The scent of shikar

[danish21]

Friends while searching on google i found this wonderful article by Roshni Johar which i am sharing with all IFG members...
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/200304 ... /main3.htm

The scent of shikar

IMAGINE a British laat sahib out on a shikar in a jungle at the invitation of a maharaja being stationed safely on a machan (wood platform built on tree-tops), being guarded by armed soldiers below. While awaiting a tiger to be driven by drum beaters below, he would while away precious hours, relishing succulent kebabs and fowls stuffed with Persian dry fruits and sipping a burra or chhota peg. In the grand finale when the tiger appeared, the great gora sahib should aim, pull the trigger straight at it and make it swoon to the ground in a gush of blood. Then the ‘pale sahib in his high-domed topee’ would stamp his foot on prized catch’s head arranged on its paws — for a photograph that (years later), would brighten up faded memories of shikar in India.

Over years of colonial rule, shikar grew into an institution, acquiring a cult of high status for the British assured of the natives servility. It meant an exclusive sport, a face-to-face encounter with the world’s exotic wildlife, an experience of romantic thrill in jungle, a taste of power and pride—all coupled together in reality—a tamasha of glorified, organised animal slaughter. Charles Allen opined, "... (shootings) were an essential part of rituals of state, necessary displays of power by princes, made largely impotent by Pax Britannica." The English combined political guile and escape from daftar’s drudgery with shooting and entertainment. "Come and stay with us in India and we will arrange for you to shoot tigers from the back of elephants from the back of tigers," Lord Curzon remarked to a friend giving a alternative to England’s boring fox hunting.

Come September 16, every year, and the British would declare the commencement of the hunting season in India, not that they did not shoot in the other months. To please British Viceroys, generals, colonels and a hierarchy of high-ups, Indian royalty organised hunting even reserving forests for their pleasure e.g. Dhami was called "Viceroy’s Shooting Box," as the British loved its flora and fauna. Rule 14 of the-then Shikar Rule of Shimla Hill States and Shimla District clearly stated: "Shooting in Dhami State near Ghanna-ki-Hatti is prohibited. All forests here are preserved for the use of His Excellency, the Viceroy." Out of a forest land totalling 28 square miles, 2355 acres were reserved and its game carefully preserved as a shooting and entertainment ground for the Viceroy, paharis being totally denied from hunting in their own land. The Maharaja of Gwalior had a hunting lodge and a tiger preserve in Shivpuri, interestingly named George Castle after the British king. Shikar was no ordinary sport involving massive expenditure, deployment of human resources, organisational skill, all enveloped by pomp and pageantry, Indians kow-towing to gora sahibs and pandering to their whims and fancies.
A visit from the laat sahib was always prestigious for royalty. The bandobast was pukka to the last detail. Natives pitched tambus tying machhardanis (mosquito nets) with gussalkhanas having ‘thunder boxes.’ Tents of some maharajas even had a brick floor with Persian rugs, fireplaces being done up like English country houses. Bearers donning starched white pagrees, hovered around guests serving pulaus stews, curries, sherbet, bacon and even ovaltine from mud kitchens. The entourage included khansamas, khidmatgurs, coollies, beaters, etc. Beaters and villagers beat tom-toms and played flutes to drive tigers to awaiting hunters. The Maharaja of Rewa had 5,000 beaters to drive 16 fully grown tigers for Lord Curzon’s hunt.

Lady Dufferin wrote, "... a thousand beaters were employed and only 24 birds killed..." A century ago, a beater was paid Re 1 and 8 annas daily. To help them, the retinue included ‘a collection of canines’ usually named tipoo, whiskey, soda, poppy, lancer, Caesar, Douglas, Johnny and such English-named Indian dogs.

Despite memsahibs’ general inability to stand the heat, there were lady shikaris too. Writes Ann Morrow, "As a courtesy... Vicereine or Commander-in-Chief’s wife Lady Chetwode — would be offered the first shot. They may have looked frail with their porcelain skins and appealing in their becoming jungle skirts made by the dhurzie, but they would lie for hours on their stomachs resilient and elated."

To pamper their egos, every tiger shot by the goras was declared as invariably ten-feet long. If the laat sahibs were not good shots, beaters gathered every bird shot and "put them in a flattering pile beside the imperial butts." Imagine a few staggering figures of ‘bags’ — animals killed for pleasure. Bengal civil servant George Yule bagged 500 tigers in 28 years, Maharaja of Surguja killed 1710, Duke of Windsor shot 17 tigers in one week in 1921, while two were shot later during the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Ranthambhor in 1961. The Cooch Behar Maharaja alone bagged 365 tigers, 311 leopards, 438 buffaloes and 207 rhinos.

‘Bizarre blood sports’ Included lesser shoots of antelopes, barking deer, bear, boar, jackals, hogs, etc. The English stalked for rhinos in the terai region bordering on Assam or Nepal and Karakoram’s rare Ovis Poli. The scrapbook of a district collector in 1900 mentions the accuracy required to shoot a mugger in an alligator hunt down the Ganges near Allahabad. "Skins were sent to leather tanneries at Cawnpore and returned as handbags and briefcases." Tiger, panther and crocodile skins were shipped ‘home’ by P&O steamers. Dead elephant’s feet held umbrellas while tusks were used for gongs.

‘Shot for the pot’ included quails, partridges, jungle fowls, wild ducks, sand grouse, etc. Sir Montague Butler, Governor of Central Provinces and Jashpur’s Maharaja, shot no less than 527 ducks. When Lord Reading went to Bharatpur to inspect flood destruction, he managed to bag 1700 ducks. But Lord Linlithgow’s record bag of 4,273 birds only puts them to shame.

The Raj made much of shikar, which was nothing short of pageantry of organised animal slaughter, where man’s might triumphed over animals’ right to life, only underscoring the latter’s vulnerability. Zulam of the greatest kind, it heralded the extinction of some species — ironically, initiated by countries whose spokespersons sermonise about animal protection today.


Danish

[shahid]

Wouldn't blame the Maharajas entirely. With no TV or internet or forums in those days, no cheap flights like Air Deccan to ferry people to Delhi and Bombay, there was little other entertainment that could keep the Maharajas amused and in good spirits.

Now as the organisation of these shoots got better and better with more amenities of thos e times is rather welcome. If a persian rug is laid out in my camping tent, why would I complain of the luxury ?

The Maharaja has to please his British masters, and offering them a shoot was always a great bribe.

If a shoot is well organised with servents, bearers, beaters and thunder boxes instead of digging a hole in the soil and going behind a tree with an empty engine oil tin filled with water, why should anyone complain.

It goes to the credit of the Shikar officers of the riyasat that they could tame a cunning animal like a tiger to stay in the area of the shoot by placing baits on its beat path and to the helpers who made those camaflouage machaans.

The ability of the beat leader here also needs a mention to drive the animal towards a waiting gun.

There is sport involved here. It is not easy to shoot an animal during a beat within a fixed angle of fire. As it emerges out of a bush there is only a flash where you have to identify the animal, determine male or female, thus to go with the shot or not and then aim and carefully take a safe and sure shot.

Credit goes to all the great shots of those times including King George V who was a phenomenal shot in his times.

He once shot 5 tigers with a five shot 30-06 rifle, placing each shot carefully behind the ear of the animal where it dropped dead instantly. Believe me it is a very small target to aim.

Yes, the chmchagiri and sycophan that went on is evident. Tapes with 11 inches to the foor were used to measure Viceregal tigers.

Then again these unusual bags of game, is unsporting. Why in the world shoot 4217 ducks in a day ? Sheer madness. 2 ducks or geese from a flight, a couple of geese or 6 ducks for the pot and a few braces to gift a few friends, sums it all up. A days bag of 4 geese or 10 ducks is a satisfactory bag by all estimates. A deer for the pot and one more to take back home after the camp. Two brace of partridge per day per shooter, a few doves and thats it.

If you have more shooting apetite, then a clay machine in the camp would be handy and a rifle range for placing shots at 50 or 100 yards is always there. Find a tree at a safe firing field position and hang a target. Shoot all you ammo and come back happy.

[Vikram]

Danish, you don't know what you have started.


Shahid, I agree with your rationale about the size of the bags. There is a big difference between hunting and wholesale slaughter. It's obvious,to me that is, that the author's stridency was mostly aimed at the colonial state than at hunting and she did a very bad job.IMO, poorly written.

More when the debate picks up. But,there is a difference between bloodlust and sportsmanship.

Best-
vikram

[shahid]

The author here is once again a city journalist with little idea of outdoor life. Would not blame the author, for she has had no opportunity to experience field sports first hand.

In an era where there was little else in the name of entertainment, this was the most obvious form of sports. Hunting was encouraged among the ranks of the army to bide their time and keep them battle ready by practieing this sports.

The Maharaja of Cooch Behar shot a number of Tigers along with his son Inderjeet and Maharani Gayatri Devi because there were tigers to be had just 20 miles from his palace. And they were plentyful.

Danish, if you dig up your own family history, then from the tales handed down from my father and Grandfather, who was your Maternal granfather as well, a days work for them was to visit one of the villages in their Riyasat.

The Munshi and clerckial officers accompanying them would draw the Zamindari tax collection accounts with the village headman and village elders.

Meanwhile my dad and his cousins accompanied by a bunch of followers and local villagers would go out for a hunt or some fieldsports. In the early days they went on horseback or palenquins. Later came the T Model ford and Chrysler, and finally the Willys Jeep in 1946, which still runs in Bakhtiarpore ( BRJ 5 ).

Those days the Indo gangetic plains were covered with thick sal forests. All these trees were felled for timber for laying out the railway track and as fuel in the earlier railway locomotive.

Jim Corbett lived in Mokameh Ghat, 30 km from Bakhtiarpore, where he was a railway contractor. To shoot Geese he used to come down in a brake buggy with a couple of linemen pushing his brake buggy on the railway track. He often stayed in the Garden house of Barh or the Bahadur Manzil, where the back doors open directly into the Ganges Ghat.

They say that they would beat any patch of forest of an area 2 sq km in early 20th century in that area and a Tiger would emetge. These records are there in the diaries written down by sportsmen of that era.

I have been fortunate to have had first hand experience of true Indian style sports. You were very small then, in fact when the shooting camp at Partapore was established you were not even born.

Partapore was full of fun and excitement. It lay on a hilly trackt of land surrounded by low hills and plenty of mountain streams flowing from these hills.

The farm house was built in the middle of a rose garden, surrounded by Mango trees and Guava orchard. Next to it was a flat piece of land where badminton courts were built and also cricket was played. On the far side there was an old Semal tree where we had made a rifle sighting range.

It was a brick house with about 8 rooms and wide verendahs on both sides. Proper bathrooms were made, water came from a well. There was no electricity of course. Dozens of lanterns were lit at night.

We had a poultry, goat farm, cow shed and a couple of ponies for riding there.

During our field trips, we observed wild life at close quarters. Species found here included Cheetal, Barking Deer, Leopard, Hare, Wild Boar. Partridges, SPur Fowl, Doves, Green Pigeon, Ducks and Geese in the lakes and reservoirs nearby and plenty of fresh sweet water fish.

A troop of servants, helpers and assistants accompanied us on these trips.

During the annual camp each year commencing on January 26, we used to bring with us doctors from Patna and set up a field hospital in the block office, to treat the people and for free minor operations like cataract surgery etc. The idea was to improve the life of the local people. I used to personally oversee the progress with education at the local school.

A day in Partapore began with an early morning drive to a water reservoir or lake. Upon return a huge breakfast awaited us. I used to prepare the tea for the entire group at the breakfast table, as I used to be the juniormost in the camp then.

This was followed by a day of exploration on the winding forest paths, deep inside.

An evening drive on the forest paths was always yielding.

During the night, a game of cards next to a fire, or a chatting session where old stories were related were held. After dinner, which was mostly a barbecue, some more adventourous among us used to go out for night nature observation trips.

Lunch was usually in the field itself. The bunch of oldies used to loaf around in the camp all day, smoking hookah, pipes, bathing near the well, spread of camp cots where the servent boys would give them an oil massage and of course drinking numerous cups of tea and catching up on the gossip.

I last went to Pratapore in 1999. It is infested with Naxalites ( Left wing extremists ) now. Will those beautiful days ever return ? Some from that group have already made their heavenly abode. Pratapore was in its prime during 1970's 80's and upto mid 1990's.

[eljefe]

Shahid,
I'm sure many here (of he proper vintage!) would attest or add to your post.
The reason for the bleeding heart liberals and the decided anti hunting stance-IMHO- has been the blanket ban on hunting-a whole generation of Indians growing up with tales of the 'Raj' shikar and the state of 'endangered' flora and fauna...obviously written , many a times by leading columnists who had never set foot in the jungle, seen the mass rape of the environment by the timber mafia, the clay mafia, the sand mafia.The widespread poaching , without an iota of sporting ethics, by all and sundry and the ostrich attitude of our imbicile bureaucrats.
Many a times, there have been posts about the advantages of having a rational , previously tried , easily replicable and successfull wildlife conservation amd management models.
None of the city journalists wuld want to balance the concept of CONSERVATION, they will print reams against 'blood sport ' and retire for the evening with a plate of chicken tikka-also 'hunted' with a 1kg knife (instead of a 40 gr 22HP!)
The advent of PETA and its clones hasnt helped any!
Lets keep this column active and hope for further enrollment to th cause.
Best
Axx

[danish21]

Vikram

I know i have started a revolution.

Danish

[vishosingh]

totally agree with what all has been said.have heard stories like these pased on like legacies from my dad. it really hurts to see the plight of the indian shikari(SPORTSMAN) of today.
just so frustrating that cant say any more without takinga shot at the screen
sorry

[vishosingh]

i meant from sahids post onwards!!!

[dev]

Vikram

I know i have started a revolution.

Danish

What if question time? My friend tells me that Nilgai is allowed for hunting nowadays in M.P. If this is true...hmmm...lucky dog has land to protect from Nilgai. So some hunting is still allowed legit.

Regards,

Dev

[kanwar76]

Vikram

I know i have started a revolution.

Danish

What if question time? My friend tells me that Nilgai is allowed for hunting nowadays in M.P. If this is true...hmmm...lucky dog has land to protect from Nilgai. So some hunting is still allowed legit.

Regards,


Dev

Nilgai and wild boar hunting is allowed in Punjab, Haryana, Rajsthan with permit.

-Inder

[Sujay]

Vikram

I know i have started a revolution.

Danish

What if question time? My friend tells me that Nilgai is allowed for hunting nowadays in M.P. If this is true...hmmm...lucky dog has land to protect from Nilgai. So some hunting is still allowed legit.

Regards,

Dev

There must be some truth in what your friend says. In a certain area of MP, people are unable to sleep during night because of the continuous shooting in the adjacent jungles ; as reported by a TV channel.