Thug: The True Story Of India's Murderous Cult (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
Thuggee, or strangulation for robbery, was the modus operandi of organized groups of murderers active for about two centuries in Northern and Central India before eradicated, prompted by the efforts of one Willam Sleeman of the East India Company who was the first outsider to recognize the cult, identify its common methods and infrastructure, and ultimately track the members to the full destruction of the practice. Traveling in gangs of up to 20 or 40 members and often combining with other Thug (pronounced as "tug") gangs they would inveigle travelers and at an opportune moment strangle the victims for robbery. After piercing the eyes to ensure death the stomach would be slashed to prevent gases from bloating the body, and the corpse buried in graves for that purpose or dumped into wells; it was the discovery of many such corpses in wells within Sleeman's area of responsibility which attracted his interest,and once intuiting the scale of such organized murder prompted him to uncover the practice of Thuggee and work to its destruction. Like most gangs, the association of thugs was driven by need, not belief or creed, and oftentimes a seasonal calling.A good, detailed read on a subject few now recognize as the genesis of the common English word "thug".
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