 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Dacoity" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in theIndian subcontinent. The spelling is theanglicised version of theHindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit"/dəˈkɔɪt/ is a colloquialIndian English word with this meaning. It appears in theGlossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases (1903).[1]Banditry is a criminal activity involving robbery by groups of armed bandits. TheEast India Company established theThuggee and Dacoity Department in 1830, and theThuggee and Dacoity Suppression Acts, 1836–1848 were enacted inBritish India underEast India Company rule.[2] Areas with ravines or forests, such asChambal andChilapata Forests, were once known for dacoits.
_in_Samrup_Rachna_Calligraphy.jpg)
The word "dacoity" is ananglicized version of theHindi wordḍakaitī (historically transliterateddakaitee).Hindi डकैती comes fromḍākū (historically transliterateddakoo,Hindi: डाकू, meaning "armed robber").[3][4]
The termdacoit (Hindi: डकैतḍakait) means "abandit" according to theOED ("A member of a class of robbers inIndia andBurma, who plunder in armed bands").[3][4]
The dacoity have had a large impact in theBhind andMorena ofChambal region inMadhya Pradesh andRajasthan in north-central India.[5] 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.[5] 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 andblood feuds would drive some into criminality.[5]
In Chambal, India, organized crime controlled much of the countryside from the time of theBritish Raj 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 associal 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."[5] 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.[5]
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”.[6] It is notable that, unlike the rest of India, dacoits in Bengal did not come from a particular social class, caste, or creed.
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”.[6]
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.[6] 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.
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.[6] 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.
The term is also applied, according to theOED, to "pirates who formerly infested theGanges betweenCalcutta andBurhampore".
Dacoits existed in Burma as well—Rudyard Kipling's fictional Private Mulvaney hunted Burmese dacoits in "The Taking of Lungtungpen."Sax Rohmer 's criminal mastermindDr. Fu Manchu also employed Burmese dacoits as hishenchmen.
Indian police forces use "Known Dacoit" (K.D.) as a label to classify criminals.
Introduced in 1836, theThuggee 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.[7] These acts were primarily intended to counter the activities of thethuggee, 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 [British] colonial expansion" acrossSouth Asia.[8]
.jpg)
Notable dacoits include:
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.[20]
As the dacoits flourished through the 1940s–1970s, they were the subject of variousHindi films made during this era, leading to the emergence of the dacoit film genre inHindi Film Industry.[21] The genre began withMehboob Khan'sAurat (1940), which he remade asMother India (1957).Mother India received anAcademy Award nomination, and defined the dacoit film genre, along withDilip Kumar'sGunga Jumna (1961).[22] Other popular films in this genre includedRaj Kapoor’sJis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1961) andMoni Bhattacharjee'sMujhe Jeene Do (1963).[23]
Pakistani actorAkmal Khan had two dacoit films,Malangi (1965) andImam Din Gohavia (1967). Other films in this genre includedKhote Sikkay (1973),Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), andKuchhe Dhaage (1973) both byRaj Khosla.
The most famous dacoit film isSholay (1975), written bySalim–Javed, and starringDharmendra,Amitabh Bachchan, andAmjad Khan as the dacoit characterGabbar Singh. It was amasala film that combined the dacoit film conventions ofMother India andGunga Jumna with that ofSpaghetti Westerns, spawning the "Dacoit Western" genre,[22] also known as the "Curry Western" genre. The film also borrowed elements fromAkira Kurosawa'sSeven Samurai.[24]Sholay became a classic in the genre, and its success led to a surge of films in this genre, includingGanga Ki Saugandh (1978), once again starring Amitabh Bachchan and Amjad Khan.
An internationally acclaimed example of the genre isBandit Queen (1994).
The Tamil movie starringKarthi,Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru (2017) deals elaborately with bandits. The film reveals the real dacoity incidents which held in Tamil Nadu between 1995 and 2005. DirectorVinoth did a two-year research about bandits to develop the script.
A related genre of crime films areMumbai underworld films.
Bengali novelDevi Chowdhurani by authorBankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1867.
Bengali poemBirpurush byRabindranath Tagore in 1903.
A Hindi novel namedPainstth Lakh ki Dacoity (1977) was written bySurender Mohan Pathak; it was translated asThe 65 Lakh Heist.
Dacoits armed with pistols and swords appear inAge of Empires III: Asian Dynasties.
They frequently appeared in the French languageBob Morane series of novels byHenri Vernes, 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.
They have grown up on news accounts and Bollywood movies about the remote Chambal, a vast badland at the northern heart of their country: a no-go zone of lumpy hills and silty rivers infested with thugs, robbers, murderers, gangsters—with infamous highwaymen called dacoits.
