Thug is a member of an old criminal society in India, the members of which killed in the name of religion. The term comes from the Hindustani thag, meaning a cheat or rascal. The thugs committed murders and robbed their victims in honor of Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction and wife of Shiva. The thugs always murdered by strangling. One of their chief principles was not to spill blood. According to legend, the thugs believed that Kali disposed of the bodies by devouring them. But one member of the society pried into Kali’s actions. So the angry goddess condemned them to bury their victims in the future. The local Indian and British governments tried many times to stop thuggee–the practice of the thugs. In 1831, the British began a drive to end the practice, and it is now almost wiped out. Today, people commonly refer to robbers and other criminals as thugs.
