On the Thugs
| Author | An officer in the service of His Highness the Nizam (anonymous) |
|---|---|
| Published | July 1833 |
| Format | Article |
| Original | Read the original |
TL;DR — An 1833 magazine account, sent by an officer in the Nizam of Hyderabad’s service, describing the Thugs, bands in India who befriended and strangled travellers to rob them.
Printed in The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, vol. 38, July 1833 (from page 277). The officer describes the Thugs as a distinct class who lived on the proceeds of murder, also called Phanseegurs, who joined travellers’ parties, gained their trust and killed them before robbing them, then hid the bodies. He discusses their religious claims and customs and the difficulty of bringing them to justice.
The scan is a Google-digitized copy of the magazine pages, so it opens and ends with fragments of the neighbouring pieces (the end of “The Politician, No. XVII” on the Bank charter, and the start of a comic sketch about a windstorm in London).
What it is: a primary source from British India before the 1830s anti-thuggee campaign; a colonial officer’s report in a popular magazine, with the biases of its time.
Where this came from
- A copy saved in October 2026.
- The same issue is openly available on the Internet Archive.
- Archived copy (Google Drive): Google Drive
11 pages. A copy is archived locally against link rot; the header links the original source.