William Sleeman’s campaign against Thagi: the drive against Sati and female infanticide; the impact of missionaries.

Question 1

Who led he campaign against thagi?

Answer 1

Colonel William Sleeman

Question 2

When did the campaign against thagi begin?

Answer 2

1835

Question 3

Who wrote the 1839 novel, Confessions of a Thug?

Answer 3

Feringhea (Syeed Amir Ali)

Question 4

When was the Thugge and Dacoity Department created?

Answer 4

1835

Question 5

How many thagi were transported or hanged for their crimes and how many were punished in total?

Answer 5

1,000 transported or hanged; 3,000 tried and punished in total

Question 6

Between which years were Legal Acts passed outlawing thagi and dacoity?

Answer 6

1836 and 1848

Question 7

Where was the practise of Thagi most prevalent?

Answer 7

Central and Northern India

Question 8

Which Hindu goddess did people believe they were worshipping while practising thagi?

Answer 8

Kali

Question 9

How many deaths did Sleeman’s nephew claim thagi was responsible for by the 1890s?

Answer 9

1 million

Question 10

When was the Act of Abolition against sati passed?

Answer 10

1829

Question 11

Where was sati most common?

Answer 11

The Bengal Presidency and the Sikh Punjabi Kingdom

Question 12

How many deaths were estimated to be occurring per year in their territories due to sati?

Answer 12

600

Question 13

Who, by 1829, were the main proponents for the abolition of Sati in India?

Answer 13

William Wilberforce and Governor Bentiwick (Bengal Presidency)

Question 14

When did the East India Company ban sati in Calcutta?

Answer 14

1798

Question 15

Under which law was Wilberforce able to allow missionaries to preach against sati and other Hindu practises?

Answer 15

1813 Charter Law

Question 16

Who was a Hindu polymath that aided in the campaign against sati in 1818?

Answer 16

Ram Mohan Moy (against ban in 1829, on grounds that minds should be changed, not the law)

Question 17

When was the practise of sati outlawed in the totality of India?

Answer 17

1861

Question 18

In which years were laws passed against female infanticide that were further enforced by Bentwick?

Answer 18

1795 and 1802

Question 19

Who were the first few Baptist missionaries who were later banned from Calcutta and had to settle in Serampore?

Answer 19

Joshua Marsham, William Carey and William Ward

Question 20

When was a college setup for the training of indigenous ministers for the local Baptist churches?

Answer 20

1818

Question 21

Who campaigned with William Wilberforce to remove the East India Company’s ban on missionaries?

Answer 21

Charles Grant (an Anglican)

Question 22

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?

Answer 22

1813

Question 23

Who was the missionary from the Church of Scotland who aimed to convert people from Hinduism to Christianity?

Answer 23

Alexander Duff

Question 24

What was the name given to the caste within Hinduism specialising as priests and protectors of sacred learning across generations?

Answer 24

Brahmin

Question 25

What was the name given to the social reform movement which grew out of reinterpreting Indian religious philosophy? (the movement was characterised in Bengal)

Answer 25

Bengal Renaissance