coity was practically achieved by Colonel Sleeman. A number
of officers were placed under his orders, and with small bodies of
military and police were set to hunt down different bands of dacoits,
following them all over India when necessary. And special Acts were
passed to enable the offence of dacoity, wherever committed, to be
tried by a competent magistrate in any part of India as had been done
in the case of the Thugs. Many of the Badhaks received conditional
pardons, and were drafted into the police in different stations, and
an agricultural labour colony was also formed, but does not seem to
have been altogether successful. During these twelve years more than
1200 dacoits in all were brought to trial, while some were killed
during the operations, and no doubt many others escaped and took to
other avocations, or became ordinary criminals when their armed gangs
were broken up. In 1825 it had been estimated that the Oudh forests
alone contained from 4000 to 6000 dacoits, while the property stolen
in 1811 from known dacoities was valued at ten lakhs of rupees.

14. The Badhaks or Baoris at the present time.

The Badhaks still exist, and are well known as one of the worst classes
of criminals, practising ordinary house-breaking and theft. The name
Badhak is now less commonly used than those of Bagri and Baori or
Bawaria, both of which were borne by the original Badhaks. The word
Bagri is derived from a tract of country in Malwa which is known
as the Bagar or 'hedge of thorns,' because it is surrounded on all
sides by wooded hills. [64] There are Bagri Jats and Bagri Rajputs,
many of whom are now highly respectable landholders. Bawaria or
Baori is derived from _banwar_, a creeper, or the tendril of a vine,
and hence a noose made originally from some fibrous plant and used
for trapping animals, this being one of the primary occupations of
the tribe. [65] The term Badhak signifies a hunter or fowler, hence
a robber or murderer (Platts). The Bagris and Bawarias are sometimes
considered to be separate communities, but it is doubtful whether there
is any real distinction between them. In Bombay the Bagris are known
as Vaghris by the common change of _b_ into _v_. A good description
of them is contained in Appendix C to Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam's volume
_Hindus of Gujarat_ in the _Bombay Gazetteer_. He divides them into the
Chunaria or lime-burners, the Datonia or sellers of twig tooth-brushes,
and two other groups, and