“Sir,—I was yesterday present at the execution of eleven Thugs, who had been seized in the neighbourhood of Bhilsa, convicted of the murder of thirty-five travellers, (whose bodies were disinterred as evidence against them at the different places along the lines of road between Bhopaul and Saugor, where they had been strangled and buried,) and sentenced to death by the agent to the Governor-general, Mr. Smith.
“As the sun rose, the eleven men were brought out from the jail, decorated with chaplets of flowers, and marched up to the front of the drop, where they arranged themselves in line with infinite self-possession.
“When arranged, each opposite the noose that best pleased him, they lifted up their hands and shouted, ‘Bindachul ka jae! Bhawānī ka jae!’ i.e. ‘Glory to Bindachul! Bhawānī’s glory!’ every one making use of precisely the same invocation, though four were Mahomedans, one a Brahman, and the rest Rajpoots, and other castes of Hindoos; they all ascended the steps, and took their position upon the platform with great composure, then, taking the noose in both hands, made the same invocation to Bhawānī, after which they placed them over their heads and adjusted them to their necks; some of the younger ones laughing at the observations of the crowd around them.
“One of the youngest, a Mahomedan, impatient of the delay, stooped down so as to tighten the rope, and, stepping deliberately over the platform, hung himself as coolly as one would step over a rock to take a swim in the sea! This man was known to have assisted in strangling a party of six travellers at Omurpatan, in the Rewah Rajah’s territories, in December last, and closely pursued—to have gone off, joined another gang, and, in less than a month, to have assisted in strangling thirty more in Bhopaul; he was taken at Bhilsa, the last scene of his murders. Omurpatan is 100 miles east of Jubulpore; and the place in which the Thug assisted in strangling in the Bhopaul territories, a month afterwards, is 200 miles west of Jubulpore. Such is the rapidity with which these murderers change the scene of their operations, when conscious of keen pursuit! He was taken at Bhilsa by the very man whom he found upon his trail at Omurpatan, 300 miles distant.
“On being asked whether they had any wish to express to the magistrate, they prayed that for every man hung, five convicts might be released from jail, and that they might have a little money to be distributed in charity.
“Their invocation of Bhawānī at the drop, was a confession of their guilt, for no one in such a situation invokes Bhawānī but a Thug, and he invokes no other deity in any situation, whatever may be his religion or sect. She is worshipped under her four names, Devi, Kalee, Doorga, and Bhawānī, and her temple at Bindachun, a few miles west of Mirzapore on the Ganges, is constantly filled with murderers from every quarter of India, who go there to offer up a share of the booty acquired from their strangled victims in their annual excursions.
“This accounts for the invocation—‘jae Bindachul!’ made use of by these men in approaching and ascending the drop. These pilgrimages to the temple are made generally at the latter end of the rainy season, and whilst on their road from their homes to the temple, nothing can ever tempt them to commit a robbery. They are not, however, so scrupulous on their way back.
“The priests promise the Thugs impunity and wealth, provided a due share be offered to the goddess. If they die by the sword in the execution of murders, she promises them paradise in all its most exquisite delights; if taken and executed, it must arise from her displeasure, incurred by some neglect of the duties they owe her, and they must, as disturbed spirits, inhabit mid-air until her wrath be appeased. After they have propitiated the goddess by offering up a share of the preceding year, and received the priest’s suggestions on the subject, they prepare for the next year’s expedition.
“The different members who form the gang assemble at the village of the leader at a certain day, and, after determining the scene of operations, they proceed to consecrate their kodalee, or small pickaxe, which they use to dig the graves of their victims, and which they consider as their standard. They believe that no spirit can ever rise to trouble their repose from a grave dug by this instrument, provided it be duly consecrated, and they are fearfully scrupulous in the observance of every ceremony enjoined in the consecration, and never allow the earth to be turned with any other instrument. It is a neatly made pickaxe of about four or five pounds’ weight, six or eight inches long, and with one point.