Were Thuggee A Threat to Indian Society?

Name: Rowan Alexander Carew Candidate Number: 2283 Centre Number: 54283

How serious a threat did the Thugs pose to Indian society? The Thugs embodied the Victorian fascination of the mystical colonial India. Originating from the Hindi word thag, in etymological terms a Thug can be interpreted as a ‘cheat or swindler’ 1. Yet in the colonial British perspective the practice of Thuggee was believed to be considerably more threatening than contemporary banditry. W.H. Sleeman, British superintendent of the Thuggee and Dacoity Department, launched the 1830s AntiThug Campaign. His findings portrayed the Thugs as brutal murderers, their monstrosities justified by divine sanction granted to them due to their worship of Hindu goddess Kali. The staggering reputed number of victims of Thuggee, as well as the unparalleled difficulty in apprehending and convicting those that practised it, meant that Thugs became viewed as a serious threat to Indian society. However, the evidence in favour of this argument can be challenged. Some believe that Sleeman’s account of Thuggee was so exaggerated that the perception of Thugs as barbaric religious devotees can be discredited. Many historians argue that Sleeman’s extravagant reports on Thugs made his findings more impressive, serving to further his own career. In a revisionist perspective, the Thugs were bandits whose aim was to supplement their income. Thus the debate on the extent to which the Thugs threatened Indian society lies within what of their existence was reality, versus what was colonial embellishment of banditry.

The fundamental reason behind why the Thugs were perceived to be a threat to Indian society was the colonial account on the extent of murder through Thuggee. Sleeman, in emphasising the unprecedented magnitude of the apparent threat of the Thugs, caught the 1 Kim A. Wagner: Stranglers and Bandits: 2009, p. 3

attention of the government by writing that ‘thousands of human beings are annually sacrificed upon every great road throughout India’2. Evidence to support these claims regarding the danger of the Thugs is echoed in various colonial narratives. In one such case, the published letter of the Resident at Indore and administrator of the province Malwa informed the government that Thuggee had ‘become the greatest calamity which Malwa has been afflicted’3. Thug gangs would supposedly consist of 27 at most an astonishing 300 slaughterers. When considering the scale of brutality, statistics vary, yet it became common belief that figures ranged in the thousands each year. This belief was endorsed by James Sleeman, who in analysing his grandfather’s papers from the Anti-Thug campaign, estimated that the Thugs killed 40,000 people per year. By the 1830s the Thugs were reportedly murderers unparalleled by any other form of banditry. Consequently it can be argued that based on their exceptionally ruthless image, portrayed by Sleeman in the 1830s, the Thugs were believed to be bandits of an incomparable threat.

A distressing threat of Thuggee to Indian society, in addition to their extensive murder, was the divine cult established by the Thugs. This suggests that Thugs cooperated in a widespread fraternity, revolving around the worship of Kali. This belief was brought about by Sherwood, a travelling doctor reporting on Indian society for the British government. In his 1816 report he stated ‘Kali… is regarded as their tutelary deity’ 4; in developing this observation Sherwood claimed Thuggee ‘superstitions… serve the… purposes… by an 2 H.W. Sleeman: His Anonymous Letter published by the Calcutta Literary Gazette. Quoted in Kim A Wagner’s Stranglers and Bandits: 2009, p. 181 3 Letter From Major J. Stewart, the Resident at Indor: 1829. Quoted in Kim A. Wagner’s Strangler’s and Bandits: 2009, p. 165 4 Dr Sherwood: His report published by the Madras Literary Gazette. Quoted by George Bruce in The Strangler: 1968, p. 20

appeal to religious texts deemed infallible, of imparting their atrocities the semblance of divine sanction’5. Indeed, there is compelling evidence to confirm the association of Thugs with Kali. Captured Thugs, when investigated during the Anti-Thug Campaign, were often found to possess a coin consecrated to Kali woven into cloth. This was used to strangle victims, sacrificing them to the goddess. Furthermore, the devotion of the Thugs is emphasised by Sleeman, who discusses their holy pilgrimages to the Bindachul temple of Thuggee ‘filled with murderers from every quarter in India’ 6. The concept of a radical religious cult was alien to the civilised values held by Victorian culture. It entailed an organised system of murder which could not appeased by socio-economic improvement, such as would be the case with ordinary bandits that looted for better income. The sole incentive of the Thugs was sacrifice, and thus the British could do little to counteract it. Furthermore, the sanctified promise of a good afterlife supposedly bestowed upon Thugs gave them confidence 546

in their murder. Thus Sherwood’s association of Thugs and religion appears to give credit to the view that Thugs seriously threatened Indian society.

Thuggee was perceived by the British as a substantial threat to Indian society due to the unique difficulty in capturing and convicting those that practised it. Without sufficient means of sentencing, Thugs could kill confidently in light of the limited risk of seizure and consequently execution. The problem of capturing Thugs was emphasised by reports from the East India Company Court of Directors, stating that ‘the police have scarcely… been successful in tracing… offenders’7. Yet when the police did have success, Dr Sherwood noted 5 Ibid. p. 20 6 H.W. Sleeman: His Anonymous Letter published by the Calcutta Literary Gazette. Quoted in Kim A Wagner’s Stranglers and Bandits: 2009, p. 176 7 General letter from the Court of Directors: 1830. Quoted in Tom Lloyd’s paper ‘Acting In The Theatre Of Anarchy: 2006, p. 12

that few Thugs ‘that have been… apprehended could be convicted in accordance with the evidence required by… Mohammedan criminal law’ 8. Addressing the issue of arresting Thugs, the difficulty lay within the Thugs’ methods of concealing murdered victims. Thugs stripped their victims of all belongings, cutting incisions ‘from… shoulders to the hands and feet’9 in order to prevent bloating, which might cause the formation of a suspicious mound on the burial site. In the Anti-Thug campaign it was iterated that such procedures to avoid capture were not undertaken by other bandits; only Thugs were so subtle and thus harder to detain. Prior to the Anti-Thug campaign, when the judicial system was reformed, the few thugs that were arrested were frequently discharged due to the limitations of the criminal justice system mentioned by Sherwood. This system of justice exempt suspects from their allegations providing they sufficiently pronounced their innocence. In Sleeman’s conversations, a published selection of interviews with Thugs, Thug Sheodeen exhibited the problem, as Thugs could simply ‘escape by… denying guilt’ 10. Prior to the Anti-Thug 83

Campaign the freedom in which Thuggee was carried out with no effective course of prevention suggests that from the findings of Sherwood and the Court of Directors, the case that the Thugs threatened Indian society is justifiable.

However, the objectivity of the contemporary colonial perspective on the Thugs can be challenged. Wagner, a respected historian on Thuggee, offers a strong argument that Sleeman ‘emphasised the… sensational aspects of Thuggee in order to further his… career’ 11. 8 Dr Sherwood: His report published by the Madras Literary Gazette. Quoted by George Bruce in The Strangler: 1968, p. 22 9 Ibid, p. 17 10 Sleeman’s conversations. Quoted in Kim A. Wagner’s Stranglers and Bandits: 2009, p. 213 11 Kim. A Wagner: Stranglers and Bandits: 2009, p. 18

Sleeman’s conversations reinforce the notion that Sleeman constructed myths regarding the Thugs. In an interview with Thug Feringea, Sleeman discovered that Thugs never ‘make offerings to… the temple of (Kali)’12. Yet when Sleeman asked if Thugs worshipped at Kali’s temple, Feringea revealed that they did, as ‘all Hindoos and Musulmans’ must ‘worship at her temple’13. This is the only piece of evidence to suggest a religious cult based around the Bindachul temple. It is clearly unreliably constructed, for the Thugs made no offerings to Kali in their supposed cult; they merely worshipped Kali as was customary in polytheistic religions. Furthermore, most evidence from the conversations is derived from convicted Thugs who had the opportunity to become approvers, whereby their lives would be spared if they provided knowledge of Thuggee. Thus the truthfulness behind the conversations is doubtful; when faced with execution there is a considerable likelihood that the Thugs provided an unrepresentative insight into Thuggee. Sleeman’s palpable factual manipulation 112 8 discredits his portrayal of Thugs as fanatical religious devotees, and consequently doubt is

cast upon the claims of Sherwood and the Court of Directors. Yet Sleeman’s clear hyperbole generated significant interest amongst the British government. The problem of Thuggee was addressed unlike ever before, with Sleeman being made superintendent of his own branch of colonial government, the Thuggee and Dacoity Department. This reinforces Wagner’s notion that the Thugs were not a threat to Indian society, for Sleeman manipulated Thuggee in order to develop his career.

12 Sleeman’s conversations. Quoted in Kim A. Wagner’s Stranglers and Bandits: 2009, p. 290 13 Ibid, p. 290

Whilst Thuggee itself was a concept exaggerated by Sleeman, the way in which other bandits were categorized as Thugs further served to over-emphasise the threat of genuine Thugs. Historian Tom Lloyd proposes that ‘Thugs became analogous to… members of the indigenous population that could not be described by the colonisers’ regular taxonomies’ 14. This meant that the colonial authorities mislabelled a wide variety of bandits and criminals as Thugs, thus exaggerating their threat. Based upon Act XXX of 1836, bandits could be convicted as Thugs by having ‘belonged… to any gangs’ 15. Such a broad parameter for convicting Thugs is an ironic contrast to Sleeman’s specific description of Thugs as radical religious murderers. An example of this parameter’s inaccuracy can be seen in the case of the Pindaris, who were marauders that fought the British. The de-militarisation of Indian states opposed to Britain ‘unleashed scores of armed men’ 16 that were recruited by the Pindaris. 139

Strictly speaking, these bandits were not Thugs. Former Indian soldiers were not part of a fraternity based upon Kali. Yet these bandits were different from ordinary brigands, and following from Lloyd’s strong argument, these grounds were used to ascribe the label of Thug. Their classification as Thugs meant that a disproportional threat was applied to legitimate Thugs, defined as Kali-worshipping murderers involved in an organised fraternity. Thugs were therefore not as serious a threat as the British proclaimed them to be.

An alternative view to that of Sleeman regarding the practice of Thuggee was that it was merely a means for local villagers to supplement income. This interpretation presents the

14 Tom Lloyd: Acting In The ‘Theatre Of Anarchy’: 2006, p. 30 15 Act XXX of 1836, passed by the Governor-General of India in Council. Quoted in Kim. A Wagner’s Stranglers and Bandits: 2009, p. 189 16 Seema Alavi, The Sepoys and the Company: Tradition and Transition in Northern India 1770-1830, New Delhi: Oxford University Press 1995, p. 40. Quoted in Kim. A Wagner’s Stranglers and Bandits: 2009, p. 11

Thugs as less threatening to Indian society because it implies less widespread criminal cooperation. The revisionist theory considers the practice of Thuggee with fewer connotations of religious association. Wagner argues that there was a ‘(reciprocal) relationship between the Thugs and the zamindars’ 17, the local village authorities, whereby ‘zamindars received a substantial share of the loot’18 plundered by native Thugs. In return for their protection from police and British investigators, the Thugs provided their village leaders with money. A surviving tax-list from 1797 confirms this, revealing that some Thugs ‘paid an official tax to local authorities’19. The economic relationship between zamindars and Thugs enabled most Thugs to enhance their day-to-day livelihoods, something particularly helpful in times of economic recession, such as the Indian depression of the 1830s. Such a system implies that the Thugs were far from an organised fraternity unified across India. Instead, the Thugs comprised of local gangs, each with varying needs for economic supplementation and different associations with zamindars. From Wagner’s argument one can conclude that the lack of cooperation between Thugs across India portrays Thuggee as a scattered and diverse practice. Whilst people were still murdered, this small-scale depiction of Thuggee was relatively a smaller threat to Indian society compared to Sleeman’s proposed Thug network. 16

It is therefore most compelling that the Thugs were not a serious threat to the Indian society existing under British rule. The pervasive colonial belief that the Thugs were radical devotees of Kali, brutal murderers of all travellers and criminals of unmatched cunning is founded upon evidence riddled with flaws too significant to dismiss. With unreliable 17 Kim. A Wagner: Stranglers and Bandits: 2009, p. 9 18 Ibid, p. 9 19 Surviving tax list from 1797. Quoted in Kim A. Wagner’s Stranglers and Bandits: 2009, p. 9

evidence derived from approver Thugs in the conversations, it is difficult to agree with Sleeman’s findings that the Thugs were a murderous fraternity, slaughtering travellers on a tremendous scale. By consequence of Sleeman’s undependability, views from the likes of Sherwood that reiterate Sleeman’s claims appear unconvincing. Yet it is too simplistic to state that the Thugs therefore did not threaten Indian society. Contemporary historians such as Wagner that view Thuggee as a sub-strand of banditry, most prevalent in times of economic hardship and during the demilitarization of certain states, provide more reliable arguments than Sleeman. Many gangs of Thugs were either attached to their village zamindars in a financial relationship or plundered as a source of income following their dismissal in the army. Therefore it is likely that Thugs functioned in small groups across India. Whilst there is a degree of threat in this, it is miniscule in comparison to the proposed religious fraternity of collaborative radical killers put forward by Sleeman. The relatively stronger evidence suggesting the nature of Thuggee was insular and of a small-scale insinuates that the Thugs could not have been a serious threat to Indian society. Bibliography Primary W.H. Sleeman, Ramaseeana: Or, a vocabulary of the peculiar language used by the Thugs. Calcutta: (G.H. Huttmann, Military Orphan Press, 1836) W.H. Sleeman, to the editor of the Calcutta Literary Gazette – 30th October 1830. Quoted in 200 Kim. A Wagner: Stranglers and Bandits: A Historical Anthology of Thuggee, (Oxford University Press, 2009) Surviving Tax List from 1797. Quoted in Kim. A Wagner: Stranglers and Bandits: A Historical Anthology of Thuggee, (Oxford University Press, 2009) Sleeman: Conversations, with different Thug approvers. Quoted in Kim. A Wagner: Stranglers and Bandits: A Historical Anthology of Thuggee, (Oxford University Press, 2009) Act XXX of 1836, passed by the Governor-General of India in Council. Quoted in Kim. A Wagner: Stranglers and Bandits: A Historical Anthology of Thuggee, (Oxford University Press, 2009) Letter from Major J. Stewart to Swinton: 12th August 1829. Quoted in Kim. A Wagner: Stranglers and Bandits: A Historical Anthology of Thuggee, (Oxford University Press, 2009)

Dr Sherwood: His report published by the Madras Literary Gazette: 1807. Quoted in George Bruce: The Stranglers: The Cult of Thuggee and its Overthrow in British India, (London: Longmans, 1968) Secondary Tom Lloyd, Acting in the ‘Theatre of Anarchy’: The ‘Anti-Thug Campaign’ and Elaborations of Colonial Rule in Early Nineteenth-Century India. (Edinburgh Papers In South Asian Studies, 2006) George Bruce, The Stranglers: The Cult of Thuggee and its Overthrow in British India, (London: Longmans, 1968) Kim. A Wagner, Stranglers and Bandits: A Historical Anthology of Thuggee, (Oxford University Press, 2009) Mike Dash, Thug: The True Story of India’s Murderous Cult, (Granta Books, 2005) James Sleeman, Thug: or, A Million Murders (London, Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd) Seema Alavi, The Sepoys and the Company: Tradition and Transition in Northern India 17701830, (New Delhi: Oxford University Press 1995) Parama Roy, Discovering India, Imagining Thuggee (Yale journal of Criticism, vol. 9, no. 1 1996)