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Confessions of a Thug (novel)
Confessions of a Thug is an English novel written by Philip Meadows Taylor in 1839 based on the Thuggee cult in India.[1][2] It was a best-seller in 19th-century Britain, becoming the British Empire's most sensational ethnographic fiction in the first half of the 19th century; its avid readers included Queen Victoria.[3] It was one of the best-selling crime novels of the 19th century, and was the most influential novel about India prior to Rudyard Kipling's Kim (1901).[4] The novel's popularity established the word "thug" in the English language.[5] PlotThe plot revolves around a fictional anti-hero protagonist, Ameer Ali, a Muslim thug.[6] This book is a tale of crime and retribution in India, beginning in the late 18th century and ending in 1832. The story lays bare the practices of the Thugs, or "deceivers" as they were called, who murdered travellers for money and valuables. This work was originally published in 1839 and reprinted in 1873. Characters
HistoricityAmeer Ali, the fictional anti-hero protagonist of Confessions of a Thug,[6] is a composite of multiple real-life thugs: Feringhea, Ameer Alee, and Aman Subahdar. Feringhea was a jamadar, or captain, and led many expeditions before turning into a prolific informer for the British.[7] The historical Ameer Alee, who provided the fictional character's name, was a low-ranking thug mentioned only twice by Sleeman in his definitive work.[8] Finally, Aman Subahdar was described by Sleeman as "the foremost thug of his day," but died before the events of the novel conclude. One scene in the novel, in which a thug band led by Ameer Ali suffers a misfortune, is lifted almost word-for-word from Sleeman's book. In the historical version, Aman Subahdar led the expedition.[9] Further, Feringhea and Aman Subahdar were cousins but no such comparable character exists in the novel. Publishing historyOriginally published by Richard Bentley in three volumes in 1839, a second edition followed in 1840 and another in 1858. Henry S. King published a single-volume edition in 1873, and a new edition appeared from Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. in 1885. Oxford University Press first printed it in 1916 for their World's Classics series, with an introduction by C. W. Stewart. Francis Yeats-Brown edited an edition for Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1938. More recently editions have appeared from publisher Anthony Blond in the "Doughty Library" series (1967) and the Folio Society (1974), with illustrations by Clarke Hutton. See alsoReferences
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