Thug: The True Story Of India's Murderous Cult (54 page)

‘
Before the establishment of tranquillity
…’ ‘Deposition of Poorun Phansygur or Thug, Caste Lodha, Age upward of 60 years …’, n.d. [1829],
Sel.Rec
. 27–8.

‘
Homes in Bundelcund
’ Feringeea himself was at this time living in the town of Alumpore, in Holkar’s territory. Deposition of Hureea, 21 July 1830, BC F/4/1251 (50480/2) fo. 444.

Feringeea’s expedition of 1827–8
Sleeman,
Report on the Depredations Committed by the Thug Gangs
pp. 22–7. On Feringeea’s short imprisonment, see deposition of Hureea, loc. cit.

Knew most Thug leaders
Later British records of Thug depositions feature numerous tables showing which captured Thugs had been recognized by which approver. Feringeea regularly named twice as many suspected stranglers as any other approver, and the column headed by his name was often made twice as wide as those allotted to his fellow jemadars so as to
contain
the extra information he provided.

Zolfukar
This jemadar’s name also appears in the British records as Zoolfikar, Zoolfakar and Zoolfakir.

Origins of Sheikh Inaent
Sleeman,
Ramaseeana
I, 160; Oliver (Captain, 73rd Native Infantry) to Sleeman, 10 Dec. 1829, BC F/4/1430 (55515) fo. 493. Inaent was born in 1787 or 1788 and had been active since at least 1803; see
Ramaseeana
I, 240 and II, 239–44. In 1829 he was living in the village of Gueara in Jhansee, close to Feringeea’s home. Sleeman,
Depredations
p. 50.

disastrous outcome
… The likelihood that his own finances had become strained is indicated by the fact that he returned to the roads during the hot season of 1830; see below.

Expedition of 1828–9
Depositions of Hureea, 26 Apr., 21+23 July 1830, BC F/4/1251 (50480/2) fos. 443–51; Sleeman,
Depredations
pp. 46–50 and
Ramaseeana
I, 188. The value of the loot taken at Dhoree is not certain. The first British officer on the scene put it at in excess of 100,000 rupees (9th or Dhoree affair’, BC F/4/1404 (55517) fo. 3). Later estimates put it at somewhere between 70,000 and 80,000 rupees;
Ramaseeana
I, 194–6; Smith to Swinton, 20 June 1832,
Sel.Rec
. 110.

The closing net
‘Proceedings of Mr Fraser … in the Saugor & Nerbudda Territories dated the 4th Nov. 1829’, Appa Sahib & Thuggee papers, SB; Smith to Swinton, BC F/4/1251 (50480/2) fos. 408–9.

Arrest of Sheikh Inaent
Sleeman,
Ramaseeana
I, 227–30; Oliver to Sleeman, 10 Dec. 1829, BC F/4/1251 (50480/2) fos. 493–4; Sleeman to Smith, 13 May 1830, ibid. fos. 422–3.

Murder of Gosains
Sleeman to Smith, 13 May 1830, ibid. fos. 422–4; Nicholson (Assistant
superintendent
, roads) to Sleeman, 10 Dec. 1829, ibid. fo. 501;
Ramaseeana
I, 230–2; deposition of Rambuksh in Thornton,
Illustrations
pp. 399–401. On the Gosains and their wealth, see Bernard Cohn, ‘The role of the Gosains in the economy of 18th and 19th century Upper India’,
IESHR
1 (1964).

Further murders by Feringeea
‘13th or Bhilsa affair’, BC F/4/1404 (55517) fos. 393–5;
Ramaseeana
I, 231–2.

Zolfukar’s foal and the chiraiya’s call
Sleeman,
Ramaseeana
I, 232–4. Feringeea, in ibid. I, 171,
conflates
two separate incidents and says the omen was heard directly after the party buried the body of the woman, blaming their subsequent capture on disobedience of the proscription on murdering females.

Dacoit belief in omens
Ranjan Chakrabarti,
Authority and Violence in Colonial Bengal
, 1800–1860
p. 143. Sneezing was generally thought to be bad luck because it was taken as a sign that a
bhut
(mischief spirit) had entered or left a person. Thugs shared the same superstition. William Crooke,
Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India
p. 223.

Thug omens and portents
Sleeman to the editor of the
Government Gazette
(n.d., published 7 Oct. 1830), in AC Das Gupta (ed.),
The Days of John Company
p. 583; FC Smith, ‘Report on the Sessions of 1831–32’, 20 June 1832,
Sel.Rec
. 123–4;
Ramaseeana
I, 68, 87, 102, 122; Fanny Parkes,
Wanderings of a Pilgrim
I, 151. RV Russell and Hira Lal provide further examples, and a useful commentary, in
The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India
IV, 582–5. It seems worth noting that, while the Company men who set down the first accounts of these omens tended to assume that all Thugs obeyed the same portents, it is just as likely that beliefs varied from province to province, and even from gang to gang.

‘…
heard to break wind
…’ Sleeman,
Ramaseeana
I, 68.

…
blown from the mouths of cannon
Michael Edwardes,
The Sahibs and the Lotus
pp. 152–3.

Thugs more scrupulous in captivity
Cited by George Bruce,
The Stranglers
, p. 67.

Feringeea’s men are seized
Deposition of Feringeea, BC F/4/1404 (55517) fo. 395; Sleeman to Smith, 13 May 1830, BC F/4/1251 (50480/2) fos. 422–8; deposition of Hureea, 21 July 1830, ibid. fos. 443–9; Sleeman,
Ramaseeana
I, 233–4.

Members of Feringeea’s gang
A list of the whole gang appears in
Ramaseeana
II, 226–7.

Sleeman becomes aware of Feringeea
Sleeman to Nicholson, letter no. 133, n.d. (1830), Sleeman correspondence, SB.

Capture of members of Feringeea’s family
Smith to Swinton, BC F/4/1404 (55517) fos. 392–3; ‘Trial of Sheikh Madaree and 25 other Thugs, charged with murder at different places’, BC F/4/1251 (50480/2) fos. 503–79; Sleeman,
Depredations
p. 67.

Main informer
Sleeman to Smith, 13 May 1830, BC F/4/1251 (50480/2) fo. 429.

Villages of Jhansee
Smith to Prinsep, 8 Dec. 1830, BC F/4/2151 (50480/1) fos. 43–8.

‘
by only a few seconds
’ Sleeman to Smith, 7 Jan. 1831, in Consultation No. 11, 18 Mar. 1831, BPC P/126/27.

The cause
Sleeman to Benson, 22 Nov. 1832, in CH Philips (ed.),
The Correspondence of Lord William Cavendish Bentinck, Governor-General of India 1828–1835
II, 947.

Developing campaign against the Thugs
Radhika Singha,
A Despotism of Law
pp. 186–90, 203–12; Sleeman circular 31 Aug. 1838, T&D G/8, NAI.

Sleeman commended
Swinton to Smith, 3 Dec. 1830,
Sel.Rec
. 4–5.

‘
The extirpation of this tribe
’ Swinton note, dated 4 Oct. 1830 in BC F/4/1251 (50480/2) fo. 669.

‘
His Lordship relies
…’ Swinton to Smith, 8 Oct. 1830,
Sel.Rec
. p. 10.

Thugs, Residents and general warrants
Smith to Swinton, 26 May 1832,
Sel.Rec
. 79; Macnaghton (Secretary to Governor General) to Cavendish, 25 May and 24 June 1832, ibid. pp. 87–90; Lushington (Resident, Bhurtpore) to Lockett (Agent, Ajmere), 16 July 1832, ibid. pp. 102–3; ‘Report on the Sessions of 1831–32’, ibid. p. 117; Singha, op. cit. pp. 204–5; ‘Extract Political Letter from Fort William’, 15 Dec. 1835, BC F/4/1403 (55514) fo. 16; Sleeman to Cavendish 11 June 1832, T&D G/1, NAI; Sleeman memorandum, 22 Nov. 1832, in Philips, op. cit. II, 947; Martine van Woerkens, The Strangled Traveller pp. 56–7; Bruce,
The Stranglers
pp. 143–4.

‘
To check the dreadful evil
…’ Quoted by Bruce, op. cit. pp. 145–6.

Feringeea’s wife ignorant of his way of life
‘Neither she nor her family knew it till you seized her and she had been brought to Jubbulpore,’ the strangler insisted.
Ramaseeana
I, 237.

‘
I knew that Feringeea
…’ Sleeman to Smith, 7 Jan. 1831, in Consultation No. 11, 18 Mar. 1831, BPC P/126/27.

Expedition during the monsoon season of 1830
Deposition of Feringeea, ‘24th or Busaynee Second Trial’, BC F/4/1406 (55520) fos. 544–7; Smith to Swinton 10 June 1832, ibid. fos. 541–2;
Depredations
p. 66 mentions the same case without making clear the lateness of the season.

Never twice in the same bed
Sleeman to Smith, 7 Jan. 1831, in Consultation No. 11, 18 Mar. 1831, BPC P/126/27.

Pursuit and final capture
Ibid.;
Depredations
pp. 67–8.

In double irons
Smith to Ainsley (Agent, Banda), 15 Nov. 1830, BC F/4/1251 (50480/1) fo. 34.

‘
Great Thugg leader
’ Sleeman to Smith, 7 Jan. 1831, Consultation No. 11, 18 Mar. 1831, BPC P/126/27.

‘…
though so young a man
…’ Smith to Sleeman, 20 Jan. 1831, ibid.

‘…
upon a deliberate calculation
…’ This was the opinion of the Governor General, Bentinck, himself. The fact that the matter was referred to him is another indication of the importance attached to Feringeea in the Company’s eyes. BC F/4/1251 (50480/1) fos. 9–10.

‘…
given me abundant proof
…’ Sleeman to Smith, 7 Jan. 1831, Consultation No. 11, 18 Mar. 1831, BPC P/126/27.

Betrayal of Candeish gangs
Sleeman,
Ramaseeana
I, 30.

Exhumation of victims’ graves
Ibid. I, 30–2; Sleeman to Smith, 7 Jan. 1831, Consultation No. 11, 18 Mar. 1831, BPC P/126/27.

Number of approvers
James Hutton,
A Popular Account of the Thugs and Dacoits
pp. 90–2.

‘
I know Badaloo
’ Evidence of Feringeea, BC F/4/1403 (55514) fo. 91.

Golab Thug
Ibid. fo. 247.

‘
Identified and named
’ Ibid. fos. 67–127.

Trial No. 6 of 1832
BC F/4/1490 (58671), fos. 22, 28.

Trial No. 7 of 1832
Ibid. fos. 95–6.

Solicited intelligence from friends and family
Sleeman to Smith, 7 Jan. 1831, Consultation No. 11 of 18 Mar. 1831, BPC P/126/27.

Numbers of arrests
Sleeman,
Ramaseeana
I, 38–9;
Depredations
pp. 184–5.

Feringeea’s evidence questioned
Sleeman to Home (Magistrate, Belsh), 31 May 1832, T&D G/1, NAI.

Anecdote of Sleeman’s machine
‘Dialogues with Thugs’, Paton papers, Add.Mss. 41300 fo. 18v, BL.

Indian archives
For Bentinck’s complaint, see CH Philips (ed.),
The Correspondence of Lord William Bentinck
I, xxxviii, xlvii–xlviii.

‘
With regard to the mode of collecting
…’ Sleeman to Reynolds, 25 July 1832, Sleeman
correspondence
, T&D G/1 fo. 82, NAI.

Sleeman’s register
Sleeman was not the first officer to attempt to compile a register of Thugs. In the early 1820s, Lieutenant Thomas Moodie, one of the officers working with Charles Molony at Jubbulpore, had the same idea and began work on a register of his own. His work does not seem to have been taken up and continued by his fellow officers and it is
impossible
to say whether or not Sleeman himself was aware of it, although his position in charge of the adjoining district of Nursingpore suggests that he may well have been. He never, in any case, referred to Moodie’s register, or credited it as an inspiration for his own work, in any letter or report that I have come across. See Moodie to Swinton, 3 Feb. 1824, BC F/4/984 (27697) fo. 29, OIOC, and ibid. fo. 81r.

Aliases
Sleeman to Smith, 13 May 1830, Sleeman correspondence, SB; Sleeman to Smith, 10 July 1832, T&D G/1 fo. 65; Reynolds, ‘Notes on the T’hags’,
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
4 (1837) p. 203.

Identifying marks
Sleeman to Taylor (Magistrate, Cawnpore), 16 Sept. 1832, Sleeman
correspondence
, T&D G/1.

‘…
as soon as an accused
…’ Ishwar Sahai, ‘The crime of Thagi and its suppression under Lord WC Bentinck’, part 2,
Indian Culture
3 (1936) p. 459.

Officers of the Thuggy Department
Sahai, op. cit. pp. 460–61;
Ramaseeana
I, 58–9.

‘
exercising, as heretofore
…’
Asiatic Journal
NS6 (1835) pp. 128–9.

Sleeman’s map
RH Phillimore,
Historical Records of the Survey of India
, 1815–30
p. 499; George Bruce,
The Stranglers
pp. 86–7.

Paton’s map
BC F/4/1898 (67999) fo. 305; ‘Observations upon the operations of gangs of Thug murderers in the Kingdom of Oude’, 1836, Paton papers fo. 171.

Thug genealogies
Sleeman,
Ramaseeana
I, after p. 270; van Woerkens,
The Strangled Traveller
pp. 140–42; Bruce, op. cit. p. 157. The information contained within the genealogies was, says Bruce, checked against the available revenue lists, which in the years before the introduction of a census provided the most reliable registry of the Company’s subjects – another intensely laborious task.

Omitted mention
For example, Feringeea’s family tree omits mention of the jemadar’s adopted sons, one of whom we know became a pickpocket rather than a Thug. Sleeman
correspondence
, T&D G/1 fo. 5, 169.

‘
they show the connection
…’ Cited by Bruce, op. cit. p. 161.

‘
Makun, who was hung at Indore
…’ Sleeman,
Ramaseeana
II, 128.

‘
There is one truth
…’ Sleeman to Taylor, 28 June 1832, T&D G/1 fos. 40–1.

Approvers grouped
Sleeman to Smith, BC F/4/1404 (55517) fos. 253–5; Bruce, op. cit. p. 114. There were in any case a further 30 approvers of no fixed affiliation who could be turned to in any case where there was doubt. See also Sleeman to Wilson, 24 Dec. 1832, Sleeman
correspondence
T&D G/1 fos. 184–5.

Rada Kishun and Jurha
Deposition of Sheikh Madaree, 22 Feb. 1830, BC F/4/1404 (55517) fos. 468, 485, 487; ‘Trial of Sheikh Madaree and 25 other Thugs charged with murder at
different
places’, ibid. fos. 513, 579; Sleeman to Smith, 7 Jan. 1831, BPC P/126/27.

Popular service, rewards
‘Specific reward,’ ordered Francis Curwen Smith in November 1830, ‘to be offered with the sanction of the Agent to the Governor General not exceeding Rs.1,000 for each leader of Thugs proved to be of that description by trial already concluded.’ Van Woerkens, op. cit. pp. 51–2. For the reward offered for Heera, alias Huree Singh, see Sleeman to Smith, 13 June 1832, T&D G/1 fo. 17. In the latter case, six sepahees and a
naik
(non-
commissioned
officer) from the 76th Regiment Native Infantry received 40 rupees each – several times their monthly wage – and a pair of Jubbulpore nujeebs and two approvers received the same amount, the balance of the reward being distributed to the remainder of the soldiers and militiamen involved in the arrest.

Lists of Thugs
One early list of wanted Thugs, written out by FC Smith in December 1830,
provided
the nujeebs with details of no fewer than 98 Bundelcund men, living in 13 villages scattered throughout Jhansee. Smith to Prinsep, 8 Dec. 1830, BC F/4/1251 (50480/1) fos. 43–8; Sleeman to Smith, 12 Dec. 1830, ibid. fo. 54.

Nujeebs exceeding orders
Sleeman to Smith, 20 July and 5 September 1832, T&D G/1 fos. 74–8, 113.

Lushington’s complaint
Lushington to Smith, 13 June 1832, and to Lockett (Agent to the Governor General, Ajmere), June 1832,
Sel.Rec
. 94–8.

‘…
are now provided with approvers
’ Bruce, op. cit. p. 141.

Thug loot
Ibid. p. 119.

Three great results
Ibid. p. 122.

‘
In all my experience
…
Blood for blood
’ Smith to Swinton, 25 June 1832,
Sel.Rec
. 125.