
A clay model of Thugs demonstrating their method of murder by strangulation
2,446 words

A clay model of Thugs demonstrating their method of murder by strangulation
In the all-consuming culture wars of our era, it is often tempting to look for convenient rhetorical victories. Sometimes, however, these victories can be too convenient. I remember such victories from the 1990s when I first learned of the Thuggees of India. All I knew at the time was that they were a murderous cult, prevalent during the 19th-century British Raj, and that the British (to their credit) had completely stamped them out. (more…)