Dacoity is criminal activity involving robbery by groups of armed bandits. The word "Dacoity" is the anglicized version of the Indian word ḍakaitī (historically spelled dakaitee, Hindi डकैती or Urdu ڈکیتی or Bengali ডাকাতি) which comes from ḍākū (historically spelled dakoo, Hindi: डाकू, Urdu: ڈاکو, meaning "armed robber") or Bangla ḍakat (ডাকাত).

Dacoity (Hindi: डकैती ḍakaitī, Urdu: ڈکیتی ḍakaitī, Bengali: ডাকাতি ḍakati) means "armed robbery".

Dacoit (Hindi: डकैत ṭakait, Urdu: ڈکیت ṭakait, Bengali: ডাকাত ḍakat) means "a bandit". According to OED ("A member of a class of robbers in India and Burma, who plunder in armed bands.") Dacoits existed in Burma as well as India, and Rudyard Kipling's fictional Private Mulvaney was hunting Burmese "dacoits" in The Taking of Lungtungpen. The term was also applied, according to OED, to "pirates who formerly infested the Ganges between Calcutta and Burhampore".

Known Dacoit (K.D.) is a term used by the Indian police forces to classify criminals.

The most infamous member of the Dacoit "profession" was probably India's Phoolan Devi. But the title of the most legendary dacoit is held by Sultana Daku, Daku Man Singh and Nirbhay Singh Gujjar who was killed in 2005. Between 1939 and 1955, Daku Man Singh had notched up 1,112 armed robberies, 185 murders, and countless ransom kidnappings. He was involved in 90 police encounters and had killed 32 policemen.

In recent times, Veerappan of Tamil Nadu state became one of the most notorious dacoits in Indian history, evading authorities for decades until he was shot dead in 2004. He was active for a period of years in a broad swath of land covering 6,000 km² in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

In Madhya Pradesh State, women belonging to a village defence group have been issued gun permits to fend off Dacoity. The Chief Minister of the district, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, recognized 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.

See also

:Category:Indian robbers

References

Phoolan Devi, with Marie-Therese Cuny, and Paul Rambali, "The Bandit Queen of India: An Indian Woman's Amazing Journey from Peasant to International Legend" Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2006 ISBN 978-1-59228-641-6

Notes: (1) Copyright 2003 by Robert Laffont. (2) First Lyons Press paperback 1st edition (August 1, 2006) (3) The Lyons Press An imprint of The Globe Pequot Press.

Mala Sen, "India's Bandit Queen: The true Story of Phoolan Devi", HarperCollins Publishers (September 1991) ISBN 978-0002720663

External links

As modern world closes in, India's fabled bandits are disappearing - International Herald Tribune

Category:Illegal occupations Category:Crime in India Category:Hindi loanwords Category:Crime in Pakistan

Name	Irrfan Khan
Caption	Khan at the launch of NDTV Lumiere's The Orphanage, May 2008
Birthname	Sahabzade Irrfan Ali Khan
Birth date	November 30, 1962
Birth place	Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Spouse	Sutapa Sikdar Khan (1995-present)
Othername	Irfan
Occupation	Actor
Yearsactive	1989–present
Website	http://www.irrfan.com

Sahabzade Irrfan Ali Khan, popularly known as Irrfan Khan (; born 30 November 1962), is an Indian actor in film, television and theatre. He received recognition for his roles in The Warrior (2001), Maqbool (2003), Haasil (2004), The Namesake (2006), A Mighty Heart (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Billu (2009), New York (2009), New York, I Love You (2009), and Vodafone commercials. He has won two Filmfare Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Early life and background

Khan was born in Jaipur to a Muslim Nawab family. Khan's mother, Sayeeda Begum, was from the Tonk Hakim family, and his father, the late Jagirdar, was from the Khajuriya village near the Tonk district, and ran a tyre business. Khan was studying for his M.A. degree when he earned a scholarship to study at National School of Drama (NSD) in New Delhi in 1984.

Career

After graduating in 1987, Khan moved to Mumbai, where he acted in numerous television serials like Chanakya, Sara Jahan Hamara, Banegi Apni Baat, Chandrakanta (Doordarshan), Star Bestsellers (Star Plus), and Sparsh. He was the main villain in a series called Darr (which aired on Star Plus), where he played the role of a psycho serial killer, opposite Kay Kay Menon. He also played the role of famous revolutionary Urdu poet and Marxist political activist of India Makhdoom Mohiuddin in Kahkashan produced by Ali Sardar Jafri.

He acted in some of the episodes of Star Bestsellers (aired on Star-Plus). In one of the episodes, his role was of a parchoon shopkeeper who has a misconception that his landlord's wife is trying to seduce him and it turns out that his own wife (Tisca Chopra) is cheating on him. In the other one, he played the role of an office-accountant who, after being insulted by his female boss, took revenge by making her mad. He also appeared in a serial called Bhanvar (aired on SET India) for two episodes. In one episode, he performed the role of a thug who somehow lands in court, where he presents himself as a lawyer.

Theatre and television kept him afloat until Mira Nair offered him a cameo in Salaam Bombay (1988) though his role was edited out in the final film.

In the 1990s he appeared in the critically acclaimed film Ek Doctor Ki Maut and Such a Long Journey (1998) and various other films which went unnoticed.

After many unsuccessful films, things changed when London-based director Asif Kapadia gave him the lead in The Warrior, a historical film completed in 11 weeks on location in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. In 2001 The Warrior opened in international film festivals, making Irrfan Khan a known face.

In 2003 he acted in Indian born writer-director, Asvin Kumar's short film, "Road to Ladakh". After the film received rave reviews at international festivals, the film is now being made into a full length feature, again starring Irrfan Khan. That same year he played the title role in the critically acclaimed Maqbool, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

His first Bollywood main lead role came in 2005 with film Rog. Thereafter he appeared in several films either playing the leading role or a supporting role as a villain. In 2004 he won the Filmfare Best Villain Award for his role in film Haasil.

In 2007, he appeared in the box office hits Metro, for which he received a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, and The Namesake. They were closely followed by his appearance in the international films A Mighty Heart and The Darjeeling Limited.

Even after becoming a successful actor in Bollywood, he has not severed his ties with television. He anchored a show Mano Ya Na Mano (airing on Star One). He hosted another programme named Kyaa Kahein which was similar to Mano Ya Na Mano.

In 2008, he was featured as a narrator in an Arts Alliance production, id - Identity of the Soul. The performance toured worldwide, with tens of thousands turning out to see the event as it toured the West Bank. He also plays the police inspector in the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire, for which he and the cast of the movie won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

In 2009, he featured in the film Acid Factory. Khan has stated that he wants to do more and more action films in the future. He also appeared as an FBI agent in New York and as a Gujarati diamond merchant in New York, I Love You. His future films include Paan Singh Tomar in which he will essay the role of real-life Rajput runner Paan Singh Tomar.

He recently worked on the third season of the HBO series In Treatment, enacting the part of Sunil, who is finding it difficult to come to terms with his wife's death and loneliness after moving to New York, USA.

Khan said in an IGN interview that he will be playing a character named Nels Van Atter in the 2012 Spider-Man reboot, also the true identity of Proto-Goblin, an adversary of Spider-man.

Personal life

On 23 February 1995, Khan married writer Sutapa Sikdar, who is also a NSD graduate. They have two children named Babil and Ayan.

He has two brothers, Imran Khan and Salman Khan and one sister Rukhsana Begum. They still live in Jaipur and run their businesses.

Awards

Wins

2003: Filmfare Best Villain Award - Haasil

2007: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award - Life in a Metro

2008: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - Slumdog Millionaire

Nominations

2007: Independent Spirit Award: Best Supporting Male - The Namesake

2008: Stardust Best Supporting Actor Award - The Namesake

2008: IIFA Award: IIFA Best Supporting Actor - Life in a Metro

Filmography

References

External links

Irrfan Khan Official Website

TIME Magazine coverage of Irrfan Khan

TIME Magazine photo feature

Category:1962 births Category:Filmfare Awards winners Category:Hindi film actors Category:Indian film actors Category:Indian Muslims Category:Indian stage actors Category:Indian television actors Category:Living people Category:National School of Drama alumni Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Jaipur Category:People from Rajasthan