Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1906-11-28
CRIMINALS IN INDIA
WHOLE TRIBES WHOSE HERsDlTARY
PROFESSION IS THEFT.

indla Is usually spoken OF "a land
where life and property have become
safe under British rule. True. the
bands OF thugs have been broken up.
the Pindharee hOrdes have been sup
pressed. and the British police system
Is spread over the whole country. but
the criminal tribes or castles. those
whose hereditary profession Is rob
berry and nothing else. remain, their
instincts strong. wanting only opportu-
nifty TO practice their traditional cali
ing which the Indian caste system for
bids them TO abandon.
These tribes are most numerous and
most hayward In the united provinces.
In which are Cawnpur and Lucknow.
the cities associated forever with the
Indian mutiny.
HAIR OF the division Is Oudh. the ma.
tive province last annexed by Britain.
many OF whose old men wildly re-
member when every "talookdar." or
feudal chief. lived I'm fortified castle
and retained n swarm Of armed men.
who received no pay. but lived on the
country. They were official robbers.
ana their example gave free scope 10
the professional robbers, or. as they
have always been known I'm India, the
criminal tribes.
These tribes are the Sanaurlahs. the
Barwars. the Sansiahs. the Doms. the
Haburahs. the Aheriahs. the Banrlahs.
the Bhatus. Each tribe has it's own
dialect. dress and customs.
singular feature Of Indian life Is
that persons who would he considered
depraved characters IN a EuroDean
country and would bear the stamp of
their nature on their faces are not de.
PRAYED in their own estimation or IN
that OF the people at large. a casual
murderer IL not ashamed OF himself
nor abhorred by his neighbors. who
welcome him back among them n he
escapes the gallows and IS released
after term in jail. The universal be.
lief that all things are decreed by fate
accounts for this amazing state OF
feeling. Much more. then. are men re
garded with Indifference or even re-
spect whose time honored, hereditary
and natural profession IL robbery with
murder
and out OF the towns and Villages with
out misgivings. and there is not a sign
In their faces or manner 10 Indicate
that their business Is robbery and muir.
der
When gang encamps outside OF
town the inhabitants feel uncomforta.
BILE and take precautions. but cherish
no III will against the strangers. And
when robberies and murders occur al.
most Immediately within radius OF
twenty miles they take more precau.
lions, but regard the whole affair as
visitation OF Providence. like a food or
Il fire.
These habitual criminals are not de
PRAYED I'm any sense understood by the
people. They simply have the mis-.
fortune TO belong TO n trade which IS
unpleasant for the neiChborhood-like
n dyer's or Il tanners
They are we'll satisfied with them.
selves and arc as careful as other peo-
pie OF their responsibility. They have
no unusual vices; they DO not get drunk
or riotous; they arc civil courteous
and unassuming. Cruelty and ferocity
ures. but simply methods or business.
During the excitement OF n sudden
attack the people II they do not run
away Will turn out and aid the police
I'm repelllng or capturing the robbers.
But II n police inquiry begins two or
three days after the robbers have done
their work unmOlested the people Will
usually do nothing 10 help In tracing
them and Will even deny that they
have lost anything.
For many years past the government
Of India has worked 10 induce these
criminal tribes 70 settle down TO a
peaceable and industrious life.
But progress is very slow. Nagabond-
age is bred in the bone and marrow of
the tribes. and maraudlng Is their chO-
sen occupation. From time to time men
will suddenly disappear. perpetrate
several daring dakaitis in another dis
trict and escape over the border into
one of the Independent native states
which cluster round three sides OF the
united PROVINCES.
The word "dakaiti." also spelled "da-
coity,' means robbery by gang OF
u,
a member OF such gang
An assault by robbers in India diff
fers from one in Europe or America in
that II always takes place at night
and IS accompanied 10y tremendous
amount OF noise. The Indians are a
noisy people at all times, and in a rob
berry with violence the robbers object
is 10 terrify their victims into 4 panic;
hence whether travellers be waylaid on
a lonely road or a wealthy mans
house be attacked in village the as
sault is always made suddenly. with
loud shouts and yells and in the case of
n village with beating Of drums and
waving Of lighted torches.
The persons attacked below for all
they are worth, but rarely offer resist
ance. and the general effect is SO terri
flying TO the cowardly people that the
neighbors either fly or else barricade
their doors and lie still till the robbers
have got at least a mile away with
their plumber. Even the shrleSng of wo-
men under torture does not put heart
into one OF them. for the men of
house that is attacked try to bolt FOR
their lives II they can and leave the
women to the mercy OF the robbers.
who apply fire 10 them and torture them
In more atrocious ways TO make them
tell where the valuables are kept-New
York World
Mathematical Sorcerer.
In the sixteenth century, when the
Spaniards were endeavoring TO estab-