Origins & Early Life

Thug Behram (born c. 1775), contemporarily known as Buhram Jemadar, was a thuggee gang leader active in Oudh during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He holds the Guinness World Record for "most prolific murderer" with over 931 murders, though historians have disputed this figure as improbable and he only confessed to having personally strangled 125 victims. By the 1830s, Buhram was a thuggee jemadar (gang leader) and had been active for 40 years.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He remained at large as late as 1832, carrying out expeditions in Oudh. According to the 1837 testimony of Ramzan, a Thug-turned-approver captured in 1835 and who had worked under Buhram, he was asked by East India Company officials if he could point out Buhram, upon whom the British had placed a Rs 100 reward. That night, Ramzan led eight sepoys to Buhram's house in the village of Sohanee. Buhram came out to greet him and, while warming himself up by a fire that Ramzan had lit, he was surrounded and seized by the guards. He immediately confessed to being a Thug and pledged to cooperate.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

In Buhram's first deposition in 1836, Captain James Paton, the Assistant Resident at Lucknow and in charge of the Anti-Thuggee Campaign...

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