*'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."




"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."


"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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