Thucydides mythistoricus (1907), sought to prove that the History is really only an historical tragedy, i.e. a dramatized version of the facts, but this view has not been adopted.
THUGS. That the Sanskrit root sthag (Pali, thak), to cover, to conceal, was mainly applied to fraudulent concealment, appears from the noun sthaga, a cheat, which has retained this signification in the modern vernaculars, in all of which it has assumed the form thag (commonly written thug), with a specific meaning. The Thugs were a well-organized confederacy of professional assassins, who in gangs of whom 10 to 200 travelled in various guises through India, wormed themselves into the confidence of wayfarers of the wealthier class, and, when a favourable opportunity occurred, strangled them by throwing
a handkerchief or noose round their necks, and then plundered and buried them. All this was done according to certain ancient and rigidly prescribed forms and after the performance of special religious rites, in which the consecration of the pickaxe and the sacrifice of sugar formed a prominent part. From their using the noose as an instrument of murder they were also frequently called Phansigars, or "noose-operators." Though they themselves trace their origin to seven Mahommedan tribes, Hindus appear to have been associated with them at an early period; at any rate, their religious creed and practices as stanch worshippers of Kali (Devi, Durga), the Hindu goddess of destruction, had certainly no flavour of Islam in them. Assassination for gain was with them a religious duty, and was considered a holy
and honourable profession. They had, in fact, no idea of doing
wrong, and their moral feelings did not come into play. The will
of the goddess by whose command and in whose honour they
followed their calling was revealed to them through a very
complicated system of omens. In obedience to these they often
travelled hundreds of miles in company with, or in the wake of,
their intended victims before a safe opportunity presented itself
for executing their design; and, when the deed was done, rites
were performed in honour of that tutelary deity, and a goodly
portion of the spoil was set apart for her. The fraternity
possessed also a jargon of their own (Ramasi), as well as certain
signs by which its members recognized each other in the remotest
parts of India. Even those who from age or infirmities could no
longer take an active part in the operations continued to aid the
cause as watchers, spies, or dressers of food. It was owing to
their thorough organization, the secrecy and security with which
they went to work, but chiefly to the religious garb in which they
shrouded their murders, that they could, unmolested by Hindu
or Mahommedan rulers, recognized as a regular profession and
paying taxes as such, continue for centuries to practise their
craft. Both the fractions into which they were divided by the
Nerbudda river laid claim to antiquity: while the northern,
however, did not trace their origin further back than the period
of the early Mahommedan kings of Delhi, the southern fraction
not only claimed an earlier and purer descent, but adhered also
with greater strictness to the rules of their profession.
The earliest authenticated mention of the Thugs is found in the following passage of Ziau-d din Barni's History of Firoz Shah (written about 1356): "In the reign of that sultan," that is, about 1200, " some Thugs were taken in Delhi, and a man belonging to that fraternity was the means of about a thousand being captured. But not one of these did the sultan have killed. He gave orders for them to be put into boats and to be conveyed into the lower country, to the neighbourhood of Lakhnauti, where they were to be set free. The Thugs would thus have to dwell about Lakhnauti and would not trouble the neighbourhood of Delhi any more" (Sir H. M. Elliot's History of India, iii. 141). The first European travellers who speak of them without mentioning their name are Thévenot (1665) and Fryer (1673). Though instances of Thagi (Thuggee) had been known to the English rulers in India for many years, and sporadic efforts had been made by them towards the extinction of the gangs, it was not till Lord W. Bentinck (1828-1835) took vigorous steps in this matter that the system was gradually unmasked, and finally all but stamped out. His chief agent, Captain (afterwards Sir William) Sleeman, with several competent assistants, and the co-operation of a number of native states, succeeded in completely grappling with the evil, so that up to October 1835 no fewer than 1562 Thugs had been committed, of which number 382 were hanged and 986 transported or imprisoned for life. According to the Thuggee and Dacoity Report for 1879, the number of registered Punjabi and Hindustani Thugs then still amounted to 344; but all of these had already been registered as such before 1852, and the whole fraternity may now be considered as extinct. The Thuggee and Dacoity department continued to exist until 1904, though its operations had long been confined to the suppression of organized robbery in native states. Its place is now taken by the Central Criminal Intelligence department.
Full particulars concerning the system of Thagi are given by Dr Sherwood, "On the Murderers called Phansigars," and J. Shakespear, "Observations regarding Bradheks and Thegs" (both treatises in vol. xiii. (1820), of the Asiatic Researches); W. N. Sleeman, Ramaseeana, or a Vocabulary of the Language used by the Thugs, with an Introduction and Appendix (Calcutta, 1836) ; the Edinburgh Review for January 1837; E- Thornton, Illustrations of the History and Practices of the Thugs (London, 1837); Meadows Taylor, Confessions of a Thug (London, 1839; new ed. 1879); Major Sleeman, Report on the Depredations committed by the Thug Gangs (Calcutta, 1840); J. Hutton, Popular Account of the Thugs and Dacoits (London, 1857).
THUGUT, JOHANN AMADEUS FRANCIS DE PAULA, Baron (1736-1818), Austrian diplomatist, was born at Linz on the 24th of May 1736. His origin and name have been the subject of legends more or less malicious and probably the inventions of enemies. It has been said that the correct form of his name was Thunichtgut, or Thenitguet (do no good), and was altered to Thugut (do good) by Maria Theresa. Tunicotta has been given as a variation. But Thugut was the name of his great-grandfather, who belonged to Budweiss in southern Bohemia. He was the legitimate son of Johann Thugut, an army paymaster, who married Eva Maria Mösbauer, daughter of a miller near Vienna. The paymaster, who died about 1760, left his widow and children in distress, and Maria Theresa took charge of them. Johann Amadeus was sent to the school of Oriental languages. He entered the Austrian foreign office as an interpreter and was appointed dragoman to the embassy at Constantinople. In 1769 he was appointed chargé d'affaires, and in that capacity secured a grant of money and a' promise of the territory of Little Wallachia from the Turks during the negotiations connected
with the first partition of Poland (see Poland: History). In 1771 he was appointed internuncio at Constantinople and was actively engaged, under the direction of Prince Kaunitz, in all the diplomacy of Austria in Turkey and Poland until he secured the cession of the Bukovina on the 7th of May 1775. During these years Thugut was engaged in a mean intrigue. His salary as dragoman was small, and his needs great. He therefore agreed to receive a pension of 13,000 livres, a brevet of lieutenant-colonel, and a promise of a safe refuge in case of necessity from the king of France, Louis XV. The condition on which the pension was granted was that he took advantage of his position as an Austrian official to render secret services to France. The only excuses to be made for him are that such hidden arrangements were not uncommon before and in his time, and that as a matter of fact he never did render France any real service, or betray his masters at Vienna. Yet the terror of discovery disturbed him at several periods of his life, and when Louis XV. died in 1774 he showed a strong disposition to take refuge in France, and would have done so if Louis XVI. would have given
him a promise of employment. His pension was continued. It seems to be tolerably certain that at a later period he made a clean breast to the emperor Francis II. His services at Constantinople were approved by Prince Kaunitz (q.v.), who may possibly have been informed of the arrangement with the French secret diplomatic fund. It is never safe to decide whether these treasons were single or double. When Thugut was appointed internuncio he was also ennobled, being raised to the Ritterstand. After 1775 he travelled in France and Italy, partly on diplomatic service. In 1778 he was the agent through whom Maria Theresa entered into direct negotiations with Frederick the Great, in order to
stop the Bavarian War. In 1780 he was Austrian envoy in
