Үнді субконтинентіндегі қарақшылық: Дакуиті терминінің тарихы

Term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent

Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (daaku); "dacoit" /d//ə/'/k//ɔɪ//t/ is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the Glossary of Colloquial Anglo Indian Words and Phrases (1903). Banditry is criminal activity involving robbery by groups of armed bandits. The East India Company established the Thuggee and Dacoity Department in 1830, and the Thuggee and Dacoity Suppression Acts, 1836–1848 were enacted in British India under East India Company rule. Areas with ravines or forests, such as Chambal and Chilapata Forests, were once known for dacoits.

The word "dacoity", the anglicized version of the Hindi word ḍakaitī (historically spelled dakaitee). Hindi डकैती comes from ḍākū (historically spelled dakoo, Hindi: डाकू, meaning "armed robber"). The term dacoit (Hindi: डकैत ḍakait) means "a bandit" according to the OED ("A member of a class of robbers in India and Burma, who plunder in armed bands").

The dacoity have had a large impact in the Bhind and Morena of Chambal regions in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in north central India. The exact reasons for the emergence of dacoity in the Chambal valley have been disputed. Most explanations have simply suggested feudal exploitation as the cause that provoked many people of this region to take to arms. The area was also underdeveloped and poor, so that banditry posed great economic incentives. It is notable that unlike the rest of India, dacoits in Bengal did not come from a particular social class, caste, or creed.

Dacoit gangs in Nadia and Hooghly were particularly known for their ritualistic practices before the night of dacoity. Before setting off for their mission, the members would assemble to perform “kalipuja” led by the Sirdar (leader). The dacoits would form a straight line and a pot of liquor, torches, and weapons to be used in the dacoity were laid down in a clear space. The Sirdar would then dip his finger in oil and touch the forehead of all the dacoits, making them promise never to confess. Even during the raid, when dacoits opened chests and discovered a good fortune, they would shout “Kali, Jai Kali”. The suppression acts marked the beginning of active British intervention in policing and law enforcement in Indian society. These acts were known to be authoritarian and further deepened the uneven power dynamic between the British and the Indians.

The British often saw Indians as primitive, violent, and unruly, and this often acted as a justification for colonization and further consolidated their “civilization mission” pretext. The practice of thuggee and dacoity was seen in a similar Eurocentric light, without understanding the local context. An orientalist view of such activities was portrayed in the rest of the world to account for several repressive legislative measures that the British took. Under this punitive approach, several innocent individuals fell prey to false suspicion and were incriminated.

In Madhya Pradesh, women belonging to a village defence group have been issued firearm permits to fend off dacoity. The Chief minister of the state, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, recognised the role the women had played in defending their villages without guns. He stated that he wanted to enable these women to better defend both themselves and their villages, and issued the gun permits to advance this goal.

As the dacoits flourished through the 1940s–1970s, they were the subject of various Hindi films made during this era, leading to the emergence of the dacoit film genre in Hindi Film Industry. The genre began with Mehboob Khan's Aurat (1940), which he remade as Mother India (1957). Mother India received an Academy Award nomination, and defined the dacoit film genre, along with Dilip Kumar's Gunga Jumna (1961). Other popular films in this genre included Raj Kapoor’s Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1961) and Moni Bhattacharjee's Mujhe Jeene Do (1963). Pakistani actor Akmal Khan had two dacoit films, Malangi (1965) and Imam Din Gohavia (1967). Other films in this genre included Khote Sikkay (1973), Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), and Kuchhe Dhaage (1973) both by Raj Khosla. The most famous dacoit film is Sholay (1975), written by Salim–Javed, and starring Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, and Amjad Khan as the dacoit character Gabbar Singh. It was a masala film that combined the dacoit film conventions of Mother India and Gunga Jumna with that of Spaghetti Westerns, spawning the "Dacoit Western" genre, Sholay became a classic in the genre, and its success led to a surge of films in this genre, including Ganga Ki Saugandh (1978), once again starring Amitabh Bachchan and Amjad Khan. An internationally acclaimed example of the genre is Bandit Queen (1994). The Tamil movie starring Karthi, Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru (2017) deals elaborately with bandits. The film reveals the real dacoity incidents which held in Tamil Nadu between 1995 and 2005. Director Vinoth did a two year research about bandits to develop the script. A related genre of crime films are Mumbai underworld films.

Bengali novel Devi Chowdhurani by author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1867. Bengali poem Birpurush by Rabindranath Tagore in 1903. A Hindi novel named Painstth Lakh ki Dacoity (1977) was written by Surender Mohan Pathak; it was translated as The 65 Lakh Heist. Dacoits armed with pistols and swords appear in Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties. They frequently appeared in the French language Bob Morane series of novels by Henri Vernes, principally as the main thugs or assassins of the hero's recurring villain, Mr. Ming and in English as the agents of Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu.