Thuggee and Dacoity Department
| Thagi and Dakaiti Department | |
|---|---|
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | January 1835 |
| Dissolved | 1904 |
| Superseding agency | Department of Criminal Intelligence |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Legal jurisdiction | Company Raj and Native States (1835–1858) British Raj (from 1858) c. 1860s–1904:
|
| Governing body | Indian Political Department |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Jubbulpore (1835–1879) Shimla (1879–1904) |
| Child agency |
|
| Notables | |
| People | |
The Thuggee and Dacoity Department, contemporarily the Thagi and Dakaiti Department, was an organ of the East India Company that was formally established in 1835 as the Thuggee Department during the British Anti-thuggee Campaign of the 1830s, and later inherited by the British Raj. Led by William Henry Sleeman as General Superintendent of the Department from 1835 to 1855, it also prosecuted dacoity from 1839 and itinerant communities that were perceived to be sources of crime. From the 1860s onwards, it was abolished as a special agency in British territory and its operations were restricted to policing cross-border crime in the Native States of Rajputana, Central India, and Hyderabad.
The Thuggee and Dacoity Department played a key role in creating the conditions for the 1871 Criminal Tribes Act, with its archives being repeatedly cited as evidence of 'criminal tribes'. In c. 1887, a Special Branch was set up to gather and collate political intelligence. The Thuggee and Dacoity Department was replaced with the Department of Criminal Intelligence in 1904.