BADHEKS ANDTIIEGS. m 



ike crimmal alive in a pillar con fl;ru(5led of mafonry. The jon ; 

 magiftrate oiEtawA writes, that a gang of Thegs^ feized not long fince 

 by the Chieftain Mi'r Khan, were fubje<5t,ed to amputation of each 

 hand, and to the lofs of their nofes. 



^th Clafs.—S^VERkh in fiances of murder on the- highways in the dif- 

 trids of Allahabad, Ghazipiir^ and Juanpurf will be obferved in the de- 

 tailed reports for the laft year, faid to hav« been perpetrated by per* 

 fons alTaming the garb o^ bah'£igis, who join travellers at mat'hs and ac- 

 company them on the road, take an opportunity of mixing the feeds of 

 the Datura or other narcotic plant, v/ith the hooka or food of the tra* 

 veller, and plunder him when ftupified or killed by the efFc61s of the 

 dofe. Thefe murders are not, I apprehend, committed by the perfons 

 termed Tkegs—is poifoning would appear to be the only means of 

 deftruQ-ion ufed by thefe robbers. At the fame time, as they have pre- 

 vailed for fome years, particularly in the diftrid of Junnpur, and the 

 circumflances attending each cafe are nearly alike, there feems reafon 

 to believe, that fome affociation, fimilar to that of the Thegs of the 

 X>oab, is eflablifhed in Juanpur and its vicinity. Pilgrims proceeding 

 from the weft and north weH; to Gay a, or to Jagannath in Cuttackf take 

 JBgnares in thdr wij, and pafs through the diflrid of Juanpur. In 

 like manner pilgrims proceeding from the lower provinces, pafs 

 through Juanpur, in their way to Haridwar, or to Mathura and Bindra* 

 ban. The circumftanccs of various roads meeting in this diflricl, 

 combined with the facilities afforded for efcape by the proximity of the 

 country of the Nawab Vizier, are probably the caufes why this offence 

 is more prevalent in Juanpur than clfcwhere. 



^th Cldfst — ^Travellers have been frequently found murdered in 

 that part of fhe country placed under the joint magiftrate ftationed at 

 Chazipur, The bodies have commonly been difcovered buried, and 



