Report on Budhuk Alias Bagree Decoits, and Other Gang Robbers by Hereditary Profession: And On The Measures Adopted By The Government Of India For Their Suppression

Report on Budhuk Alias Bagree Decoits, and Other Gang Robbers by Hereditary Profession by William Henry Sleeman is a detailed account of organized hereditary criminal gangs in 19th-century India, particularly the Budhuks and Bagrees. Sleeman, a British colonial officer, documents their social structure, methods, and the cultural entrenchment of dacoity (banditry) as a profession. The report outlines investigative strategies, intelligence gathering, and administrative actions taken by the British government to suppress these groups. It reflects both Sleeman’s ethnographic observations and colonial policy objectives, offering a blend of criminology, anthropology, and imperial governance in tackling entrenched criminal networks.