Dacoity and rural crime in Madras, 1860–1940

Dacoity in south India was one of the several inter‐related forms of rural crime wth a strong element of social and economic protest, running from spontaneous looting to banditry as the experimental stage of incipient revolt. Far from being confined to “criminal tribes”, recourse to crime was frequent and widespread in rural society, especially in response to famine and high prices, in reaction to the disruptive impact of colonialism, and in the attempts of declining rural groups to maintain or regain their old preeminence.