The Indian rope trick, now vanished from the realm of oriental magic, and sometimes described as the world’s greatest illusion, involved a magician and generally his one or more boy assistants. The term the Orient - literally meaning sunrise, east - is traditionally used to refer to Near, Middle, and Far Eastern countries. ... Magic, including the arts of prestidigitation and conjuring, is the art of entertaining an audience by performing illusions that baffle and amaze, often by giving the impression that something impossible has been achieved, almost as if the performer had magic or supernatural powers. ...

The trick

The magician would hurl a rope skyward in the air, and the rope did not fall but stood erect, and disappeared into the thin air. His boy assistant would climb the rope and he would also disappear.

The magician would call back his boy assistant, and on hearing no response, would pretend to be furious. Then, the magician armed himself with sharp weapons like knife and sword, and he would also climb the rope and disappear in the thin air. Noises of arguments would be heard, and then bleeding limbs of the body of the magician’s assistant would start falling on the ground, presumably cut into pieces by the magician. When all the parts of the body, including the torso, landed on the ground, the magician would be seen climbing down from the erect rope. He would collect the limbs and put them in a basket or simply collect all the limbs in one place and cover the same. Soon the magician’s boy assistant would get up alive with all the limbs intact. Traditional Finnish puukko knife A knife is a sharp-edged hand tool used for cutting. ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Sword (Old English: sweord; akin to Old High German: swert, wounding tool; Proto-Indo-European: *swer-, to wound, to hurt) is a term for a long-edged, bladed weapon, consisting in its most fundamental design of a blade, usually with two edges for striking...

Different versions of the Indian rope trick are in currency, involving the magicians, animals, and more than one assistant. Apart from minor changes in the settings and the participants, the basic trick remained the same as described above.

The accounts

Marco Polo (1254-1324), during his stay in India and China, is believed to have witnessed the Indian rope trick. Ibn Batuta, while traveling through Hangzhou, China, claims to have seen, in 1346, a trick similar to the Indian rope trick. The legend states that similar tricks were performed during the period of the Mughal Empire (16th-19th centuries) in the Indian subcontinent from Peshawar to Dhaka, and at several important centers of Mughal powers, including Murshidabad, Patna, Agra, and Delhi. Marco Polo (September 15, 1254, Venice, Italy; or Curzola, Venetian Dalmatia - now Korčula, Croatia — January 8, 1324, Venice) was a Venetian trader and explorer who, together with his father Niccolò and his uncle Maffeo, was one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China (which he... For broader historical context, see 1250s and 13th century. ... Events Publication of Defensor pacis by Marsilius of Padua Mansa Kankan Musa I, ruler of the Mali Empire arrives in Cairo on his hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. ... Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta (February 24, 1304 - 1377) was a Moroccan Berber traveller and explorer. ... Hangzhou (Chinese: 杭州; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Hang-chou) is a sub-provincial city in China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. ... // Events Serbian Empire was proclaimed in Skopje by Dusan Silni, occupying much of the South-Eastern Europe Foundation of the University of Valladolid Foundation of Pembroke College, University of Cambridge August 26 Battle of Crecy after which Edward the Black Prince honored the bravery of John I, Count of Luxemburg... Extent of Mughal empire in the late 1600s: the Mughals ruled all but the southern tip of the subcontinent. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Composite satellite image of the Indian subcontinent Map of South Asia. ... Peshāwar (پیشاور) literally means City on the Frontier in Persian and is known as Pai-khawar in Pashto. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Murshidabad is a district of the state of West Bengal, India. ... For other uses, see Patna (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Agra (disambiguation). ... Known in India as the Lotus Temple, the Baháí House of Worship is one of the most famous landmarks in Delhi. ...

During the period of the British Raj, several accounts exist reporting the performance of the Indian rope trick, during 1850 and 1900. The Chicago Tribune, in 1890, published an account of the Indian rope trick compiled by Fred S. Ellmore, and the story was repeated in several newspapers. The British Empire at its zenith in 1919. ... 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... Front page of the Tribune incorrectly reporting that Dewey won the 1948 presidential election The Chicago Tribune, formerly self-styled as the Worlds Greatest Newspaper, remains the leading newspaper of the Midwest of the United States. ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ...

Once the British Magic Circle, convinced that the trick did not exist, offered hundred guineas to anyone who could perform the trick. A man named Karachi, also spelt Kirachi (real name Arthur), a British performer based in Plymouth endeavored to perform the trick along with his son, Kyder. Reportedly, his son could climb the rope, but did not disappear, and Karachi was not paid any amount. The incident was also filmed near Hatfield in Hertfordshire in 1936. Plymouth is a city in the South West of England, or alternatively the Westcountry, and is situated within the traditional county of Devon. ... Arms of the former Hatfield Rural District Council Hatfield, originally Bishops Hatfield, is a town in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire, in the south of England. ... Hertfordshire (pronounced Hartfordshire and abbreviated as Herts) is an inland county in the United Kingdom, officially part of the East of England Government region. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Richard Wiseman, researching the matter, found at least fifty eyewitness accounts of the Indian rope trick performed during late late 19th/early 20th centuries, and variations included:
Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

• The magician’s assistant climbs the rope and the magic ends.
• The assistant climbs the rope, vanishes, and then again appears.
• The assistant vanishes, and appears from some other place.
• The assistant vanishes, and reappears from a place which had remained in full view of the audience.
• The boy vanishes, and does not return.

Accounts of the Indian rope trick collected by Wisemen did not have any single account describing severing of the limbs of the magician’s boy assistant. Perhaps even more important, he found that the more spectacular accounts were only given when the incident lay several decades in the past. It is conceivable that in the witnesses memory the Indian rope trick merged with the basket trick.

The explanation

In a well-researched book on the topic, Peter Lamot exposed the entire "trick" as a hoax created by John Elbert Wilkie while working at Tribune. This gains some credibility by the fact that the alleged author's name also spells Fred Sell More. According to rumours current at that time, about four months after the initial publication of the news, the Tribune itself proclaimed the story to be a hoax.

Lamot's evidence is damning. Most interestingly, no mention of the trick appears before the publication of the article, even Marco Polo's supposed viewing was only offered as evidence after the article was published. Yet in the following months many people claimed to now be "remembering" having seen it in the past, as far back as the 1850s. None of these stories turned out to be credible, but as it was repeated the story became more and more ingrained.

And with any story, there must be an explanation. Over the years, several theories have been floated to explain the supposed trick, including mass hypnosis and levitation. Performance during the dusk and twilight may have given some benefit to the magician. Hypnotic Seance, by Richard Bergh Hypnosis is understood to be a psychological condition in which an individual may be induced to exhibit apparent changes in behavior and thought. ... Levitation is the process by which an object is suspended against gravity, in a stable position, by a force without physical contact. ...

Another theory explains the Indian rope trick as a pure trick. The trick was performed between two trees or similarly placed objects like two buildings, and at night. Invisible string was placed between the trees, and when the rope was thrown above, it got hooked up with the string. This allowed the boy to climb up, though not to vanish or be dismembered.

Penn and Teller followed Lamot's work and examined the trick while filming part of their three-part CBC mini-series, Penn & Teller's Magic and Mystery Tour. The tour travelled the world investigating various historical magic tricks, and while in India they travelled to Calcutta where they recreated the trick. Penn (left) & Teller Penn and Teller are a two-man magic and comedy team, comprised of Penn Jillette and Teller. ... Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Cipher-block chaining ... This article is on Calcutta/Kolkata, the city. ...

After renting a small hall they invited two British tourists who happened to be shopping nearby to see what they claimed was a fakir performing the trick. As they walked back, an assistant ran up and claimed the fakir was in the midst of the trick, so they rushed the rest of the way so they wouldn't miss it. As soon as the witnesses neared the room they simply dropped a thick rope from a balcony. The witnesses saw what they thought was the end of the trick, the rope falling as if it had been in mid-air seconds before. According to their account, the rumor that a British couple had witnessed the trick was heard a few weeks later in England. According to Herbert Ponting, who took this photograph in 1907, this is a fakir in Benares (Varanasi), India. ...

The books

• Peter Lamot, winner of Jeremy Dalziel prize in British History, has written a book, named The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick: How a Spectacular Hoax Became a History (ISBN 1560256613). He concluded that the Indian rope trick was one of “the most successful hoaxes of all time.”
• The Indian rope trick also finds a mention in The Unexplained (An Illustrated Guide To The World’s Natural And Paranormal Mysteries) by Dr. Karl P. N. Shuker (ISBN 1858681863).

History of Great Britain (volume 1) is a book by David Hume published in 1754. ...

External links

• The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick
• Indian rope trick
• Indian rope trick - ABC audio clip
• Indian rope trick - The Straight Dope