Based largely on new material, this book examines thuggee as a type of banditry, emerging in a specific socio-economic and geographic context. The British usually described the thugs as fanatic assassins and Kali-worshippers, yet Wagner argues that the history of thuggee need no longer be limited to the study of its representation.

Autorentext
KIM A. WAGNER completed his PhD in History at the University of Cambridge, UK, in 2003. He is currently a Research Fellow at King's College Cambridge, and Associate Researcher at the University of Edinburgh. He works on banditry and the methodological use of trial records, as well as colonial fears of indigenous conspiracies.

Inhalt
Introduction Thuggee reassessed PART I Engaging the Colonial 'Archives of Repression' Thuggee in Pre-colonial India The Discovery of Thuggee, Etawah 1809 Thomas Perry and the First Arrests N.J. Halhed in Sindouse, Oct. 1812 PART II Sindouse The Practice of Thuggee The Itinerant Underworld The World of the Thugs PART III Halhed in Sindouse - A Second Look Sindouse - The Aftermath Continued Measures Against Thugs The Operations Commence The Thuggee Campaign From Sindouse to Sagar Epilogue