Thugs killed Millions of Indian travellers
The final review of Mike Dash’s fascinating book - Thug: The True Story of India’s Murderous Cult.
Thugs were a notorious band of marauding murderous highway robbers that plagued Indian roads between the 1600s and mid 1800s (Introduction to Thugs). They used to trick wealthy and not-so-wealthy travellers into traveling with them as a group. When [...]
Draupadi of Mahabharata cries out in Pratibha Ray’s Yajnaseni
I have just finished reading Pradip Bhattacharya’s English translation of the Oriya book “Yajnaseni” by the famed writer Pratibha Ray. If women can be educated and modern without losing their cultural identity, then Pratibha Ray sets an excellent example. Yajnaseni won her a Bharatiya Jnanpith award in 1993.
The story of Draupadi, the heroine [...]
Argumentative Indian unworthy; Amartya Sen’s history biased
At last, somebody has gathered enough courage to refute Amartya Sen and his recent book, The Argumentative Indian. It is surprising that Amartya Sen has risen to the status of a demigod especially in his home state Bengal, and that his book has been hailed in all the reviews written by Indians that I have [...]
Even among the Bengalis there are exceptions!
Who would have expected that even among the Bengalis there are those that do not like all the sounds and flavours of this season - of course the dhaak and gaan of Durga puja! Have you heard this old Bengali joke?
When does the beat of the dhaak sound the sweetest?
When it stops playing.
That’s [...]
Most British died during the Raj in India
The mortality among British officers stationed in Indian cities were staggering, according to Mike Dash’s excellent book on the murderous Indian cult - Thug. He says:
In the 17th and 18th centuries it was not uncommon for half the Europeans scattered through India to die of fever, drink or heatstroke in a single year. In Bombay, [...]
The Thugs of India - Part I
Beginning a series of articles on the most vile criminals to have walked the holy lands of India, I am going to take you through history as I read the wonderful Mike Dash - Thug: The True Story of India’s Murderous Cult.
Quite a few people have written about the Indian Thugs, but perhaps it is [...]