Guest guest Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 There are a number of books on the subject, the records for some of which I add below. Meadows Taylor and Sleeman are the most famous, by British officials involved in suppressing Thuggee. There are many editions of their books, and I have not posted them all. Probably some are in print; certainly there are many in libraries around the world. The current tendency of scholarship is towards revisionism and to think the phenomonenon was constructed from overheated British imaginations (as the titles of some of the recent studies below might suggest). For myself, though there may be occasions when people at a distant place and time may understand something better than what the British used to call "the man on the spot," I find this implausible in the present case. Allen Thrasher ================================================================================ ================================================================================ LC Control Number: 11000356 Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) Personal Name: Taylor, Meadows, 1808-1876. Main Title: Confessions of a Thug. Published/Created: London, R. Bentley, 1839. Description: 3 v. 21 cm. Subjects: Thugs. [from old catalog] LC Classification: PZ3.T2176 Co PR5549.T36 CALL NUMBER: PZ3.T2176 Co Copy 1 -- Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms -- Status: Not Charged ______________________________ CALL NUMBER: PZ3.T2176 Co FT MEADE Copy 2 -- Request in: Main or Science/Business Reading Rms - STORED OFFSITE -- Status: Not Charged ============================================================================== LC Control Number: 2003043259 Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) Personal Name: Rushby, Kevin Main Title: Children of Kali : through India in search of Bandits, the thug cult, and the British Raj / Kevin Rushby. Published/Created: New York : Walker & Company, 2003. Description: ix, 292 p., [8] p. of plates : ill., map ; 24 cm. ISBN: 0802714188 Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-284) and index. Subjects: Human sacrifice--India--History. Thugs--India--History. Criminals--India--History. LC Classification: DS422.S2 R87 2003 Dewey Class No.: 364.15/23/0954 21 Geog. Area Code: a-ii--- CALL NUMBER: DS422.S2 R87 2003 Copy 1 -- Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms -- Status: Not Charged ______________________________ CALL NUMBER: DS422.S2 R87 2003 Copy 2 -- Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms -- Status: Not Charged ------------------- ---------------- DATABASE NAME: Library of Congress Online Catalog ================================================================================ LC Control Number: 2002007633 Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) Personal Name: Woerkens, Martine van. Main Title: The strangled traveler : colonial imaginings and the Thugs of India / Martine van Woerkens ; translated by Catherine Tihanyi. Uniform Title: [Voyageur ¨¦trangl¨¦. English] Published/Created: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2002. Related Names: Tihanyi, Catherine. Description: xv, 360 p. : ill., map ; 24 cm. ISBN: 0226850854 (cloth : alk. paper) 0226850862 (pbk. : alk. paper) Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-343) and index. Subjects: Thugs. LC Classification: DS422 .W6413 2002 Dewey Class No.: 915.4 21 Language Code: eng fre Geog. Area Code: a-ii--- Electronic File Info.: Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/uchi051/2002007633.html Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/bios/uchi051/2002007633.html Table of contents http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/uchi051/2002007633.html CALL NUMBER: DS422 .W6413 2002 Copy 1 -- Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms -- Status: Not Charged ______________________________ CALL NUMBER: DS422 .W6413 2002 Copy 2 -- Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms -- Status: Not Charged ------------------- ---------------- DATABASE NAME: Library of Congress Online Catalog ================================================================================ LC Control Number: 00371699 Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) Personal Name: Thornton, Edward, 1799-1875. Main Title: Illustrations of the history and practices of the thugs, and notices of some of the proceedings of the Government of India, for the supression of the crime of the thuggee / Thornton. Published/Created: New Delhi : Asian Educational Services, 2000. Description: 475 p. ; 23 cm. ISBN: 8120614410 Notes: Reprint. Published: London : Nattali and Bond, 1851. Subjects: Thugs--India. LC Classification: DS422.T5 T5 2000 Dewey Class No.: 364.15/23/0954 21 Overseas Acq. No.: I-E-00-371699; 56-92 Other System No.: (DLC) 00371699 Repro./Stock No.: Library of Congress -- New Delhi Field Office Rs595.00 Geog. Area Code: a-ii--- Quality Code: lcode CALL NUMBER: DS422.T5 T5 2000 Copy 1 -- Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms -- Status: Not Charged ------------------- ---------------- DATABASE NAME: Library of Congress Online Catalog ================================================================================ LC Control Number: 70871893 Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) Personal Name: Pfirrmann, Gustav, 1927- Main Title: Religi(Aöser Charakter und Organisation der Thag-Brüderschaften. Published/Created: [Tübingen] 1970. Description: xii, 162 p. map. 21 cm. Subjects: Thugs--Religion. K¯al¯i (Hindu deity)--Cult. LC Classification: DS422.T5 P45 Other System No.: (OCoLC)35730010 CALL NUMBER: DS422.T5 P45 Copy 1 -- Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms -- Status: Not Charged ------------------- ---------------- DATABASE NAME: Library of Congress Online Catalog ================================================================================ LC Control Number: 69012029 Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) Personal Name: Bruce, George, 1910- Main Title: The stranglers; the cult of Thuggee and its overthrow in British India [by] George Bruce. Edition Information: [1st American ed.] Published/Created: New York, Harcourt, Brace & World [1969, c1968] Description: viii, 234 p. illus., map, port. 22 cm. Notes: Bibliography: p. 225-226. Subjects: Thugs. LC Classification: DS422.T5 B7 1968 Dewey Class No.: 364.15/23/0954 CALL NUMBER: DS422.T5 B7 1968 Copy 1 -- Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms -- Status: Not Charged ------------------- ---------------- DATABASE NAME: Library of Congress Online Catalog ================================================================================ LC Control Number: 33024868 Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) Personal Name: Sleeman, James Lewis, 1880- [from old catalog] Main Title: Thug; Published/Created: London, S. Low, Marston & co. ltd. [1933] Description: ix, 246 p. front., plates, port., map. 23 cm. Subjects: Sleeman, William Henry, Sir, 1788-1856. [from old catalog] Thugs. [from old catalog] LC Classification: DS422.T5 S58 CALL NUMBER: DS422.T5 S58 Copy 1 -- Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms -- Status: Not Charged ------------------- ---------------- DATABASE NAME: Library of Congress Online Catalog ================================================================================ LC Control Number: 05011573 Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) Personal Name: Sleeman, W. H. (William Henry), Sir, 1788-1856. Main Title: The Thugs or Phansigars of India : comprising a history of the rise and progress of that extraordinary fraternity of assassins, and a description of the system which it pursues and of the measures which have been adopted by the supreme government of India for its suppression / compiled from original and authentic documents published by W.H. Sleeman. Published/Created: Philadelphia : Carey & Hart, 1839. Description: 2 v. ; 18 cm. Notes: LC copy bound 2 v. in 1. References: Checklist Amer. imprints 58545 Subjects: Thugs. LC Classification: DS422.T5 S62 CALL NUMBER: DS422.T5 S62 Copy 1 -- Request in: Jefferson or Adams Bldg General or Area Studies Reading Rms -- Status: Not Charged ______________________________ CALL NUMBER: DS422.T5 S62 Copy 2 -- Request in: Rare Book/Special Collections Reading Room (Jefferson LJ239) -- Status: Not Charged ------------------- ---------------- DATABASE NAME: Library of Congress Online Catalog ==================================================================== LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ONLINE CATALOG Library of Congress 101 Independence Ave., SE Washington, DC 20540 Allen W. Thrasher, Ph.D. Senior Reference Librarian Southern Asia Section Asian Division Library of Congress Jefferson Building 150 101 Independence Ave., S.E. Washington, DC 20540-4810 tel. 202-707-3732 fax 202-707-1724 athr The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Library of Congress. 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Guest guest Posted March 29, 2005 Report Share Posted March 29, 2005 I have to side with the revisionists. Thuggee was largely a British invention. Check out " 'Providential' Circumstances: The Thuggee Campaign of the 1830s and Legal Innovation" by Radhika Singha, _Modern Asian Studies_ 27:1 (1993), pp. 83-146. It's a very sober account from an institutional and legal perspective. Jim Rader > > There are a number of books on the subject, the records for some of > which I add below. Meadows Taylor and Sleeman are the most famous, by > British officials involved in suppressing Thuggee. There are many > editions of their books, and I have not posted them all. Probably some > are in print; certainly there are many in libraries around the world. > The current tendency of scholarship is towards revisionism and to > think the phenomonenon was constructed from overheated British > imaginations (as the titles of some of the recent studies below might > suggest). For myself, though there may be occasions when people at a > distant place and time may understand something better than what the > British used to call "the man on the spot," I find this implausible in > the present case. > > Allen Thrasher > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 Greetings, See also "The Thags in Classical and Colonial India" (sect. 9-11) in *Tradition and Reflection* (SUNY 1991) by Wilhelm Halbfass (pp. 102-105). I vaguely recall reading R. Singha's article, and I believe she doesn't treat the textual materials Halbfass explores, dating from the 10th century. He cites usages from Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu texts, with a passing allusion to Muslim references which could be relevant ("tahkiniyya, dahkInIya"). He states that "there were real, "practicing" Thags in India" and also notes that in 19th century India "the publicity they received was certainly exaggerated." As usual, Halbfass provides a wealth of bibliographic info --including reference to G. Pfirrman's dissertation: Religioser Charakter und Organisation der Thag-Bruderschaften. (Tubingen, 1970) Apologies for the lack of diacritics! best wishes, Tim Cahill On Tue, 29 Mar 2005, Jim Rader wrote: > > I have to side with the revisionists. Thuggee was largely a British > invention. Check out " 'Providential' Circumstances: The Thuggee > Campaign of the 1830s and Legal Innovation" by Radhika Singha, > _Modern Asian Studies_ 27:1 (1993), pp. 83-146. It's a very sober > account from an institutional and legal perspective. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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