Pickaxes of the Thuggee

Jim McDougall · 17th June 2023, 03:30 PM

Thank you so much guys! Gav, I really appreciate you sharing that title and the photo! You have always been a fantastic book sleuth and the titles you have found in building your library always amazed me!

It has been many years since I did this research, and what I had found on the axes was that these were not at all used in murdering victims but actually ceremonially used the burial of the victims. It seems these 'thuggee' were nominally religious, and supposedly factored in the Hindu Faith and worship of the Goddess Kali. Actually they typically disguised themselves in accord with the contexts they were in, feigning various Faiths, but the element of their practices with religious ceremony and Kali created the situation with axes.

In some of the apocrypha on the thuggee, it was said that they made a pickaxe which was done ceremonially following dogma oriented steps, which involved blessings of the tool, painting of symbolic red dots etc.
These were used for the burial process, and having to do with the victim supposedly having been a ritual sacrifice.

Naturally these ritualistic 'followers' of Kali, seem to have been overshadowed in many cases by common 'dacoits' (=bandits) who were simply highwaymen who seem to have been factored collectively into this designation, or perhaps self styled themselves into the collective identity of thuggee..........that is 'posers'.

It has been said, as I recall, that no examples of the thuggee axe have ever been found, and that these individuals disposed on them in much the same ceremony as with which they were made.

It would seem that the film "Gunga Din" had this 'legend' of the 'thuggee' as its main plot, and perhaps the material was from the Sleeman book?

I found a book titled "Thug: The True Sory of Indias Murderous Cult" by Mike Dash , 2005 as well.

17th June 2023, 03:30 PM	#22
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,275	Thank you so much guys! Gav, I really appreciate you sharing that title and the photo! You have always been a fantastic book sleuth and the titles you have found in building your library always amazed me! It has been many years since I did this research, and what I had found on the axes was that these were not at all used in murdering victims but actually ceremonially used the burial of the victims. It seems these 'thuggee' were nominally religious, and supposedly factored in the Hindu Faith and worship of the Goddess Kali. Actually they typically disguised themselves in accord with the contexts they were in, feigning various Faiths, but the element of their practices with religious ceremony and Kali created the situation with axes. In some of the apocrypha on the thuggee, it was said that they made a pickaxe which was done ceremonially following dogma oriented steps, which involved blessings of the tool, painting of symbolic red dots etc. These were used for the burial process, and having to do with the victim supposedly having been a ritual sacrifice. Naturally these ritualistic 'followers' of Kali, seem to have been overshadowed in many cases by common 'dacoits' (=bandits) who were simply highwaymen who seem to have been factored collectively into this designation, or perhaps self styled themselves into the collective identity of thuggee..........that is 'posers'. It has been said, as I recall, that no examples of the thuggee axe have ever been found, and that these individuals disposed on them in much the same ceremony as with which they were made. It would seem that the film "Gunga Din" had this 'legend' of the 'thuggee' as its main plot, and perhaps the material was from the Sleeman book? I found a book titled "Thug: The True Sory of Indias Murderous Cult" by Mike Dash , 2005 as well.