The Thuggees were criminal organizations in India during the 19th century that infiltrated groups of travelers, killed them, and stole their belongings. They were led by individual leaders and may have worshiped the Hindu goddess Kali. The name “Thuggee” comes from the Hindi word for “thief”. The Thugs preferred to leave no survivors and were pursued by British soldiers in the 19th century, eventually disappearing in the 20th century.
The Thuggees were criminal organizations that existed in India during the 19th century, although it is possible they existed for hundreds of years before that. Individual groups of Thugs would be organized under a single leader and work in smaller groups to infiltrate groups of travelers traveling across India. Once they had successfully infiltrated the group, they would wait until an appropriate opportunity presented itself, then kill the travelers and steal their belongings. The Thuggees were known to have killed tens of thousands, if not millions, of travelers during their existence, though they probably didn’t survive into the 20th century.
Typically referred to as the Thuggee cult, these groups were often led by individual leaders, and while different groups may not have interacted, they were all part of a similar pattern of criminal behavior. The term “cult” can be somewhat misleading in reference to these offenders, as there is little evidence to clearly indicate religious purposes for their behavior. A possible exception, however, were groups that also worshiped the Hindu goddess Kali. These Thuggee cults may have also practiced a ritual component to their crimes, although the secretive nature of such groups made it difficult to find definitive proof of these rituals.
The name “Thuggee” comes from the Hindi word for “thief” and may come from the Sanskrit word for “deceiver” or “rascal”. It is the source of the common English word “thug”, which was borrowed from Hindi by the British occupiers of India during the 19th century. While the term “hooligan” in English is often used interchangeably with thief, burglar or criminal, it has a very specific meaning when used in terms of Indian Thuggee cults. These cults primarily preyed on travelers and traveled in large groups for safety and assistance in the event of an accident.
Small groups of Thugs from a single Thug group would infiltrate a large caravan of travelers as they passed through India. Once inside the group, they would wait until the caravan had stopped, usually during the night, then isolate the travelers and kill them. This was usually done through strangulation, often using scarves or belts; The delinquents preferred to leave no survivors, both to hide their identities and to lengthen the time before someone went looking for the travellers. Once the Travelers were dead, the Thugs would dispose of their bodies and steal any possessions the Travelers had with them. British soldiers began pursuing Thug cults in the 19th century, and between these efforts and the proliferation of rail travel across India, these groups disappeared in the 20th century.
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