Dacoity is a term used for "

banditry Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, ...

" in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. The spelling is the

anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

version of the

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial

Indian English Indian English (IndE, IE) or English (India) is a group of English dialects spoken in the Republic of India and among the Indian diaspora and native to India. English is used by the Government of India for communication, and is enshrined ...

word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed gang". It appears in the ''Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases'' (1903).

Banditry Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, ...

is a criminal activity involving robbery by groups of armed bandits. The

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

established the

Thuggee and Dacoity Department The Thuggee and Dacoity Department, also called Thagi and Dakaiti Department, was an organ of the East India Company, and inherited by British India, which was established in 1830 with the mission of addressing '' dacoity'' (banditry), highway r ...

in 1830, and the Thuggee and Dacoity Suppression Acts, 1836–1848 were enacted in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

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

Etymology

The word "dacoity" is an

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

version of the

word ''ḍakaitī'' (historically transliterated ''dakaitee'').

डकैती comes from ''ḍākū'' (historically transliterated ''dakoo'',

: डाकू, meaning "armed robber"). The term dacoit (

: डकैत ''ḍakait'') means "a

bandit Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, e ...

" according to the '' OED'' ("A member of a class of robbers in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, who plunder in armed bands").

History

Bandits of Bhind-Morena of Gwalior Chambal

The dacoity have had a large impact in the Bhind and Morena of Chambal region in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

in north-central India. The exact reasons for the emergence of dacoity in the Chambal valley have been disputed. Most explanations have suggested feudal exploitation as the cause that provoked many people in this region to take arms. The area was also underdeveloped and poor, so banditry posed great economic incentives. However, the fact that many gangs operating in this valley were composed of higher castes and wealthy people appears to suggest that feudalism may only be a partial explanation of dacoity in Chambal Valley (Bhaduri, 1972; Khan, 1981; Jatar, 1980; Katare, 1972). Furthermore, traditional honour codes and

blood feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

s would drive some into criminality. In Chambal, India, organized crime controlled much of the countryside from the time of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

up to the early 2000s, with the police offering high rewards for the most notorious bandit chiefs. The criminals regularly targeted local businesses, though they preferred to kidnap wealthy people and demand ransom from their relatives – cutting off fingers, noses, and ears to pressure them into paying high sums. Many dacoity also posed as social bandits toward the local poor, paying medical bills and funding weddings. One ex-dacoit described his criminal past by claiming that "I was a rebel. I fought injustice." 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 dacoity was also due to social changes, as few young people were any longer willing to endure the harsh life of highway robbers in the countryside. Instead, they prefer to join crime groups in the city, where life is easier.

Dacoits in Bengal

While thugs and dacoits operating in northern and central India are more popularly known and referenced in books, films, and academic journals, 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”. 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 mainly known for their ceremonial 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 would be 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”.

Dacoits of Birbhum

Dacoity was 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. Among other benefits, a Sirdar would lend loans to members and provide them protection. This allowed for the formation of a special bond between Sirdar and his 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 was put into their seamless execution. Sirdars in Burdwan employed several informants who kept them updated about prospective targets. When a target was finalized, the Sirdar and relevant gang members were constantly made aware of his whereabouts. The informants were always on the lookout for wealthy business people and kept a close watch on those who exchanged bank notes of considerable value or received a shipment of merchandise they would store in their houses.

Other dacoity

The term is also applied, according to the '' OED'', to "pirates who formerly infested the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

between

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

and Burhampore". Dacoits existed in Burma as well—

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

's fictional Private Mulvaney hunted Burmese dacoits in " The Taking of Lungtungpen."

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in David ...

's criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu also employed Burmese dacoits as his henchmen. Indian police forces use "Known Dacoit" (K.D.) as a label to classify criminals.

Thuggee and Dacoity Suppression Acts

Introduced in 1836, the Thuggee and Dacoity Suppression Acts brought about several legislative measures, including establishing special courts, authorization for using rewards for informants, and the power to arrest suspects. These acts were primarily intended to counter the activities of the thuggee, groups of criminals who allegedly moved along the highways of India murdering and robbing unaware travellers. According to academic Mark Brown, the prevalence of the thuggee across India during the early 19th century and the East India Company's response to it "might best be viewed in light of anxieties in both British ruling and Indian subordinate groups produced by the rapid and far-reaching ritishcolonial expansion" across

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

Notable dacoits

Notable dacoits include: * Chavviram Singh Yadav * Gabbar Singh Gujjar – inspired the famous 1975 film ''

Sholay ''Sholay'' (, ) is a 1975 Indian epic action-adventure film directed by Ramesh Sippy, produced by his father G. P. Sippy, and written by Salim–Javed. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan), hired ...

'', based on his life * Man Singh was a notorious Dacoit of the Rathore clan of Rajputs. He was also known as the Lion of Chambal. * Malkhan Singh Rajpoot, a notorious bandit known as the "Daku Man Singh". He also had political aspirations in MP. * Malangi * Kallu Yadav (Kalua), also known as Katri King * Mohar Singh Gurjar * Nirbhay Singh Gujjar- Also known as "Daketraj" or "King of Dacoits of Chambal" * Nizam Lohar, a dacoit born into a Punjabi Muslim family during the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...

. He is known for his rebellion and freedom struggle against the British colonial government. * Paan Singh Tomar, a former soldier in the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

, an athlete that represented India in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

, who later resorted to becoming a Baaghi due to the injustices he faced. Also inspired the Bollywood film ''Paan Singh Tomar'', in which he was played by Irrfan Khan. * Phoolan Devi, known as Bandit Queen (even a movie with the same name was made), a lady bandit who initially rebelled against her rape and injustice her community she was subjected to. * Rambabu Gadariya – Regarded as the last notorious dacoit of Chambal he is known as t-1 target one13 Gujjars were lined up and shot dead in gwalior 3 time police clame we killed him in encounter but he was enjoying because he nerve killed in encounter. *

Shiv Kumar Patel Shiv Kumar Patel or Dadua (died 22 July 2007) was a notorious criminal and dacoit who operated in ravines and forests on the borders between the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Dadua’s gang was known to possess sophisticat ...

(Dadua) * Ramashish Koeri was active in Rohtas Plateau of Bihar in 1980s. He was the leader of a group of bandits, who were supported by the people from lower strata of society. This dacoit group was known for challenging the hagemony of upper caste landlords in the region, who were exploitative. * Jagat Singh Sidhu (Jagga Jatt) * Koose Munusamy Veerappan, a notorious dacoit, poacher, and smuggler in South India. He was responsible for poaching approximately 500 of the 2000 elephants killed in the peninsular region where he was active and for smuggling ivory worth US$2.6 million (₹16 crore) and about 65 tons of sandalwood worth approximately US$22 million (₹143 crore). * Nazroo Narejo (1966-2015)

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.

In popular culture

Dacoit films

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

Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry, producing films in th ...

made during this era, leading to the emergence of the dacoit film genre in Hindi Film Industry. The genre began with

Mehboob Khan Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan (9 September 1907
at filmreference.com. – 28 May 1964) was a pr ...

's '' Aurat'' (1940), which he remade as ''

Mother India ''Mother India'' is a 1957 Indian epic drama film, directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. A remake of Khan's earlier film '' Aurat'' (1940), it is the story of a poverty-stricken village wo ...

'' (1957). ''Mother India'' received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nomination, and defined the dacoit film genre, along with

Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...

's '' Gunga Jumna'' (1961). Other popular films in this genre included

Raj Kapoor Raj Kapoor (; born as Shrishti Nath Kapoor; 14 December 1924 2 June 1988; also known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor) was an Indian actor, film director and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influen ...

’s '' Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai'' (1961) and

Moni Bhattacharjee Moni Bhattacharjee was an Indian film director and screenwriter of the 1960s who directed Hindi language films. Career Bhattacharjee started as an assistant to Bimal Roy on many classic films of the 1950s. After the success of the film ''Madhum ...

's '' Mujhe Jeene Do'' (1963). Pakistani actor Akmal Khan had two dacoit films, '' 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 ''

'' (1975), written by Salim–Javed, and starring

Dharmendra Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol (born 8 December 1935), known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer, and politician who is primarily known for his work in Hindi films. Dharmendra is widely considered one of the greatest, most h ...

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

, 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 Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

s, spawning the "Dacoit Western" genre, also known as the "Curry Western" genre. The film also borrowed elements from

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

's ''

Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai action film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay co-written with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. Taking place in 1586 in the Sengoku period of Japanese history, it follows the story of a villag ...

''. ''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 Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), credited as Karthi, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil Cinema. He is son of veteran actor Sivakumar who began his career as an assistant director in his elder brother Suriya's film '' Aayutha Ezhuthu ...

, ''

Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru ''Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru'' () or simply ''Theeran'' is a 2017 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by H. Vinoth and produced by S. R. Prakashbabu and S. R. Prabhu under the banner Dream Warrior Pictu ...

'' (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 Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (anglicized as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee; 26 or 27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894) was an Indian Bengali novelist, poet, essayist and journalist.Staff writer"Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist" ''The ...

in 1867. Bengali poem '' Birpurush'' by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

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 Charles-Henri-Jean Dewisme (16 October 1918 – 25 July 2021), better known by his pen name Henri Vernes (), was an author of action and science fiction novels. He published over 200 titles in the action and science-fiction genre. He was most ...

, 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.

References

External links

Dacoity – Indian Penal Code, Chapter XVII
(Mobile Friendly)
As modern world closes in, India's fabled bandits are disappearing
–

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...

{{Authority control British India Banditry Outlaws Organised crime in Pakistan Indian robbers Gangs in India Indian slang Pakistani slang Bengali words and phrases Urdu-language words and phrases Organised crime in India Secret societies in India Secret societies related to organized crime hi:डकैती