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headquarters where he built a house. He hadbecome Lt. Colonel by now. His next promotionwas that of Resident of Oudh at Lucknow, in theyear 1849. Sleeman had found both Gwalior andOudh badly governed and found King Wajid Aliof Oudh, an incorrigible ruler. He took strongmeasures to clean the augean stables. Sleeman,from day one, was never in favour of annexingGwalior or Oudh. Lord Hardings, and laterBentinck had already made up their mind to doso. All the pleadings of Sleeman fell on deaf ears.His strong views on the annexation policy showwhat diplomatic and administrative foresightand acumen Sleeman was gifted with. He hadwarned that since in the Bengal Army most ofthe recruits belonged to the Oudh area, theywould rebel in case of annexation. Sleeman wasof the view of not adding areas of native States, as“they were back waters, with clan loyalty. Peopledid not want the ruler to be disposed off by analien power, even though he was a bad ruler”.Sleeman was apprehensive that with the IndianStates gone, mal-administration would go to thecompany’s credit and would result in full scalerebellion, leading to blood shed and sufferings.Sleeman’s principle in dealing with Indian stateswas to do all the good he could, but allow it toappear as if the initiative came from the Darbar.They were sound principles, which were notaccepted. He wrote, “to confiscate would bedishonest and dishonorable. To annex would beto give people, a government almost as bad astheir own”.Sleeman was a public servant in the true senseof the word. He was accessible to all and sundryand provided immediate relief to grievances.Subordinate officers were proud of their boss,who by now had acquired the reputation ofbeing one of the ablest administrator and policeofficer in the whole country. In 1851, Sleemanwas made a full Colonel and in 1852, a MajorGeneral. By 1855, Sleeman was almost crippleddue to rheumatic and malarial fever and foundit difficult to carry on. He wanted to go back toEngland and retire. On Jan 24, 1856 Sleemanalong with his wife Amelie boarded the boat atHoogly. He was informed at Calcutta that hewas being recommended for the “Civil Cross ofKnight Commander of Bath”. On 5 th February1856, Queen Victoria appointed Major GeneralSleeman to the most Honorable order of Bath.However, this news did not reach him at sea.His end came on 10 th February 1856, on board,and Sleeman was buried at sea off the Coast ofCeylon.It would be unfair on my part, not to mention asto how Sleeman had become a hero in the late19 th century and beyond. After the publicationof Col. Philip Meadow Taylors “Confessions of aThug”, the Thuggee lore became a literary subjectin the West. The Thugs captured the Victorianromantic imagination. Books like Eugene Sue’s“The Wandering Jew” became the best sellingbook of the century. Pictorial and sculpturaldepiction of Thugs in action also becamepopular souvenirs and old Thug prisoners wereparaded and made to stage their former deedsin front of thrilled tourists, including the Princeof Wales, who in 1877, allowed an old Thug to‘strangle’ his arms in order to feel the methodof strangulation himself. Besides, popular workslike Francis Tuker’s “The Yellow Scarf” (1963)and George Bruce’s “The Straglers” (1966)made Sleeman a hero. Also, writers like Russels,Hiralal, Mike Dash, Robert Johnson and KimWagner came out with excellent material onSleeman.If such was the popularity of Sleeman after morethan 150 years, how could the Police officers allover the country and especially those of CentralProvinces, present Madhya Pradesh, whoseproximity to Sleeman’s ‘Karam Bhoomi’ in thedistricts of Jabalpur, Sagar and Narsinghpur,remain unaffected. They were very close toSleemans Thuggee and Dacoity legends andalso to the first and second generation of theThug descendants living in Jabalpur. No doubtSleeman became a role model for Policeofficers, who contributed in no small measuretowards Intelligence based investigation;analytical reports based on crime records andfield touring; building of records of criminal ‘denotifiedTribes’; publication and disseminationof criminal gazette; and above all leadership ofa very high order.8The Indian Police Journal, October - December, 2012, Special Issue