"Death of Dhoondiah" (an engraving, 1839), hunted down by Wellesley in 1799; the story was recounted in 'Romantic History of Dhoondiah: An Oriental Bandit, the Greatest Robber the World Ever Knew. Who Styled Himself King of the Two Worlds! And Who Brought to the Fields His Twenty Thousand Men, Ravaged Cities and Towns, Laid Provinces Under Contribution, and Was Finally Pursued With a Large Army, and Killed By the Duke of Wellington [=Wellesley]....' by C. Frank Powell (1840's)

Source: ebay, Mar. 2013

*'Thugs' (literally "thags," or practitioners of "thaggi") deceived and strangled travelers: drawings by an Indian artist, for Capt. James Paton, Assistant to the Resident at Lucknow, 1829-1840* (BL)

"1) Thugs distract their victim. Description:  (Whole folio) Coloured drawing of two Thugs pointing upwards to the sky to distract their victim, whilst another creeps up behind ready to strangle him.
2) Thugs strangling a traveller. Description:  (Whole folio) Coloured drawing of thugs strangling a traveller on the floor."




"Capture of the robber chief, Rundheer Singh, of Syfabad, in Oude," from the Illustrated London News, 1852

Source: ebay, Mar. 2014



"Hindoo thugs and poisoners.-- from a drawing by Mr. W. Carpenter, Jr.," from the Illustrated London News, 1857; click on the image for a very large scan

Source: ebay, May 2009

From the original caption by the artist:
"In the Illustration there are two Thugs--one with the roumal or handkerchief in his hands, exactly as they hold it behind their victims when on the point of throwing it over their heads; the other squats fronting the spectator. The man with a bundle over his shoulder is a nujeeb--i.e., policeman in disguise, [in order to act] as a detective; the other to the right is in his ordinary dress. The rest are poisoners."



"A party of thugs, in India," from 'Harper's Weekly', 1857

Source: ebay, Dec. 2012


"The Kalee-poojah [feast] of the Thugs," from Harper's Weekly, 1858

Source: ebay, Nov. 2010

*"Les thugs (etrangleurs de l'Inde.--D'apres un tableau de M. Schaeft, expose au salon de 1857," from 'L'Illustration', 1867*

Source: ebay, Feb. 2012

"Thugs in prison at Aurangabad," a print from 'Le Tour du Monde', Paris, 1869; click on the image for a very large scan

Source: ebay, Aug. 2008

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