The Thugs are one of those groups of people, like say the KKK or the Tonton Macoute, who inhabit your nightmares. And why not, considering that the Thugs are famous for murdering a lot of people in the name of religion.

Dash does a very good job covering the history of the Thugs, from their creation and the famous castle their leader inhabited to their modus operandi to the nineteenth century and the work of the British to stamp out the Thugs. It’s also interesting to note that the English language imported not one but two Thugee-based words into our vocabulary, so even if we’re never murdered in the dead of night by a Thugee member we’re still linked to this group of religious assassins. ( )

Thugs beroofden reizigers op wegen in India. Hun tactiek was eerst vriendschap met argeloze reizigers te sluiten, een eind met hen mee te reizen om hen op een afgelegen plek met een strop te wurgen en vervolgens te beroven. Zij opereerden in groepsverband, de meeste benden hadden leiders met een lange ervaring en hun kinderen volgden hun soms op. De verschillende groepen herkenden elkaar door bepaalde woorden en uitdrukkingen. Thugs waren, zoals de meeste Indiërs in die tijd bijgelovig en hadden een lange lijst van mensen die ze niet mochten aanvallen, maar hielden zich er meestal niet aan. Zij werkten zeer efficiënt, tienduizenden mensen verdwenen zonder een spoor na te laten. De lichamen werden op geheime plaatsen begraven. De Britse bestuurder van de Oost-Indische Compagnie, William Sleeman ontdekte het geheime genootschap van de Thuggee in de jaren 20 van de 19e eeuw. Hij zette gevangengenomen leden van de bendes in als informanten en hield uitgebreide archieven bij. Er volgden vele aanhoudingen en veroordelingen. Tegen 1840 wist hij het hele netwerk op te rollen.
Schrijver Mike Dash staat sceptisch tegenover de bewering dat de Thugs een religieuze sekte zijn, omdat ze Kali, de Hindoegodin van de vernietiging vereerden.
Aan het boek is een grondig onderzoek voorafgegaan en dit maakt het geheel een geloofwaardig en verbijsterend verhaal. ( )

Mike Dashś ´Thug´ is an excellent history of the practice of Thugee, the stealthy ritual murder of travelers at large on the highways of India, and its suppression by the British in the 1800ś. But this book is more than a historical narrative. From the earliest times, there was scepticism as to whether Thuggee really existed, and if it did whether it was primarily a religious or criminal activity. There was sheer disbelief that hundreds of murders could occur each year without detection and in such bizarre circumstances. The British Colonial Government has been accused of making the whole thing up, labeling some isolated murders as the ´Cult of Thuggee´ in order to justify interference in Indian affairs. Writers down into modern times have been accused of repeating and further inflating wild speculations about the number of deaths, and the degree to which the so called Cult of Thuggee was an accepted part of the Hindu religious practice. Naturally a great many Indians are not comfortable with a shadowy story that paints India as a country that in its recent past condoned ritual slaughter on an a massive scale in the name of religion.

What Mike Dash has done is to bring this story out of the shadows. Using Indian and British Colonial records, and building on the work of one of the most remarkably effective criminal investigators in history, Dash is able to persuasively demonstrate that Thuggee existed, that it was primarily a criminal enterprise, and that the total number of deaths was likely in the tens of thousands - but certainly not the millions as some have suggested. This is more than narrative, it is history, a ´setting straight´ of myth and memory. The description of the some of the remoter areas of India in the 1800´s is very well done, and the details of the operation of the Thuggee bands is both fascinating and chilling – taken as it was from the direct testimony of the killers and the very few victims that escaped. The real jewel in this story is Dash´s description of the brilliant work done by the British investigator William Sleeman. Essentially he destroyed the Thuggee operations with paperwork, exactly how I´ll leave to the reader. This is a book for anyone interested in the history of India, or for anyone with a very serious interest in the investigation of organised crime. Or you might take it as an extraordinarily well told – and rather disturbing - story of one of the bizarre by-ways of human nature and history. Highly recommended. ( )

Thoroughly disturbing, compelling and the stuff nightmares are made of. Only "true". Mike Dash has an amazing way of presenting history in easily digested bits and pieces that all together read like fiction. I'd recommend any of his books to anyone, history buff or not. ( )