115-505: Phoolan Devi ( Hindi: [pʰuː.lən d̪eː.ʋiː] , 10 August 1963 – 25 July 2001), popularly known as the Bandit Queen , was an Indian dacoit (bandit) who became a politician, serving as a member of parliament until her assassination. She was a woman of the Mallah subcaste who grew up in poverty in a village in the state of Uttar Pradesh , where her family was on the losing side of
230-517: A 1996 appeal to the Supreme Court to have the charges dropped. Phoolan Devi's worldwide fame grew after the release of the controversial 1994 film Bandit Queen , which told her life story in a way she did not approve of. Her life has also inspired several biographies and her dictated autobiography was entitled I, Phoolan Devi . There are varying accounts of her life because she told differing versions to suit her changing circumstances. Phoolan Devi
345-523: A classic in the genre, and its success led to a surge of films in this genre, including Ganga Ki Saugandh (1978), once again starring Amitabh Bachchan and Amjad Khan. An internationally acclaimed example of the genre is Bandit Queen (1994). The Tamil movie starring Karthi , Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru (2017) deals elaborately with bandits. The film reveals the real dacoity incidents which held in Tamil Nadu between 1995 and 2005. Director Vinoth did
460-660: A coin of silver, weighing 178 grains (or 11.53 grams), which was also termed the rupiya . During Babur 's time, the brass to silver exchange ratio was roughly 50:2. The silver coin remained in use during the Mughal period , Maratha era as well as in British India . Among the earliest issues of paper rupees include; the Bank of Hindustan (1770–1832), the General Bank of Bengal and Bihar (1773–1775, established by Warren Hastings ), and
575-417: A cow and a bicycle to her parents. According to the version related by her to her biographer Mala Sen , it was agreed that Phoolan Devi would start living with him after three years, but Puttilal came back within three months and took her away. He was three times her age; she refused his sexual advances and fell sick. When her parents came and collected her, they took her to a doctor who diagnosed measles . For
690-793: A deal and remained convinced she would be murdered if she went there. Charges against Phoolan Devi were dropped in 1994 by order of Mulayam Singh Yadav , the leader of the Samajwadi Party and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. After her release from prison, she joined the Samajwadi Party and in the 1996 general election took a seat in the Indian lower legislative body, the Lok Sabha , as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. She won with
805-503: A film, called Sholay Aur Chingari ( Blazing Fires and Sparks ). Together with her new husband, she became a Buddhist , aiming to evade the Hindu caste system . According to Moxham, she later renounced Buddhism. The 1994 film Bandit Queen was loosely based on Mala Sen's biography; it was directed by Shekhar Kapur and starred Seema Biswas as Phoolan Devi. After it received acclaim at Cannes Film Festival , Kapur asked for permission from
920-466: A gold currency. This goal, if it was their goal, the Government of India have never attained. In 1913, John Maynard Keynes writes in his book Indian Currency and Finance that during the financial year 1900–1901, gold coins (sovereigns) worth £6,750,000 were given to the Indian people in the hope that they would circulate as currency. But against the expectation of the Government, not even half of that
1035-569: A gold standard should be adopted without delay...they recommended (1) that the British sovereign be given full legal tender power in India, and (2) that the Indian mints be thrown open to its unrestricted coinage (for gold coins only). These recommendations were acceptable to both governments and were shortly afterwards translated into laws. The act making gold a legal tender was promulgated on 15 September 1899, and preparations were soon thereafter undertaken for
1150-506: A group; being imprisoned in Madhya Pradesh and not Uttar Pradesh; her family being given land with space for her goat and cow; and her brother getting a government job. She and seven men, including Man Singh, surrendered. Mala Sen records that the male journalists gathered in Bhind to watch her surrender were unimpressed with her plain appearance. Phoolan Devi faced the 48 criminal charges and
1265-524: A land dispute which caused them many problems. After being married off at the age of eleven and being sexually abused by various people, she joined a gang of dacoits. Her gang robbed higher-caste villages and held up trains and vehicles. When she punished her rapists and evaded capture by the authorities, she became a heroine to the Other Backward Classes who saw her as a Robin Hood figure. Phoolan Devi
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#17328686874801380-557: A large impact in the Bhind and Morena of Chambal regions in Madhya Pradesh , Rajasthan , Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in north-central India. The exact reasons for the emergence of dacoity in the Chambal valley have been disputed. Most explanations have suggested feudal exploitation as the cause that provoked many people in this region to take arms. The area was also underdeveloped and poor, so banditry posed great economic incentives. However,
1495-541: A margin of 37,000 and had more than 300,000 votes in total. She was not the only illiterate MP, joining others such as Bhagwati Devi and Shobhawati Devi. Phoolan Devi campaigned with limited success for the rights of women and to provide better amenities for the poor. She told author Roy Moxham "I want to bring hospitals, schools, electricity and clean water to the poor in the villages. To stop child marriage and to improve life for women." Mallah people were happy to have someone of their caste representing them in parliament for
1610-494: A piece of precious metal (typically silver) used as a coin, and a rūpya to mean a stamped piece of metal, a coin in the modern sense. The Arthashastra , written by Chanakya , prime minister to the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya ( c. 340–290 BCE ), mentions silver coins as rūpyarūpa . Other types of coins, including gold coins ( suvarṇarūpa ), copper coins ( tāmrarūpa ), and lead coins ( sīsarūpa ), are also mentioned. The immediate precursor of
1725-415: A politician and was elected as a member of parliament for the Samajwadi Party in 1996. She lost her seat in 1998, but regained it the following year. She was the incumbent at the time of her death in 2001. She was assassinated outside her house by Sher Singh Rana , who was convicted for the murder in 2014. At the time of her death, she was still fighting against the reinstituted criminal charges, having lost
1840-496: A red bandanna on her head, she bowed before representations of the goddess Durga and Mahatma Gandhi , then prostrated herself in front of Arjun Singh , the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh , with approximately 8,000 people watching. Phoolan Devi had set conditions regarding her surrender, which included: no death penalty for anyone from her gang; a maximum custodial sentence of eight years; no use of handcuffs; being imprisoned as
1955-699: A request from Uttar Pradesh to arraign her on charges related to the Behmai massacre and she did not attend the court hearing in Kanpur . After several months of legal machinations, the Supreme Court ruled that Phoolan Devi did not need to be jailed before trial. She lost her seat to Virendra Singh , the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the 1998 elections , then regained it the following year . Phoolan Devi married Umed Singh in 1994; they appeared together in
2070-497: A single coinage for the EIC was introduced. It consisted of copper 1 ⁄ 12 , 1 ⁄ 4 and 1 ⁄ 2 anna , silver 1 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 3 and 1 rupee and gold 1 and 2 mohurs. In 1841, silver 2 annas were added, followed by copper 1 ⁄ 2 pice in 1853. The coinage of the EIC continued to be issued until 1862, even after the company had been taken over by
2185-458: A small house on the edge of the village; the uncle and his son continued to harass the family and steal their crops, aiming to drive them away from the village. At the age of 10, Phoolan Devi decided to protest against the injustice. With her older sister Rukhmini, she sat in the disputed land and ate the chickpeas growing there, saying the crop belonged to her family. Maiyadin ordered her to leave and when she did not, he beat her into unconsciousness;
2300-461: A subcaste of the Kshatriya caste) and thus a higher caste than the other members. After they rejoined the bandits, a power struggle ensued and Sri Ram murdered Vikram Mallah. Without the latter's protection, Phoolan Devi was a prisoner of Sri Ram; he took her to the remote village of Behmai where she was repeatedly raped by other Thakurs. In a final indignity, she was forced to collect water for him from
2415-564: A symbiotic relationship with their followers. Among other benefits, a Sirdar would lend loans to members and provide them protection. This allowed for the formation of a special bond between Sirdar and his followers, which meant that cases of desertion and exiting the gang were virtually unheard of. In Burdwan, dacoities were heavily planned, and considerable thought was put into their seamless execution. Sirdars in Burdwan employed several informants who kept them updated about prospective targets. When
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#17328686874802530-509: A target was finalized, the Sirdar and relevant gang members were constantly made aware of his whereabouts. The informants were always on the lookout for wealthy business people and kept a close watch on those who exchanged bank notes of considerable value or received a shipment of merchandise they would store in their houses. The term is also applied, according to the OED , to "pirates who formerly infested
2645-572: A two-year research about bandits to develop the script. A related genre of crime films are Mumbai underworld films . Bengali novel Devi Chowdhurani by author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1867. Bengali poem Birpurush by Rabindranath Tagore in 1903. A Hindi novel named Painstth Lakh ki Dacoity (1977) was written by Surender Mohan Pathak ; it was translated as The 65 Lakh Heist . Dacoits armed with pistols and swords appear in Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties . They frequently appeared in
2760-429: A victim without having met her. In his 2021 autobiography Farrukh Dhondy , the former commissioning editor at Channel 4 , described how he rushed to Delhi in order to enlist Umed Singh's aid in persuading Phoolan Devi to drop her complaint. When Phoolan Devi discovered this, the couple became estranged, before later reconciling. A court case was brought against screening the film by lawyer Indira Singh and Arundhati Roy at
2875-404: A village defence group have been issued firearm permits to fend off dacoity. The Chief minister of the state, Shivraj Singh Chouhan , recognised the role the women had played in defending their villages without guns. He stated that he wanted to enable these women to better defend both themselves and their villages, and issued the gun permits to advance this goal. As the dacoits flourished through
2990-776: A wife to leave her husband was scandalous; preying on Phoolan Devi's parents' fears of disgrace, Maiyadin offered to ensure that Puttilal took her back if they signed a document. The family was illiterate and the parents were warned that it contained a clause giving Maiyadin legal rights to their land, so they refused to sign. Phoolan Devi was sent to stay with a distant relative in the village of Teoga, where she met her recently married cousin Kailash, who ran errands for dacoits (also known locally as bahghis). They became close and had an affair, which resulted in Phoolan Devi being ordered by Kailash's wife to go back to her own village. Once Phoolan Devi
3105-483: A woman, from the lower classes rises and makes a name for herself" and her lawyer Kamini Jaiswal stated "This murder is the result of caste conflict." The criminal case against her was still open at the time of her death. Days after the murder, Sher Singh Rana surrendered to police in Dehra Dun and claimed he had assassinated Phoolan Devi in revenge for the Behmai massacre; he at first struggled to convince police that he
3220-458: Is Sholay (1975), written by Salim–Javed , and starring Dharmendra , Amitabh Bachchan , and Amjad Khan as the dacoit character Gabbar Singh . It was a masala film that combined the dacoit film conventions of Mother India and Gunga Jumna with that of Spaghetti Westerns , spawning the "Dacoit Western" genre, also known as the "Curry Western" genre. The film also borrowed elements from Akira Kurosawa 's Seven Samurai . Sholay became
3335-449: Is a criminal activity involving robbery by groups of armed bandits. The East India Company established the Thuggee and Dacoity Department in 1830, and the Thuggee and Dacoity Suppression Acts, 1836–1848 were enacted in British India under East India Company rule . Areas with ravines or forests, such as Chambal and Chilapata Forests , were once known for dacoits. The word "dacoity"
3450-505: Is an anglicized version of the Hindi word ḍakaitī (historically transliterated dakaitee ). Hindi डकैती comes from ḍākū (historically transliterated dakoo , Hindi : डाकू, meaning "armed robber"). The term dacoit ( Hindi : डकैत ḍakait ) means "a bandit " according to the OED ("A member of a class of robbers in India and Burma , who plunder in armed bands"). The dacoity have had
3565-547: Is an example of a Third World postcolonial subject who is aware of the racist and patronising Orientalist attitudes that First World analysts have of her. Several films have been made about her life. Ashok Roy made the 1984 film Phoolan Devi in Bengali and followed it the next year with a Hindi version entitled Kahani Phoolvati Ki ( The story of Phoolan ). Bandit Queen came out in 1994 and in 2019 Hossein Martin Fazeli
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3680-418: Is common practice in the region; her family grew chickpeas , sunflowers and pearl millet . Phoolan Devi's mother was called Moola and her father Devidin; she had four sisters and one brother. Devidin had one brother, Biharilal, who had a son called Maiyadin. Biharilal and Maiyadin stole land from Phoolan Devi's father by bribing the village leader to change the land records. Her family was compelled to live in
3795-524: Is rarely seen in circulation. The coins are minted at the four locations of the India Government Mint . The ₹ 1, ₹ 2, and ₹ 5 coins have been minted since independence. The Government of India is set to introduce a new ₹ 20 coin with a dodecagonal shape, and like the ₹ 10 coin, also bi-metallic, along with new designs for the new versions of the ₹ 1, ₹ 2, ₹ 5 and ₹ 10 coins, which was announced on 6 March 2019. The Government of India has
3910-453: Is using blockchain distributed-ledger technology . British East India Company (EIC) was given the right in 1717 to mint coins in the name of the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar on the island of Bombay. By 1792 the EIC demonetised all other coins till they were reduced to only 3 types of coins, i.e. EIC, Mughal & Maratha coins. After EIC expanded its control over India, it brought the "Coinage Act of 1835" and started to mint coins in
4025-489: The Central Board of Film Certification to screen the film at cinemas in India. Phoolan Devi attempted to block the release, commenting "It's simply not the story of my life". She was supported by the feminist and novelist Arundhati Roy , who wrote a critique of the film (entitled "The great Indian rape trick"), arguing that whilst Sen's book presented a complex story with different perspectives, Kapur portrayed Phoolan Devi as
4140-574: The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts , US. The verdict in the court case concerning the Behmai massacre was delayed in 2020 because important case documents had been lost. The last witness died the following year and since the presiding judge had been transferred, the case began again in 2022. In 2023, another suspect died, leaving only two people on trial. The Mallah subcaste forms part of
4255-528: The Delhi High Court . Ultimately, Phoolan Devi received £40,000 from Channel 4 and dropped the complaint. Later in 1994, she dictated her autobiography I, Phoolan Devi which was published first in French in 1996 and then in other languages, including English, Japanese and Malay. The income from book sales supported Phoolan Devi and enabled her to pay her legal fees. At 13:30 ( IST ) on 25 July 2001, Phoolan Devi
4370-647: The Ganges between Calcutta and Burhampore ". Dacoits existed in Burma as well— Rudyard Kipling 's fictional Private Mulvaney hunted Burmese dacoits in " The Taking of Lungtungpen ." Sax Rohmer 's criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu also employed Burmese dacoits as his henchmen . Indian police forces use "Known Dacoit" (K.D.) as a label to classify criminals. Introduced in 1836, the suppression acts brought about several legislative measures, including establishing special courts, authorization for using rewards for informants, and
4485-597: The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Tejashwi Yadav of Rashtriya Janata Dal . Dacoit Dacoity is a term used for " banditry " in the Indian subcontinent . The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" / d ə ˈ k ɔɪ t / is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning. It appears in the Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases (1903). Banditry
4600-637: The Nishad caste and two Nishad political parties laid claim to Phoolan Devi's legacy. In 2018, the NISHAD Party reported it would build a statue of her in Gorakhpur . Three years later, in order to mark twenty years since her assassination, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) announced it would place 18 feet (5.5 m) high statues of her in 18 districts of Uttar Pradesh and were prevented from doing so by
4715-613: The Reserve Bank in terms of the RBI Act . After independence, the Government of India Mint , minted numismatics coins imprinted with Indian statesmen, historical and religious figures. In the years 2010 and 2011, for the first time ever, ₹ 75, ₹ 150 and ₹ 1000 coins were minted in India to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of the Reserve Bank of India , the 150th birth anniversary of
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4830-411: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In 1997 the 20 paise coin was discontinued, followed by the 10 paise coin in 1998, and the 25 paise in 2002. Between 2005 and 2008 new, lighter fifty-paise, one-, two-, and five-rupee coins were introduced, made from ferritic stainless steel. The move was prompted by the melting-down of older coins, whose face value was less than their scrap value. The demonetisation of
4945-566: The Royal Mint in Sydney . In an 1864 attempt to make the British gold sovereign the "imperial coin", the treasuries in Bombay and Calcutta were instructed to receive (but not to issue) gold sovereigns; therefore, these gold sovereigns never left the vaults. As the British government gave up hope of replacing the rupee in India with the pound sterling , it realised for the same reason it could not replace
5060-734: The silver dollar in the Straits Settlements with the Indian rupee (as the British East India Company had desired). Since the silver crisis of 1873 , several nations switched over to a gold exchange standard (wherein silver or banknotes circulate locally but with a fixed gold value for export purposes), including India in the 1890s. In 1870, India was connected to Britain by a submarine telegraph cable. Around 1875, Britain started paying India for exported goods in India Council (paper) Bills (instead of silver). If, therefore,
5175-782: The 125th anniversary of the births of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and B. R. Ambedkar , respectively. The three Presidencies established by the British East India Company ( Bengal , Bombay and Madras ) each issued their own coinages until 1835. All three issued rupees and fractions thereof down to 1 ⁄ 8 - and 1 ⁄ 16 -rupee in silver. Madras also issued two-rupee coins. Copper denominations were more varied. Bengal issued one- pie , 1 ⁄ 2 -, one- and two- paise coins. Bombay issued 1-pie, 1 ⁄ 4 -, 1 ⁄ 2 -, 1-, 1 1 ⁄ 2 -, 2- and 4-paise coins. In Madras, there were copper coins for two and four pies and one, two and four paise, with
5290-1005: The 1940s–1970s, they were the subject of various Hindi films made during this era, leading to the emergence of the dacoit film genre in Hindi Film Industry . The genre began with Mehboob Khan 's Aurat (1940), which he remade as Mother India (1957). Mother India received an Academy Award nomination, and defined the dacoit film genre, along with Dilip Kumar 's Gunga Jumna (1961). Other popular films in this genre included Raj Kapoor ’s Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1961) and Moni Bhattacharjee 's Mujhe Jeene Do (1963). Pakistani actor Akmal Khan had two dacoit films, Malangi (1965) and Imam Din Gohavia (1967). Other films in this genre included Khote Sikkay (1973), Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), and Kuchhe Dhaage (1973) both by Raj Khosla . The most famous dacoit film
5405-403: The 25-paise coin and all paise coins below it took place, and a new series of coins (50 paise – nicknamed athanni – one, two, five, and ten rupees with the new rupee sign) were put into circulation in 2011. In 2016 the 50 paise coin was last minted. Coins commonly in circulation are one, two, five, ten, and twenty rupees. Although it is still legal tender, the 50-paise ( athanni ) coin
5520-597: The Bengal Bank (1784–91). –1900) Historically, the rupee was a silver coin . This had severe consequences in the nineteenth century when the strongest economies in the world were on the gold standard (that is, paper linked to gold). The discovery of large quantities of silver in the United States and several European colonies caused the panic of 1873 which resulted in a decline in the value of silver relative to gold, devaluing India's standard currency. This event
5635-471: The Committee of 1898 by Mr. A. M. Lindsay, in proposing a scheme closely similar in principle to that which was eventually adopted, has been largely fulfilled. "This change," he said, "will pass unnoticed, except by the intelligent few, and it is satisfactory to find that by this almost imperceptible process, the Indian currency will be placed on a footing which Ricardo and other great authorities have advocated as
5750-590: The Crown . In 1862, coins were introduced (known as "regal issues") which bore the profile of Queen Victoria and the designation "India". Their denominations were 1 ⁄ 12 anna , 1 ⁄ 2 pice , 1 ⁄ 4 and 1 ⁄ 2 anna (all in copper), 2 annas, 1 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 2 and one rupee (silver), and five and ten rupees and one mohur (gold). The gold denominations ceased production in 1891, and no 1 ⁄ 2 -anna coins were issued after 1877. In 1906, bronze replaced copper for
5865-496: The First World War. In the early 1940s, several changes were implemented. The 1 ⁄ 12 anna and 1 ⁄ 2 pice ceased production, the 1 ⁄ 4 anna was changed to a bronze, holed coin , cupro-nickel and nickel-brass 1 ⁄ 2 -anna coins were introduced, nickel-brass was used to produce Mintsomeone- and two-annas coins, and the silver composition was reduced from 91.7 to 50 per cent. The last of
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#17328686874805980-473: The French language Bob Morane series of novels by Henri Vernes , principally as the main thugs or assassins of the hero's recurring villain, Mr. Ming and in English as the agents of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu. Indian rupees The Indian rupee ( symbol : ₹ ; code : INR ) is the official currency in India . The rupee is subdivided into 100 paise ( Hindi plural; singular: paisa ). The issuance of
6095-461: The Government as to have precipitated an internal crisis, which would have been fatal to British success in the war. From 1931 to 1941, the United Kingdom purchased large amounts of gold from India and its many other colonies just by increasing price of gold, as Britain was able to pay in printable paper currency. Similarly, on 19 June 1934, Roosevelt made Silver Purchase Act (which increased
6210-503: The India Council in London should not step in to sell bills on India, the merchants and bankers would have to send silver to make good the (trade) balances. Thus a channel for the outflow of silver was stopped, in 1875, by the India Council in London. The great importance of these (Council) Bills, however, is the effect they have on the Market Price of Silver: and they have in fact been one of
6325-626: The Indian rupee replaced the Danish Indian rupee in 1845, the French Indian rupee in 1954 and the Portuguese Indian escudo in 1961. Following the independence of India in 1947 and the accession of the princely states to the new Union , the Indian rupee replaced all the currencies of the previously autonomous states (although the Hyderabadi rupee was not demonetised until 1959). Some of
6440-491: The Yamuna River and she again returned to the parental home. In January 1979, Maiyadin destroyed the family's crops and began to chop down a neem tree on their land. When Phoolan Devi threw stones at him and wounded his face, she was arrested by the local police and detained for one month. She later told The Atlantic that she was arrested because Maiyadin accused her of robbing him. Mala Sen asked her if she had been raped at
6555-407: The authorities her fame grew. The killings prompted the resignation of V. P. Singh , the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh . It was later clarified that the dead men were seventeen Thakurs, one Muslim, one Dalit and one member of Other Backward Classes . Phoolan Devi was charged in absentia with 48 crimes, which included kidnapping, looting and murder. After the massacre, Phoolan Devi remained on
6670-424: The best of all currency systems, viz., one in which the currency media used in the internal circulation are confined to notes and cheap token coins, which are made to act precisely as if they were bits of gold by being made convertible into gold for foreign payment purposes. The committee concurred in the opinion of the Indian government that the mints should remain closed to the unrestricted coinage of silver and that
6785-472: The birth of Rabindranath Tagore and 1000 years of the Brihadeeswarar Temple , respectively. In 2012, a ₹ 60 piececoins was also issued to commemorate 60 years of the Government of India Mint, Kolkata. ₹ 100 coin was also released commemorating the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi 's return to India. Commemorative coins of ₹ 125 were released on 4 September 2015 and 6 December 2015 to honour
6900-467: The case of Phoolan Devi that "quite often rape is used as a method of control and punishment to keep women in their place". In July 1979, a gang of bandits led by Babu Gujjar kidnapped Phoolan Devi from her family's home, for reasons she explained in multiple ways. Gujjar took her as his property and raped her repeatedly. Vikram Mallah, the second in command, became fond of Phoolan Devi and objected to her mistreatment, so he killed Gujjar and became leader of
7015-406: The coinage of gold sovereigns in the mint at Bombay. Silver, therefore, has ceased to serve as, and standard; and the Indian currency system of to-day (that is 1901) may be described as that of a "limping" gold standard similar to the systems of France, Germany, and Holland, and the United States. The Committee of 1898 explicitly declared themselves to be in favour of the eventual establishment of
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#17328686874807130-466: The controversy surrounding the Bandit Queen film had already ensured that she was globally famous. She has become a legendary figure, alongside other outlaws such as Ned Kelly , Sándor Rózsa and Pancho Villa . Her life has inspired biographies by Roy Moxham, Mala Sen and Richard Shears and Isobelle Gidley, as well as novels by Irène Frain and Dimitri Friedman. A graphic novel entitled Phoolan Devi, Rebel Queen by Claire Fauvel [ fr ]
7245-469: The countryside from the time of the British Raj up to the early 2000s, with the police offering high rewards for the most notorious bandit chiefs. The criminals regularly targeted local businesses, though they preferred to kidnap wealthy people and demand ransom from their relatives – cutting off fingers, noses, and ears to pressure them into paying high sums. Many dacoity also posed as social bandits toward
7360-413: The currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India . The Reserve Bank manages currency in India and derives its role in currency management based on the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 . Pāṇini (6th to 4th century BCE) mentions rūpya ( रूप्य ). While Shankar Goyal mentions it is unclear whether Panini was referring to coinage, other scholars conclude that Panini uses the term rūpa to mean
7475-483: The currency of India through the British Raj and beyond. In 1835, British India adopted a mono-metallic silver standard based on the rupee coin; this decision was influenced by a letter written by Lord Liverpool in 1805 extolling the virtues of mono-metallism. Following the First War of Independence in 1857, the British government took direct control of India. From 1851, gold sovereigns were produced en masse at
7590-499: The dacoits of Bengal, the colonial official CH Keighly mentions the “great difference between gangs of hereditary dacoits or thugs in other parts of India and the dacoits of Bengal”. It is notable that, unlike the rest of India, dacoits in Bengal did not come from a particular social class, caste, or creed. Dacoit gangs in Nadia and Hooghly were mainly known for their ceremonial practices before
7705-410: The evidence of the two men who survived, who stated that they had not seen her and that a man called Ram Avtar was giving orders. By other accounts, such as that of journalist Khushwant Singh , it was Phoolan Devi who put the men to death. She was celebrated among Dalits (people at the bottom of the caste system) for fighting back against her abuse by men of a higher caste and when she eluded capture by
7820-457: The fact that many gangs operating in this valley were composed of higher castes and wealthy people appears to suggest that feudalism may only be a partial explanation of dacoity in Chambal Valley (Bhaduri, 1972; Khan, 1981; Jatar, 1980; Katare, 1972). Furthermore, traditional honour codes and blood feuds would drive some into criminality. In Chambal, India, organized crime controlled much of
7935-455: The fading of dacoity was also due to social changes, as few young people were any longer willing to endure the harsh life of highway robbers in the countryside. Instead, they prefer to join crime groups in the city, where life is easier. While thugs and dacoits operating in northern and central India are more popularly known and referenced in books, films, and academic journals, a significant number of accounts also come from Bengal. Writing about
8050-468: The first time and she was generally popular among Other Backward Classes. The Kanpur District Court set aside Yadav's pronouncement, which reinstated the charges against her in connection with the Behmai massacre. This decision was upheld by the Allahabad High Court . In 1996, Phoolan Devi lost a Supreme Court appeal to have the charges against her dropped. The following year, the court approved
8165-605: The first two denominated as 1 ⁄ 2 and one dub (or 1 ⁄ 96 and 1 ⁄ 48 ) rupee. Madras also issued the Madras fanam until 1815. All three Presidencies issued gold mohurs and fractions of mohurs including 1 ⁄ 16 , 1 ⁄ 2 , 1 ⁄ 4 in Bengal, 1 ⁄ 15 (a gold rupee) and 1 ⁄ 3 (pancia) in Bombay and 1 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 3 and 1 ⁄ 2 in Madras. In 1835,
8280-504: The following year, both the quantity and the price rose further: net exports totalled 8.4 million ounces, valued at INR 65.52 crore. In the ten years ended March 1941, total net exports were of the order of 43 million ounces (1337.3 tons) valued at about INR 375 crore, or an average price of INR 32-12-4 per tola. In the autumn of 1917 (when the silver price rose to 55 pence ), there was danger of uprisings in India (against paper currency) which would handicap seriously British participation in
8395-532: The gang was incarcerated at Gwalior , in Madhya Pradesh. Despite the prior agreement that she would not spend more than eight years in prison, she spent over ten years on remand. During this time, she had tuberculosis and was diagnosed with two stomach tumours. Whilst receiving hospital treatment, she received a hysterectomy without her consent. The others, including Man Singh, agreed to trials in Uttar Pradesh and were all acquitted, but Phoolan Devi refused to make
8510-443: The gang. He trained Phoolan Devi to use a rifle and the two fell in love. Over the following year, the group robbed vehicles and looted higher caste villages, sometimes disguising themselves using stolen police uniforms. The gang lived in the ravines, constantly moving between places such as Devariya , Kanpur and Orai . They located Puttilal and punished him violently. As news of Phoolan Devi's exploits spread, she became popular with
8625-409: The gold that was sold. However, the price of gold in India, on the basis of the official exchange rate of the rupee around 1 s. 6 d ., was lower than the price prevailing abroad practically throughout ; the disparity in prices made the export of the metal profitable; and this continued for almost a decade. Thus, in 1931–32, there were net exports of 7.7 million ounces , valued at INR 57.98 crore . In
8740-474: The local poor, paying medical bills and funding weddings. One ex-dacoit described his criminal past by claiming that "I was a rebel. I fought injustice." Following intense anti-banditry campaigns by the Indian Police, highway robbery was almost completely eradicated in the early 2000s. Nevertheless, Chambal is still popularly believed to be unsafe and bandit-infested by many Indians. One police officer noted that
8855-448: The lower castes, who called her Dasyu Sundari (Beautiful Bandit) and celebrated her as a Robin Hood figure, who robbed from the rich to give to the poor. She was seen as an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga and a doll was produced of her in police uniform wearing a bandoleer . A former leader of the gang, Sri Ram Singh, was released from prison together with his brother Lalla Ram Singh in 1980; they were Thakur men (Thakurs being
8970-414: The lowest three denominations; in 1907, a cupro-nickel one-anna coin was introduced. In 1918–1919 cupro-nickel two-, four- and eight-annas were introduced, although the four- and eight-annas coins were only issued until 1921 and did not replace their silver equivalents. In 1918, the Bombay mint also struck gold sovereigns and 15-rupee coins identical in size to the sovereigns as an emergency measure during
9085-554: The more convenient forced loans of paper money۔ The Indian Currency Committee or Fowler Committee was a government committee appointed by the British-run Government of India on 29 April 1898 to examine the currency situation in India. They collected a wide range of testimony, examined as many as forty-nine witnesses, and only reported their conclusions in July 1899, after more than a year's deliberation. The prophecy made before
9200-620: The most potent factors in recent years in causing the diminution in the Value of Silver as compared to Gold. The Indian and Chinese products for which silver is paid were and are, since 1873–74, very low in price, and it therefore takes less silver to purchase a larger quantity of Eastern commodities. Now, on taking the several agents into united consideration, it will certainly not seem very mysterious why silver should not only have fallen in price The great nations had recourse to two expedients for replenishing their exchequers, – first, loans, and, second,
9315-637: The name of the British king. EIC rule was replaced by British Crown raj which brought the "Paper Currency Act of 1861" and the "Uniform Coinage Act of 1906". After 2021, the government of independent India amended "The Coinage Act, 2011", the " Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999," the " Information Technology Act, 2000 " and the "Crypto-currency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021". India's first coins after independence were issued in 1950 in denominations of 1 pice , 1 ⁄ 2 , one and two annas, 1 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 2 and one-rupee . The sizes and composition were
9430-418: The night of dacoity. Before setting off for their mission, the members would assemble to perform “kalipuja” led by the Sirdar (leader). The dacoits would form a straight line, and a pot of liquor, torches, and weapons to be used in the dacoity would be laid down in a clear space. The Sirdar would then dip his finger in oil and touch the forehead of all the dacoits, making them promise never to confess. Even during
9545-477: The only right to mint the coins and one rupee note. The responsibility for coinage comes under the Coinage Act, 1906 which is amended from time to time. The designing and minting of coins in various denominations is also the responsibility of the Government of India. Coins are minted at the four India Government Mints at Mumbai , Kolkata , Hyderabad , and Noida . The coins are issued for circulation only through
9660-490: The police station and Phoolan Devi replied: "They had plenty of fun at my expense and beat the hell out of me too." Sen notes that it is common for victims of sexual assault to avoid or repress talking about what happened to them. Sen also observes that from the mid-1970s onwards, Indian feminist groups recorded many instances of women being attacked and murdered by men. The director of the Women's Feature Service commented regarding
9775-475: The police. Mukesh Sahani , the leader of the VIP, was prevented from leaving Varanasi airport by the Government of Uttar Pradesh when he wanted to install a statue. He reacted by setting up a foundation in Phoolan Devi's name and promising to deliver up to 50,000 small idols of Phoolan Devi, to any local person who requested one. Also in 2021, tributes marking the anniversary of her death were made by Chirag Paswan of
9890-554: The power to arrest suspects. The suppression acts marked the beginning of active British intervention in policing and law enforcement in Indian society. These acts were known to be authoritarian and further deepened the uneven power dynamic between the British and the Indians. The British often saw Indians as primitive, violent, and unruly, and this often acted as a justification for colonization and further consolidated their “civilization mission” pretext. The practice of thuggee and dacoity
10005-435: The price of silver) and purchased about 44,000 tons of silver, paying with paper silver certificates . In 1939, Dickson H. Leavens wrote in his book Silver Money : "In recent years the increased price of gold, measured in depreciated paper currencies, has attracted to the market (of London) large quantities (of gold) formerly hoarded or held in the form of ornaments in India and China". In their respective former colonies,
10120-452: The raid, when dacoits opened chests and discovered a good fortune, they would shout “Kali, Jai Kali”. Dacoity was prevalent in 19th century West Bengal. One of the gangs, led by a charismatic leader named Bhabani Pathak, was known for its loyalty to their leader. After the British captured Bhabani, the inner workings and social factors that led to the construction of this gang were revealed. Leaders such as Bhabani were known as Sirdars and had
10235-461: The run and was nearly caught by the police on 31 March 1981. Her mother was held for five months in Kalpi prison to pressure Phoolan Devi to give herself up. In 1983, Phoolan Devi surrendered to the authorities after long negotiations led by Rajendra Chaturvedi, a police officer from Bhind who gained the trust of local dacoits after arresting Malkhan Singh Rajpoot . Dressed in a police uniform and wearing
10350-523: The rupee is the rūpiya —the silver coin weighing 178 grains minted in northern India, first by Sher Shah Suri during his brief rule between 1540 and 1545, and later adopted and standardized by the Mughal Empire . The weight remained unchanged well beyond the end of the Mughals until the 20th century. The history of the Indian rupee traces back to ancient India around the 6th century BCE: ancient India
10465-428: The same amount. He was required to not interact with Phoolan Devi's family and to report to the police every six months, whilst also informing them where he stayed and what mobile telephone number he was using. In August 2001, Umed Singh announced prior to Phoolan Devi's terahvin that he was setting up a trust to administer the properties she owned; he was immediately denounced by her sisters and mother, who claimed he
10580-475: The same as the final regal issues, except for the one-piece (which was bronze, but not holed). The first decimal-coin issues in India consisted of 1 , 2 , 5 , 10, 25 and 50 naye paise , and 1 rupee . The 1 naya paisa was bronze; the 2, 5, and 10 naye paise were cupro-nickel, and the 25 naye paise (nicknamed chawanni ; 25 naye paise equals 4 annas ), 50 naye paise (also called athanni ; 50 naye paise equalled 8 old annas) and 1-rupee were nickel. In 1964,
10695-552: The states had issued rupees equal to those issued by the British (such as the Travancore rupee ). Other currencies (including the Hyderabadi rupee and the Kutch kori ) had different values. The values of the subdivisions of the rupee during British rule (and in the first decade of independence) were: In 2010, a new rupee sign ( ₹ ) was officially adopted. As its designer explained, it
10810-537: The symbols for multiple rupees and one rupee, respectively, and these symbols are still used in situations where the official symbol is unavailable. The Digital Rupee (e₹) or eINR or E-Rupee is a tokenised digital version of the Indian Rupee , issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Digital Rupee was proposed in January 2017 and launched on 1 December 2022. Digital Rupee
10925-504: The then Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill , restored it to pre-war levels. As a result, the price of gold fell rapidly. While the rest of Europe purchased large quantities of gold from the United Kingdom, there was little increase in her gold reserves. This dealt a blow to an already deteriorating British economy. The United Kingdom began to look to its possessions as India to compensate for
11040-409: The two men could not be found, twenty-two men were lined up at the Yamuna River and shot from behind; twenty died and two survived. Since all the dead were at the time thought to be Thakur, Thakur farmers pressured Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to impose the rule of law. When Phoolan Devi was arrested in 1983, she claimed that she had not been present at the time of the shooting. This was corroborated by
11155-420: The village leader then decreed that her parents should also be beaten. In 2018, Phoolan Devi's mother told The Asian Age that she was still fighting to regain the land which Maiyadin had stolen from the family. Following these events, Phoolan Devi's parents decided to arrange a marriage for her. She was married to a man called Puttilal, who offered 100 Indian rupees (equivalent to ₹ 400 or £4.20 in 2023),
11270-413: The war. Inconvertibility (of paper currency into coin) would lead to a run on Post Office Savings Banks . It would prevent the further expansion of (paper currency) note issues and cause a rise of prices, in paper currency, that would greatly increase the cost of obtaining war supplies for export; to have reduced the silver content of this historic [rupee] coin might well have caused such popular distrust of
11385-459: The well whilst naked, in front of the villagers. Phoolan Devi managed to escape and met Man Singh, a bandit with whom she formed a new gang. They became lovers, living on wild berries and produce stolen from cultivated fields. She returned to Behmai with her gang on 14 February 1981; speaking through a loudhailer , she demanded that the villagers hand over Sri Ram Singh and his brother, then the bandits went from house to house looting valuables. When
11500-559: The word rūpyarūpa : rūpya 'wrought silver' and rūpa 'form'. The Gupta Empire produced large numbers of silver coins clearly influenced by those of the earlier Western Satraps by Chandragupta II . The silver Rūpaka ( Sanskrit : रूपक ) coins were weighed approximately 20 rattis (2.2678g). In the intermediate times there was no fixed monetary system as reported by the Da Tang Xi Yu Ji . During his five-year rule from 1540 to 1545, Sultan Sher Shah Suri issued
11615-586: The words naya / naye were removed from all coins. Between 1957 and 1967, aluminium one -, two -, three -, five - and ten-paise coins were introduced. In 1968 nickel-brass 20-paise coins were introduced, and replaced by aluminium coins in 1982. Between 1972 and 1975, cupro-nickel replaced nickel in the 25- and 50-paise and the 1-rupee coins; in 1982, cupro-nickel two-rupee coins were introduced. In 1988 stainless steel 10-, 25- and 50-paise coins were introduced, followed by 1- and 5-rupee coins in 1992. Five-rupee coins, made from brass , are being minted by
11730-488: Was back in Gorha Ka Purwa, the second son of the village leader became infatuated with her and when she did not reciprocate his affections, he attacked her. Again, Phoolan Devi needed to leave the village and Maiyadin pressured the family to ask Puttilal to take her back, which he did. In the meantime, Puttilal had taken another wife who often mistreated Phoolan Devi. After several years, Puttilal abandoned Phoolan Devi beside
11845-510: Was banned and the Japanese rupee (1942–44) was introduced. At the onset of the First World War , the cost of gold was very low and therefore the pound sterling had high value. But during the war, the value of the pound fell alarmingly due to rising war expenses. At the end of the war, the value of the pound was only a fraction of what it had been before the war. It remained low until 1925, when
11960-652: Was born on 10 August 1963, in the village of Gorha Ka Purwa in Jalaun district , Uttar Pradesh , India. The land is crossed by the Yamuna and Chambal rivers and is filled with gorges and ravines, making it suitable terrain for dacoits (bandits). Her family was poor and from the Mallah subcaste, which lies towards the bottom of the Hindu caste system in India , with Mallahs being Shudras who traditionally work as fishermen. Phoolan Devi and her sisters made dung cakes to burn as fuel, as
12075-506: Was charged in absentia for the 1981 Behmai massacre, in which twenty Thakur men were killed, allegedly on her command. After this event, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh resigned, and calls to apprehend her were amplified. She surrendered two years later in a carefully negotiated settlement and spent eleven years in Gwalior prison, awaiting trial. Phoolan Devi was released in 1994 after her charges were set aside. She subsequently became
12190-585: Was derived from the combination of the Devanagari consonant " र " ( ra ) and the Latin capital letter "R" without its vertical bar. The parallel lines at the top (with white space between them) are said to make an allusion to the flag of India , and also depict an equality sign that symbolises the nation's desire to reduce economic disparity . The first series of coins with the new rupee sign started in circulation on 8 July 2011. Before this, India used " ₨ " and "Re" as
12305-515: Was developing a documentary entitled Phoolan . In 2022, Farrukh Dhondy announced that he was making a web series about her life told from the perspective of Rajendra Chaturvedi, the person who arranged her surrender. Phoolan Devi has been represented in fine art by painters such as Rekha Rodwittiya . Her life has also been commemorated by folk singers, making her into a mythical outlaw figure. Shirish Korde and Lynn Kremer wrote an opera called Phoolan Devi: The Bandit Queen which premiered in 2010 at
12420-562: Was known as "the fall of the rupee". In Britain War, the Long Depression resulted in bankruptcies, escalating unemployment, a halt in public works, and a major trade slump that lasted until 1897. India was unaffected by the imperial order-in-council of 1825, which attempted to introduce British sterling coinage to the British colonies. India, at that time, was controlled by the British East India Company . The silver rupee coin continued as
12535-491: Was one of the earliest issuers of coins in the world, along with the Chinese wen and Lydian staters . Arthashastra , written by Chanakya , Prime minister to the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya (c. 340–290 BCE), mentions silver coins as rūpyarūpa , other types including gold coins (suvarṇarūpa), copper coins (tamrarūpa) and lead coins (sīsarūpa) are mentioned. Rūpa means 'form' or 'shape'; for example, in
12650-419: Was present at the scene of the crime. He escaped from Tihar Jail in 2004 and was recaptured two years later. In August 2014, Rana received a life sentence for murder, with ten co-defendants being acquitted. Two years later, he appealed his sentence to the Delhi High Court and was set free by Justice Gita Mittal on a personal bond of ₹50,000 (equivalent to ₹72,000 or £750 in 2023) and two sureties , each of
12765-531: Was published in 2020. The scholar Tatiana Szurlej notes that the facts presented in these biographies often contradict each other despite coming from interviews with Phoolan Devi herself and questions whether she forgot elements or adapted her account to suit her changing circumstances. In 1994, Arundhati Roy commented that Phoolan Devi "is suffering from a case of Legenditis. She's only a version of herself. There are other versions of her that are jostling for attention." Media theorist Sandra Ponzanesi states Phoolan Devi
12880-471: Was returned to accounts. As this experiment failed spectacularly, the government abandoned the practice but did not abandon the narrative of the gold standard. Subsequently, much of the gold held by the Government of India was shipped to the Bank of England in 1901 and held there. During World War II , Colonial British control over parts of Nagaland was lost to Japanese forces , the British Indian rupee
12995-415: Was seen in a similar Eurocentric light without understanding the local context. An orientalist view of such activities was portrayed in the rest of the world to account for several repressive legislative measures that the British took. Under this punitive approach, several innocent individuals fell prey to false suspicion and were incriminated. Notable dacoits include: In Madhya Pradesh, women belonging to
13110-601: Was shot dead by three unknown assailants outside her house at 44 Ashoka Road in New Delhi. She was shot nine times and her bodyguard was hit twice; he returned fire as the attackers escaped by car. She was rushed to Lohia Hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival . She was aged 37 when she died and serving as an MP. All business of both houses of Parliament was adjourned for two days and the funeral took place in Mirzapur . Umed Singh commented "No one likes it when someone, especially
13225-499: Was trying to steal her investments worth ₹25 million (equivalent to ₹100 million or £1 million in 2023). Munni Devi alleged that Umed Singh knew the murderers and challenged his alibi. She said that Umed Singh was abusive towards Phoolan Devi and that her sister had tried at least twice to divorce him. Phoolan Devi's first husband Puttilal also made a demand for her properties since they had never officially divorced. Phoolan Devi's fame throughout India continued to grow after her death and
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