Ramaseeana: Or a Vocabulary of the Peculiar Language Used by the Thugs

Ramaseeana Or a Vocabulary of the Peculiar Language Used by the Thugs by William Henry Sleeman is a linguistic and ethnographic study of the secret dialect employed by the Thuggee cult in India. Compiled during British efforts to suppress the Thugs, the work decodes the covert terminology used by these criminal gangs to plan and execute their ritualistic murders and robberies. The vocabulary reveals insights into their culture, hierarchy, and operations. Sleeman’s compilation was instrumental in infiltrating and dismantling the Thug networks, serving both as a criminological tool and a rare linguistic record of a clandestine and vanishing subculture.