What's "East Indian Benjies"? (H.P.Lovecraft episode with the professor)

Darn you guys for sucking me into this thread.

I don't think the term comes from Lovecraft for two reasons. First, HPL is so popular in both literary and gaming circles that any cult or creature he mentions would be easy to find online. Second, Peabody mentions the East Indian Bengies (Bengees?, Bingis? etc.) at the start of his lecture when he reviews the pagan religious cults that the class has already covered (and then moves on to the Cthulhu Mythos). All of them are legit....

Kali: Kālī also known as Kālikā, is a Hindu goddess. The name Kali is derived from the Sanskrit "Kālá", or time—she therefore represents Time, Change, Power, Creation, Preservation, and Destruction. "Kali" also mean "the black one", the feminine noun of the Sanskrit adjective Kālá.

The Druids: Although often depicted in popular culture, very little is known about the ancient druids. They left no written accounts of themselves, and the only evidence are a few descriptions left by Greek, Roman, and various scattered authors and artists, as well as stories created by medieval writers. Various recurring themes emerge in a number of the Greco-Roman accounts of the druids, including that they performed animal and even human sacrifice, believed in a form of reincarnation, and held a high position in Gaulish society. Next to nothing is known for certain about their religious practices, except for the ritual of oak and mistletoe as described by Pliny the Elder. (Note: In his Cthulhu Mythos story "Notebook Found in a Deserted House" Robert Bloch uses Druids in full blown human sacrifice mode.

Thoth: One of the deities of the Egyptian pantheon, Thoth was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon. He became heavily associated with the arbitration of godly disputes, the arts of magic, the system of writing, the development of science, and the judgment of the dead. Aleister Crowley named his Egyptian style Tarot deck "The Book of Thoth" because it brought occult wisdom. (Note: H. P. Lovecraft also used the word "Thoth" as the basis for his god, "Yog-Sothoth", a god of knowledge. Yog-Sothoth appears on Peabody's blackboard.)

Adramelech Like many pagan gods, Adramelech is considered a demon in some Judeo-Christian traditions. So he appears in Milton's Paradise Lost, where Adramelech is a fallen angel who, along with Asmodeus, is vanquished by Uriel and Raphael. According to Collin de Plancy's book on demonology, Infernal Dictionary, Adramelech became the President of the Senate of the demons. He is also the Chancellor of Hell and supervisor of Satan's wardrobe. Adramelech is generally depicted with a human torso, a mule's head, a peacock tail, and the limbs of a mule or peacock.

The Dionysian Mysteries: A ritual of ancient Greece and Rome which used intoxicants and other trance-inducing techniques (like dance and music) to remove inhibitions and social constraints, liberating the individual to return to a natural state. It also provided some liberation for those marginalized by Greek society: women, slaves and foreigners. The Roman Bacchic cult emphasised sexuality, inventing terrifying ordeals for its Mystery initiation. It was this aspect which caused the cult to be banned by Roman authorities in 186 BC, for sexual abuse and other criminal activities (including murder). Whether these charges were true is unknown. Scholarly opinion is that these were trumped-up charges leveled against a cult perceived as a danger to the state.

Obeah and the Red Voodoo Sect: Obeah is the West African ancestor of modern voodoo. It comes from the name "Obi", the snake-God, a word also meaning the "Spirit Of Evil". African slaves imported to the island of Santo Domingo brought their native religion with them. These rites include the blood sacrifice of fowls and goats, and at one time a young boy or girl. White Voodoo will only sacrifice white fowls or goats. Red Voodoo openly advocates human sacrifice.

Satanism: Too obvious to go into.

Moloch: also known as Molech, Molekh, Molok, Molek, Melek, Molock, Moloc, Melech, Milcom, or Molcom is the name of an ancient type of sacrifice or possibly god, possibly first worshiped in Ammon. Moloch was either practiced (as a sacrifice) or worshiped (as a god) by the Canaanites, Phoenicians, and related cultures in North Africa and the Levant.

Ifrit: The Ifrits are in a class of infernal Jinn (djinn or anglicized as genies with the more broad meaning of demons) noted for their strength and cunning. An ifrit is an enormous winged creature of fire, either male or female, who lives underground and frequents ruins. Ifrits live in a society structured along ancient Arab tribal lines, complete with kings, tribes and clans. As with other jinn, an ifrit may be either a believer or an unbeliever, good or evil, but it is most often depicted as a wicked and ruthless being.

The East Indian Bengies: What this thread is trying to determine. Does "East Indian" mean the eastern side of the subcontinent or does it refer to the islands?

The Magna Mater: Possibly the oldest cult, Cybele was a Greek fertility goddess and a symbol of the powerful female forces in the universe. In Rome, she was known as Magna Mater ("Great Mother"). As a small child she was put out into the wilderness to die, but instead of killing her the panthers and lions nurtured her, and she grew up into an intelligent, beautiful and headstrong woman. It is not impossible that she was a child mage who was later deified. She fell in love with prince Attis, but their love-story was tragic; The intense love of the divine Cybele was too much for the mortal prince, and he went mad, castrated himself and died. To commemorate this, during some ancient festivals a bull was castrated, sacrificed, and new initiates were baptized in its blood.

I like ggiroux3's definition of the bengee, I'm just not sure the small creature Chambers describes would have a cult following (although the Egyptian connection is interesting).