Thuggee

Thuggee (Hindi: ठग्गी or ṭhagī; Urdu: ٹھگ‎; Sanskrit: sthaga; Kannada: "thakka"), also known as tuggee or simply thugs, were organized gangs of professional assassins who traveled in groups across India for several hundred years. They were first mentioned in the Ẓiyāʾ-ud-Dīn Baranī (English: History of Fīrūz Shāh) dated around 1356. In the 1830s they were targeted by William Bentinck, along with his chief captain William Henry Sleeman, for eradication. They were seemingly destroyed by this effort.