They who reverence ancient descent, and a long line of ancestors, are bound to regard the Thugs with peculiar veneration. Perhaps, neither in Asia nor in Europe are there any other families that can date their origin from such remote antiquity. They are said to be sprung from the Sagartii, who contributed 8,000 horse to the army of Xerxes, and are thus described by Herodotus, in the Seventh Book of his History:— "These people lead a pastoral life, were originally of Persian descent, and use the

The Tusma-Baz Thugs were the fruit of European civilization grafted on the Asiatic stock. At the commencement of the present century one Creagh, a private in an English regiment stationed at Cawnpore, initiated three natives of low degree into the mysteries of an art, formerly practised by thimble-riggers in this country, and known as "pricking the garter." The game, designated Tusma-bazee by his Hindoo disciples, was played in this manner:—a strap being doubled into many folds, the bystanders w

In India, under its native rulers, murder and robbery were hereditary professions. The Thugs, or hereditary murderers, have been completely put down; but the work of suppression has not yet been equally successful with regard to the hereditary robbers, as they ever found a ready harbour of refuge in the waste lands of the late kingdom of Oude, and, indeed, in every independent state. They usually lived in colonies, in the midst of wild jungles, difficult of access. With incredible rapidity they

Some curious and interesting information has been furnished by Captain C. Barr, of the Bombay Native Infantry, with regard to the Mangs, or Kholapore Dacoits. It is needless to observe, that Kholapore was one of the early divisions of the Mahratta empire, or that it separated from the main body in 1729, under the auspices of one of the younger branches of Sivajee's family. The Mangs occupied the very lowest grade in the ladder of society—or, rather, they were looked upon as outcasts, and quite b

or Professional Thieves. In the year 1851 it was accidentally discovered that the British territories had long been infested with gangs of thieves from the Banpoor States. These Sunoreahs, or Oothaeegeerahs, who extended their depredations into the very heart of Calcutta, had carried on their vocation with impunity for many generations. Their existence was well known, however, to the native authorities, from whom they received protection and encouragement. The head man of each village was ex off