Thuggee
Group of Thugs c. 1894 | |
| Founded | unknown, possibly early 1300s |
|---|---|
| Named after | Sanskrit word for concealment |
| Founding location | Central India and Bengal |
| Years active | c. 14th century – late 19th century |
| Territory | Indian subcontinent |
| Membership | Unknown |
| Activities | Murder, robbery |
| Rivals | British Raj, merchants |
Thuggee (UK: /θʌˈɡiː/, US: /ˈθʌɡi/) was a network of organized crime in British Raj India in the 19th century of gangs that traversed the Indian subcontinent murdering and robbing people. A member of Thugee was referred to as a Thug.
The Thugs were purported to have murdered their victims by strangling using a bandana as a tool. The Thugs were believed to practice their killings as a form of worship toward the goddess Kali. For centuries, the authorities of the Indian subcontinent, such as the Khalji dynasty, the Mughal Empire, and the British Raj, attempted to curtail the criminal activities of Thuggee during their rule.
Contemporary scholarship is increasingly sceptical of the thuggee concept, and has questioned the existence of such a phenomenon, which has led many historians to describe thuggee as the invention of the British colonial regime.