William Sleeman’s campaign against Thagi: the drive against Sati and female infanticide; the impact of missionaries. Flashcards
Who led he campaign against thagi?
Colonel William Sleeman
When did the campaign against thagi begin?
1835
Who wrote the 1839 novel, Confessions of a Thug?
Feringhea (Syeed Amir Ali)
When was the Thugge and Dacoity Department created?
1835
How many thagi were transported or hanged for their crimes and how many were punished in total?
1,000 transported or hanged; 3,000 tried and punished in total
Between which years were Legal Acts passed outlawing thagi and dacoity?
1836 and 1848
Where was the practise of Thagi most prevalent?
Central and Northern India
Which Hindu goddess did people believe they were worshipping while practising thagi?
Kali
How many deaths did Sleeman’s nephew claim thagi was responsible for by the 1890s?
1 million
When was the Act of Abolition against sati passed?
1829
Where was sati most common?
The Bengal Presidency and the Sikh Punjabi Kingdom
How many deaths were estimated to be occurring per year in their territories due to sati?
600
Who, by 1829, were the main proponents for the abolition of Sati in India?
William Wilberforce and Governor Bentiwick (Bengal Presidency)
When did the East India Company ban sati in Calcutta?
1798
Under which law was Wilberforce able to allow missionaries to preach against sati and other Hindu practises?
1813 Charter Law
Who was a Hindu polymath that aided in the campaign against sati in 1818?
Ram Mohan Moy (against ban in 1829, on grounds that minds should be changed, not the law)
When was the practise of sati outlawed in the totality of India?
1861
In which years were laws passed against female infanticide that were further enforced by Bentwick?
1795 and 1802
Who were the first few Baptist missionaries who were later banned from Calcutta and had to settle in Serampore?
Joshua Marsham, William Carey and William Ward
When was a college setup for the training of indigenous ministers for the local Baptist churches?
1818
Who campaigned with William Wilberforce to remove the East India Company’s ban on missionaries?
Charles Grant (an Anglican)
By which year was the influence of missionary work enough to insist on the removal of the Company’s blanket ban on missionaries and for the first missionaries to arrive in the Bengal Presidency?
1813
Who was the missionary from the Church of Scotland who aimed to convert people from Hinduism to Christianity?
Alexander Duff
What was the name given to the caste within Hinduism specialising as priests and protectors of sacred learning across generations?
Brahmin
What was the name given to the social reform movement which grew out of reinterpreting Indian religious philosophy? (the movement was characterised in Bengal)
Bengal Renaissance
