The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1894-04-21
LIVED BUT TO MURDER. r.
THE THUGS OF HlNDOSTAN
81 AND THEIR RELIGION.

THE THUGS OF HINDOSTAN
#s AND THEIR RELIGION.
They Banded Themselves In Oath Bound
Societies to Punish the Human Race
Methods of Killing and Robbing-In
One Grave.
IS =. ~ :sf.-s:-
Thuggee, summarily defined, is,
or rather was, a profession by which,
century after century, thousands of
Indian males, Brah1nins as we'll as
Mohammedans, bound themselves by
the solemn oaths, and under re-
ligious ceremonies carried out with
the sublimity attaching of old to the
Elensinian mysteries. to unite in Sc
cret: societies whose purpose it was
to punish the human race, and thus
to H1aerit the appreciation of Bhow-
anee, by whom men and women
were abhorred. This punishment, says
Bailey's Magazine, took the form of
enticing rich travellers to be-
come the companions of armed
bands of thugs, who, pretending
to be merchants, Or soldiers seeking
service with the nizam, or with
Holkar, Scindiah or others among
the powerful feudal princes, offered
protection and companionship to de-
fenseless bunneas, or traders, to
sahoucars (sowcars) or bankers, to
ziminders on the road to big cities
laaen with rupees, bars of sill
YER or bills of exchange, which they
had:received in payment for their
crops. Even professional robbers, or
dacoits, were followed for days and
nights by wary bodies of thugs, who
attacked and murdered them when a
COW 9enient spot in the road or jun
their plunder.
All this homicide was wrought by
the simple agency of silk handker-
| chief, flung from behind over the
head and throat of the victim, who
was instantaneously strangled, and
IN most cases his or her neck dislo-
| Gated by the dexterous application OF
the bhuttote, or strangler's knuckles,
under the victims ear: One essential
preliminary to the successful and
undetected perpetration of all these
countless crimes was that the lugg-
has5, or grave diggers, attached to
each band Of thugs were sent in ad-
vance of the commanding officer
the organization of these bands was
strictly military-to an indicated
spot some miles ahead, in
or,1tss to prepare the grave for the
victims about to be murdered. Great
skill was shown in selecting a fitting
spot for the execution of the mur-
ders and the preparation of the grave
| so that no evidence of the crime
should meet the eye. The spot Sc
lected was often On the edge of a
| bushy stream, where the unconscious
victim was asked to descend from
the vehicle in which he was travel
ing, so as to tighten the load of the
bullocks or horses which had to
climb the high bank on the other
side. Scarcely had the poor wretch's
foot touched the ground before the
deadly handkerchief was round his
neck and the foul deed was accom-
plished.
The burying party then ran for
ward, caught up the body and car
ried it to the grave prepared for it.
either among the bushes or rocks or
in the bed of the stream. Every
member of the murdered mans party
or escort, including women and
children, was killed simultaneously
by other bhuttotes or strangers and
within a few minutes the bodies of
all were buried together in one long
and deep grave, into which huge
rocks were flung to prevent the
keen-scented jackals from burrowing
down and devouring the prey.
The murderous band of robbers
then betook themselves. once more
to the road after delay of a few
minutes, and such was their knowl-
edge OF the country in which they
were operating that, under the dex-
ferrous guidance of their leaders.
pursuit was virtually impossible.
Scouts were continually thrown out
in advance, on the flank or in the
rear OF ''Bhowanee's faithful chill
dren,' and such was the skill and
vigilance under which the lives of
thousands of rich victims were sac
rifced year after year that for CEN
turies total immunity, not only from
punishment, but even from suspicion,
was the reward accorded by Bhowanee
and her bloodthirsty husband, silva,
to these scourges of the human race.
Meadows Taylor in his three vol
umed work entitled Confessions of
Thug" tells US that most of the in
formation supplied in his work came
from ruffian called Ameer Ali, who
told him that, before he turned in
former to save his worthless life, he
had as thug put to death with his
own hand 719 victims. ."Ah! sahib,"
he added regretfully, elf I had not
been in prison for twelve years the
number. would certainly have been
1000" When Ameer Ali was years
old his father and mother were killed
by thugs. The boy was spared
through the interposition of one of
the band and was reared as a thug.
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