Editing Dacoity (section)

==History==
=== Bandits of Bhind-Morena of Gwalior Chambal ===
The dacoity have had a large impact in the [[Bhind]] and [[Morena, Madhya Pradesh|Morena]] of [[Chambal Division|Chambal]] region in [[Madhya Pradesh]] and [[Rajasthan]] in north-central India.<ref name="trekking">{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/02/dacoit-highway-robbers-in-india/ |title=Trekking India's wild north, where bandits ruled |author=Paul Salopek |work=National Geographic |date=6 February 2019 |access-date=7 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124421/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/02/dacoit-highway-robbers-in-india/ |archive-date=9 February 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref name="trekking" /> 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]]s would drive some into criminality.<ref name="trekking" />

In Chambal, India, organized crime controlled much of the countryside from the time of the [[British 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 as [[social bandit]]s 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."<ref name="trekking"/> 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.<ref name="trekking"/>

=== 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”.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Das |first=Suranjan |date=26 April 2016 |title=Behind the Blackened Faces: The 19th Century Bengali Dacoits |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40276503 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=42 |issue=35 |pages=3573–3579 |jstor=40276503 }}</ref> 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”.<ref name=":0" />

==== 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.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" /> 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]] between [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] and [[Baharampur|Burhampore]]".

Dacoits existed in Burma as well—[[Rudyard Kipling]]'s fictional Private Mulvaney hunted Burmese dacoits in "[[The Taking of Lungtungpen]]." [[Sax Rohmer]] 's criminal mastermind [[Fu Manchu|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, 1836–48|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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Singha |first=Radhika |date=1993 |title='Providential' Circumstances: The Thuggee Campaign of the 1830s and Legal Innovation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/312879 |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=83–146 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X00016085 |jstor=312879 |s2cid=145536132 |issn=0026-749X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 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 [British] colonial expansion" across [[South Asia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=Mark |date=2002 |title=Crime, Governance and the Company Raj: The Discovery of Thuggee |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23638761 |journal=The British Journal of Criminology |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=77–95 |doi=10.1093/bjc/42.1.77 |jstor=23638761 |issn=0007-0955|url-access=subscription }}</ref>