's most prolific Serial Killer with 931 killings between 1790 and 1830 attributed to him. Reference to contemporary manuscript sources, however, shows that Behram actually gave inconsistent statements regarding the number of murders he had committed, and that while he did state that he had "been present at" more than 930 killings committed by his gang of 25-50 men, elsewhere he admitted that he had personally strangled no more than 125 people. Having turned King's Evidence and agreed to inform on his former companions, furthermore, Behram never stood trial for any of the killings attributed to him, the total of which must thus remain a matter of dispute Paton, 'Collections on Thuggee and Dacoitee', British Library Add.Mss. 41300 . THUGGEE IN POPULAR CULTURE The story of Thuggee was popularized by books such as ). The two most popular depictions of the cult in Film are the 1939 film, '' Gunga Din '' and the 1984 Indiana Jones film, '' Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom ''. Both films have the heroes fighting secret revivals of the cult to prevent them from resuming their reigns of terror. In 1965, Thuggees were portrayed with bumbling malevolence in the Beatles film ''" Help! ".'' The 1968 Indian film '' Sunghursh '', based on a story by Jnanpith Award winner Mahasweta Devi , presented the depiction of Thuggees that is considered to be very accurate. The 1988 film version of '' The Deceivers '', produced by Ismail Merchant and starring Pierce Brosnan , is a gripping account of the initial discovery and infiltration of the Thuggee sect by an imperial British administrator. Also, Italian writer Emilio Salgari (1862-1911) wrote about thugs in I'' Misteri della Jungla Nera'' (1895) ''Le Due tigri'' (1904) and other short stories. POSSIBLE MISINTERPRETATION OF THUGGEE BY THE BRITISH In her book ''The Strangled Traveler: Colonial Imaginings and the Thugs of India'' (2002), Martine Van Woerkens suggests that evidence for the existence of a Thuggee 'cult' in the 19th century was in part the product of "colonial imaginings"—British fear of the little-known interior of India and limited understanding of the religious and social practices of its inhabitants. But Krishna Dutta, in reviewing ''Thug: the true story of India's murderous cult'' by Mike Dash (ISBN 1862076049, 2005) in '' The Independent '', argues: {Link without Title} :In recent years, the revisionist view that thugee was a British invention, a means to tighten their hold in the country, has been given credence in India, France and the US, but this well-researched book objectively questions that assertion." EXTERNAL LINKS # The Cult of Thuggee , An extensive website about the Thuggee. # Thug: Or A Million Murders by Colonel James L. Sleeman. Book on the suppression of the Thuggees. Full text. # Review by Krishna Dutta of ''Thug: the true story of India's murderous cult'' by Mike Dash SEE ALSO |
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