Dacoity

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Dacoity is a term used for "

British India under East India Company rule. Areas with ravines or forests, such as Chambal and Chilapata Forests
, were once known for dacoits.

Daku (Dacoit) written in Samrup Rachna Calligraphy

Etymology

The word "dacoity", the

Hindi word ḍakaitī (historically spelled dakaitee). Hindi डकैती comes from ḍākū (historically spelled dakoo, Hindi
: डाकू, meaning "armed robber").

The term dacoit (

OED ("A member of a class of robbers in India and Burma
, who plunder in armed bands").

History

Bandits of Bhind-Morena and Chambal

The dacoity have had a large impact in the

blood feuds would drive some into criminality.[2]

In Chambal, India, organized crime controlled much of the countryside from the time of the

social bandits toward the local poor, paying medical bills and funding weddings. One ex-dacoit described his own criminal past by claiming that "I was a rebel. I fought injustice."[2] Following intense anti-banditry campaigns by the Indian Police, highway robbery was almost completely eradicated in the early 2000s. Nevertheless, Chambal is still popularly believed to be unsafe and bandit-infested by many Indians. One police officer noted that the fading of the dacoity was also due to social changes, as few young people were any longer willing to endure the harsh life as a highway robber in the countryside. Instead, they prefer to join crime groups in the city, where life is easier.[2]

Dacoits in Bengal

While thugs and dacoits operating in northern and central India are more popularly known and referenced in books, films and academic journal, a significant number of accounts also come from Bengal. Writing about the dacoits of Bengal, the colonial official CH Keighly mentions the “great difference between gangs of hereditary dacoits or thugs in other parts of India and the dacoits of Bengal”.[3] It is notable that unlike the rest of India, dacoits in Bengal did not come from a particular social class, caste, or creed.

The Gangs of Nadia and Hooghly

Dacoit gangs in Nadia and Hooghly were particularly known for their ritualistic practices before the night of dacoity. Before setting off for their mission, the members would assemble to perform “kalipuja” led by the Sirdar (leader). The dacoits would form a straight line and a pot of liquor, torches, and weapons to be used in the dacoity were laid down in a clear space. The Sirdar would then dip his finger in oil and touch the forehead of all the dacoits, making them promise never to confess. Even during the raid, when dacoits opened chests and discovered a good fortune, they would shout “Kali, Jai Kali”.[3]

Dacoits of Birbhum

Dacoity was highly prevalent in 19th century west Bengal. One of the gangs, led by a charismatic leader named Bhabani Pathak, was known for its loyalty to their leader. After the British captured Bhabani, the inner workings and social factors that led to the construction of this gang were revealed. Leaders such as Bhabani were known as Sirdars and had a symbiotic relationship with their followers.[3] Among other benefits, a Sirdar would lend loans to members and provided them protection. This allowed for the formation of a special bond between the Sirdar and followers which meant that cases of desertion and exiting the gang were virtually unheard of.

Tales of Burdwan

In Burdwan, dacoities were heavily planned and considerable thought went into their seamless execution. Sirdars in Burdwan operated by employing several informants who kept them updated about prospective targets.[3] When a target was finalized, the Sirdar and relevant gang members were constantly made aware about his whereabouts. The informants were always on the lookout for wealthy businessmen and kept a close watch on those that exchanged bank notes of considerable value or received a shipment of merchandise that they would store in their houses.

Other dacoity

The term is also applied, according to the

Burhampore
".

Dacoits existed in Burma as well –

henchmen
.

Indian police forces use "Known Dacoit" (K.D.) as a label to classify criminals.

Thuggee and Dacoity Suppression Act

Introduced in 1836, the suppression acts brought about several legislative measures including the establishment of special courts, authorization for the use of rewards for informants, and the power to arrest suspects.[4] The suppression acts marked the beginning of active British intervention in policing and law enforcement in Indian society. These acts were known to be authoritarian and further deepened the uneven power dynamic between the British and the Indians.

British Portrayal of Crime in India

The British often saw Indians as primitive, violent, and unruly, and this often acted as a justification for colonization and further consolidated their “civilization mission” pretext. The practice of thuggee and dacoity was seen in a similar Eurocentric light, without understanding the local context. An orientalist view of such activities was portrayed in the rest of the world to account for several repressive legislative measures that the British took. Under this punitive approach, several innocent individuals fell prey to false suspicion and were incriminated.[5]

Notable dacoits

A family of dacoits

Notable dacoits include:

Protection measures

In Madhya Pradesh, women belonging to a village defence group have been issued firearm permits to fend off dacoity. The Chief minister of the state, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, recognised the role the women had played in defending their villages without guns. He stated that he wanted to enable these women to better defend both themselves and their villages, and issued the gun permits to advance this goal.[17]

In popular culture

Dacoit films

As the dacoits flourished through the 1940s–1970s, they were the subject of various

Mujhe Jeene Do (1963).[20]

Pakistani actor

Malangi (1965) and Imam Din Gohavia (1967). Other films in this genre included Khote Sikkay (1973), Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), and Kuchhe Dhaage (1973) both by Raj Khosla
.

The most famous dacoit film is Sholay (1975), written by Salim–Javed, and starring Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, and Amjad Khan as the dacoit character Gabbar Singh. It was a masala film that combined the dacoit film conventions of Mother India and Gunga Jumna with that of Spaghetti Westerns, spawning the "Dacoit Western" genre,[19] also known as the "Curry Western" genre. The film also borrowed elements from Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.[21] Sholay became a classic in the genre, and its success led to a surge of films in this genre, including Ganga Ki Saugandh (1978), once again starring Amitabh Bachchan and Amjad Khan.

An internationally acclaimed example of the genre is Bandit Queen (1994).

The Tamil movie starring Karthi, Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru (2017) deals elaborately with bandits. The film reveals the real dacoity incidents which held in Tamil Nadu between 1995 and 2005. Director Vinoth did a two-year research about bandits to develop the script.

A related genre of crime films are

Mumbai underworld films
.

Other media

Bengali novel Devi Chowdhurani by author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1867.

Bengali poem Birpurush by Rabindranath Tagore in 1903.

A Hindi novel named Painstth Lakh ki Dacoity (1977) was written by Surender Mohan Pathak; it was translated as The 65 Lakh Heist.

Dacoits armed with pistols and swords appear in

Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties
.

They frequently appeared in the French language Bob Morane series of novels by Henri Vernes, principally as the main thugs or assassins of the hero's recurring villain, Mr. Ming and in English as the agents of Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu.

See also

References

  1. ^ Here, "Anglo-Indian" refers to the language, or linguistic usage. See: Yule, Henry and Burnell, Arthur Coke (1886; reprinted 1903). Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive. London: J. Murry. p. 290. Archived 2014-06-28 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ a b c d e Paul Salopek (6 February 2019). "Trekking India's wild north, where bandits ruled". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  3. ^
    JSTOR 40276503
    – via JSTOR.
  4. .
  5. .
  6. ^ Raina, Asoka (31 March 1982). "UP's most wanted dacoit Chhabiram killed after seven-and-a-half hour battle". India Today. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Sholay: Iconic Bollywood film releases in Pakistan cinemas - BBC News". Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  8. ^ Staff (5 September 1955) "India: Dead Man" Archived 2010-11-30 at the Wayback Machine Time magazine
  9. ISSN
    0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  10. ^ "Dreaded dacoit Kalua shot dead". Hindustan Times. 17 January 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  11. .
  12. ^ "The 'Last Lion of Chambal' gunned down by police". www.southasianpost.com. 20 September 2005. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
  13. ^ Farzand Ahmed (ed.). "183 people brutally murdered in Kaimur plateau in Bihar in last 12 months". India Today. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  14. ^ a b SHARMA, RAVI (18 November 2004). "How he made his pile". Frontline.
  15. ^ "The most famous of them all". www.downtoearth.org.in.
  16. .
  17. ^ "Indian Women Granted Gun Permits to Fend Off Armed Robbers" Archived 2008-11-23 at the Wayback Machine LearnAboutGuns.com
  18. ^ Salopek, Paul (6 February 2019). "Outlaw Trails". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2019. They have grown up on news accounts and Bollywood movies about the remote Chambal, a vast badland at the northern heart of their country: a no-go zone of lumpy hills and silty rivers infested with thugs, robbers, murderers, gangsters—with infamous highwaymen called dacoits.
  19. ^ from the original on 30 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  20. ^ "The Real Life Hero". Screen. 6 June 2008. Archived from the original on 3 March 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  21. ^ Pandya, Haresh (27 December 2007). "G. P. Sippy, Indian Filmmaker Whose Sholay Was a Bollywood Hit, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.

Further reading

External links