Children of Kali :through India in search of Bandits, the thug cult, and the British Raj
Material type: TextPublication details: New Delhi Penguin 2002Description: ix,292p. [8] p. of plates : ill., mapISBN: 9780143029991Subject(s): Human sacrifice | Thugs (Indic criminal group) | CriminalsDDC classification: 364.15230954 Summary: In the early 1800s, the greatest criminal gang in history operated throughout India. Its members were inspired by religious fanatics and came from many faiths, yet they worshiped one goddess, Kali. In her name, they murdered more than one million Indian travelers―all without spilling a drop of blood. Their weapon was the handkerchief, their sacrament sugar, and the gang was supposedly eradicated by the British in the 1830s. Today, a modern-day bandit named Veerappan is India's most-wanted man and most notorious criminal, responsible for more than one hundred murders. Some say he is a freedom fighter, others that he is a vicious killer. Still at large in the jungles of southwestern India, he avoids capture, his followers claim, by magical powers. In Children of Kali, Kevin Rushby researches these two criminal legends, both of which have been distorted and misused by those in power. As intrepid an investigator as he is an elegant writer, Rushby recounts his quest both to gain a meeting with Veerappan and to untangle the legends of the Thug Cult and the British policeman, William Sleeman, responsible for its suppression. He visits prisons and gangster hideouts, exploring the nature of crime and punishment in a country where good and evil may be as murky as the Ganges. A compelling blend of travel journalism and history, infused with Rushby's infectious spirit and with memorable characters, Children of Kali connects past with present and reexamines the legacy of the British Raj.Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BK | Stack | 364.15230954 RUS/C (Browse shelf (Opens below)) | Available | 53252 |
Browsing Kannur University Central Library shelves, Shelving location: Stack Close shelf browser (Hides shelf browser)
364.135 SAV/C Crime and human rights : | 364.152 30973 Extreme killing:understanding serial and mass murder | 364.15230820954 VEE/D Dowry murder :reinvestigating a cultural whodunnit | 364.15230954 RUS/C Children of Kali :through India in search of Bandits, the thug cult, and the British Raj | 364.15240924 MAN/M The men who killed Gandhi | 364.15409567 SUD/A Anatomy of an abduction : how the Indian hostages in Iraq were freed | 364.164 095 4 SUB/S Sovereign and the pirate : ordering maritime subjects in India's western littoral |
In the early 1800s, the greatest criminal gang in history operated throughout India. Its members were inspired by religious fanatics and came from many faiths, yet they worshiped one goddess, Kali. In her name, they murdered more than one million Indian travelers―all without spilling a drop of blood. Their weapon was the handkerchief, their sacrament sugar, and the gang was supposedly eradicated by the British in the 1830s.
Today, a modern-day bandit named Veerappan is India's most-wanted man and most notorious criminal, responsible for more than one hundred murders. Some say he is a freedom fighter, others that he is a vicious killer. Still at large in the jungles of southwestern India, he avoids capture, his followers claim, by magical powers.
In Children of Kali, Kevin Rushby researches these two criminal legends, both of which have been distorted and misused by those in power. As intrepid an investigator as he is an elegant writer, Rushby recounts his quest both to gain a meeting with Veerappan and to untangle the legends of the Thug Cult and the British policeman, William Sleeman, responsible for its suppression. He visits prisons and gangster hideouts, exploring the nature of crime and punishment in a country where good and evil may be as murky as the Ganges.
A compelling blend of travel journalism and history, infused with Rushby's infectious spirit and with memorable characters, Children of Kali connects past with present and reexamines the legacy of the British Raj.
There are no comments on this title.