| Description |
1 online resource (xx, 281 pages) : illustrations, maps |
| Series |
Cambridge imperial and post-colonial studies series |
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Cambridge imperial and post-colonial studies series
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| Contents |
Thuggee reassessed -- PART 1 -- 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 2 -- 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 |
| Summary |
Often described merely as a colonial construction, the phenomenon of thuggee remains one of the more contentious and controversial subjects of Nineteenth-century South Asian History. Based largely on new material, this book constitutes the first in-depth examination of thuggee as a type of banditry, emerging in a specific socio-economic and geographic context. Thuggee was not an essence or a caste-like phenomonon, but a means of obtaining a livelihood reverted to by all strata of Indian society in certain areas. As such it constituted a highly institutionalized practice related to issues of patronage and retainership, identity and legitimacy, and it was defined by the appropriation of high status rituals and the martial ethos. 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 |
| Notes |
Based on the author's thesis (Ph. D.--University of Cambridge, 2003) entitled: Thuggee and the construction of crime in early 19th century India |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL |
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Print version record |
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digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL |
| Subject |
Thugs (Indic criminal group) -- India -- Sindouse Region -- History -- 19th century -- Historiography
|
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Thugs (Indic criminal group) -- Government policy -- India -- Sindouse Region -- History -- 19th century -- Historiography
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TRUE CRIME -- General.
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| Genre/Form |
History.
|
| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780230590205 |
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0230590209 |
|
1349361542 |
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9781349361540 |
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