"Thug" was an ethnic slur invented by the East India Company to justify their brutal rule

Just to bring this up again.

"Thug" comes from the Hindi "thagi" ("thief&quot via Sanskrit "snathga" ("hidden&quot .

There was, years and years ago, a caste or group of people who engaged in highway robbery in India. One of the many names applied to them was "thuggee" (hint, having done this before, seriously, people who want to "teach me" about India, don't just link to the wiki article on this group).

John Company hired writers and illustrators to write salacious pamphlets about the "Thuggee" to justify the EIC's heavy hand in India.

2 to 3 thousand Indians were extra-judicially lynched by these EIC courts between 1800 and 1858, when the Crown finally stepped in. Note that India had a lower violent crime rate than England during this period.

"Thug" was invented as an ahistorical ethnic slur. It remains one today. I just wanted y'all in America to know what a "distinguished" racist pedigree it comes from.