The "Thugs" or "Thuggee" were an alleged cult of the goddess Kali on the Indian subcontinent. According to British sources (notably William Sleeman) they would infiltrate caravans posing as pilgrims or merchants and attack and sacrifice the legitimate travelers by strangulation using a yellow scarf. From 1836 the British attempted to suppress the cult, apparently with notable success.

Recent historians have questioned the existence of the Thuggee as a cult and point to evidence that confessions from alleged cult members were extorted and the supposed cult used as an example of alleged barbarity and incapacity for self-rule of the Indians.

Sources:

Report on the Depredations Committed by the Thug Gangs of Upper and Central India by William Henry Sleeman, Commissioner for the Suppression of Thuggee and Dacoity

The Strangled Traveler: Colonial Imaginings and the Thugs of India by Martine van Wœrkens