Stranglers and Bandits

Thuggee, the controversial cult of ritual highway murderers 'discovered' by the British in early nineteenth-century India, is one of the most sensational and contentious practices in South Asian history. This anthology brings together primary sources from the period of British involvement with thuggee many of which have long languished in the archives. It provides an insight into the production of colonial knowledge and explores how far the authentic voices of the
accused thugs could be discerned in the detailed interviews and interrogations conducted by the British. The volume also includes a wide range of popular accounts and academic assessments from 1824 to
2006 shedding light on the shifting interpretations of this custom over the past two centuries.