good books on shikaar/ hunting

[skeetshot]

Some great shikar books are by our own authors:

Hunting with Horse and Spear by Col Kesri Singh

Shikar by Khan Sahib Jamshed Bhutt

Forests of the Night by Scott

Tryst with Tigers dont remember author

Hints on Tiger Shooting Kesri Singh

During my school days these and a treasure of other books were common in school libraries, army messes, gymkhana libraries etc Where have they gone ??

[a_kamal]

Hi Skeetshot ,

I have the last four mentinoned by you, and some other rare prints ,

i got a lead some 10 years back that a hobby corner has the full set and they will sell , i secured 5 of 8 titles same day went back for the other 3 next day and lo they were gone with no record who took them ,

the other 3 are listed in my wishlist in last post .

i will be converting these to e-books asap and donate to some free e-book site like archive.org

[mundaire]

I found these while searching for The Indian Field Shikar Book by W. S. Burke (no longer in print and going for ridiculous prices in used condition) so I thought I'd share them here. Some of the below may have been posted earlier, all are out of copyright and are free to share/ download.

Oriental Field Sports Volume 1 by Captain Thomas Williamson 1807 With coloured illustrations. Oriental Field Sports Volume 2 with illustrations 1808 Google Books.

Illustrations of Indian Field Sports selected and reproduced from the coloured engravings first published in 1807 after designs by Captain Thomas Williamson of the Bengal Army 1892 Archive.org (Contains 10 plates)

Sketches of Indian Field Sports: with Observations on the Animals by Daniel Johnson 1827 Google Books

The Old Forest Ranger, or, Wild Sports of India on the Neilgherry Hills, in the Jungles and On the Plains by Walter Campbell 1853 Google Books

Records of Sport and Military Life in Western India by Lieut-Colonel Thomas Gamble Fraser 1881. British Library Digital, Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Born 1807, he joined the Bombay Army, (1st Bombay Fusiliers), as a young Cadet, aged 16 c 1823 and retired 1st January 1856.

Tiger-shooting in India; being an account of hunting experiences on foot in Rajpootana, during the hot seasons, from 1850 to 1854 by William Rice, Lieutenant 25th Regiment Bombay N I 1857 Hathi Trust Digital Library

"Indian Game", (from Quail to Tiger) by William Rice 1884 Archive.org

‪The Spear and the Rifle; or Recollections of Sport in India, by an Old Shekarree [Henry Astbury Leveson] 1860 Google Books

The Wild Sports of India; with remarks on the breeding and rearing of horses, and the formation of light irregular cavalry by Captain Henry Shakespear, Commandant Nagpore Irregular Force. 1860 Google Books

Hunting in the Himalaya. With notices of customs and countries from the elephant haunts of the Dehra Doon to the Bunchowr tracks in eternal snow by R H W Dunlop BCS [Bengal Civil Service] 1860 with a Map. Archive.org. Also available as a pdf download, Digital Library of India.

‪A Summer Ramble in the Himalayas: With Sporting Adventures in the Vale of Cashmere‬ Edited by Mountaineer [Frederick Wilson] 1860 Google Books.

Narrative of a Residence at the Court of Meer Ali Moorad with Wild Sports in the Valley of the Indus by Edward Archer Langley, late Captain, Madras Cavalry. 1860. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org.

The rifle in Cashmere : a narrative of shooting expeditions in Ladak, Cashmere, Punjaub, etc., with advice on travelling, shooting, and stalking : to which are added notes on army reform and Indian politics by Arthur Brinckman, late of HM’s 94th Regt. 1862 Google Books

The Diary of a Hunter from the Punjab to the Karakorum Mountains by [A.H. Irby]. 1863 Google Books. Kashmir and adjacent countries, principally Ladak.

Sir Victor Brooke, sportsman & naturalist: a memoir of his life and extracts from his letters and journals edited by Oscar Leslie Stephen 1894. Archive.org. Includes two chapters on India, including tigers, 1862-63 when Brooke was aged 19, from page 59

Records of sport in Southern India : chiefly on the Annamullay, Nielgherry and Pulney mountains, also including notes on Singapore, Java and Labuan, from journals written between 1844 and 1870 by the late General Douglas Hamilton, Madras Army 1892. Archive.org. With many illustrations by the author.

Large Game Shooting in Thibet and the North West by Alexander Kinloch, Rifle Brigade and later King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Part I 1869, Part II 1876. Later editions have titles…in Thibet, the Himalayas, and Northern India (1885) and … in Thibet, the Himalayas, Northern and Central India (1892). Part I 1869 Google Books; Part II 1876 Hathi Trust Digital Library; Revised edition 1885 Archive.org; 3rd edition, revised and enlarged 1892 Archive.org.

Wild Men and Wild Beasts: Scenes in Camp and Jungle by William Gordon-Cumming, 1872 Archive.org

The Rod in India : being hints how to obtain sport, with remarks on the natural history of fish and their culture, and illustrations of fish and tackle by Henry Sullivan Thomas, Madras Civil Service, Archive.org. 1873 edition, Revised 2nd edition 1881 , Revised 3rd edition 1897 This author also wrote Tank Angling in India 1887, available to readers in North America etc, on the Hathi Trust Digital Library.

The Large and Small Game of Bengal and the Northwestern Provinces of India by Captain J H Baldwin, late of H P Bengal Staff Corps 1876 Archive.org

Seonee: or, Camp life on the Satpura Range; a Tale of Indian Adventure by Robert Armitage Sterndale, 2nd Edition 1877 (First published 1877?) Archive.org. With illustrations by the author. Central Provinces of India. Set in fictional form (for juveniles), but based on actual experiences.

Thirteen Years Among The Wild Beasts Of India: Their Haunts and Habits from Personal Observation: With an Account of the Modes of Capturing and Taming Elephants by GP Sanderson, Officer in Charge of the Government Elephant Catching Establishment in Mysore 6th edition 1907 Archive.org (first published 1878). The author was the model for the Rudyard Kipling character 'Petersen Sahib' in the story Toomai of the Elephants, Scroll down for the article 'Petersen Sahib' by Sir Theodore Tasker The Kipling Journal December 1971 Kipling Society

Sport in British Burmah, Assam and the Cassyah and Jyntiah Hills : with notes of sport in the hilly districts of the Northern Division, Madras Presidency ... by Lieut.-Colonel Pollok, Madras Staff Corps. (Fitzwilliam Thomas Pollok) 1879 Volume I, Volume II Archive.org

India and Tiger-Hunting by Colonel Julius Barras Archive.org Volume I 1883; Series II 1885

The New Shikari at our Indian Stations by Julius Barras 1885 Archive.org Volume 1, Volume 2

Letters on Sport in Eastern Bengal by Frank B. Simson, Bengal Civil Service (retired) 1886 Archive.org

Sport in Bengal and How, When, and Where to Seek It by Edward B Baker late Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Bengal. 1887 Archive.org. Hunting.

Shikar Sketches, with Notes on Indian Field-Sports by J Moray Brown, late 79th Cameron Highlanders, 1887 Archive.org

The Highlands of India Volume II, being a Chronicle of Field Sports and Travel in India by Major General D J F Newall R A (Bengal Retired) 1887 Archive.org

Tiger-shooting in the Doon and Ulwar: with Life in India by Lt.-Colonel J C Fife-Cookson 1887 Archive.org

Scottish Moors and Indian Jungles: Scenes of Sport in the Lews and India by Captain J T Newall, late Indian Staff Corps 1889 Archive.org

Hindu-Koh: wanderings and wild sport on and beyond the Himalayas by Major General Donald Macintyre, VC, late Prince of Wales Own Goorkhas 1889 edition, 1891 edition Archive.org

Reminiscences of Life and Sport in Southern India by Colonel Heber Drury, late Madras Staff Corps and Assistant Resident in Travancore and Cochin 1890 Archive.org

Wild Beasts and Their Ways: Reminiscences of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America by Samuel White Baker 1890 Archive.org Volume I Volume II

Tent Life in Tigerland with which is incorporated Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier : being twelve years' sporting reminiscences of a pioneer (indigo) planter in an indian frontier district by James Inglis 1892. Archive.org. Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier was first published 1878.

Thirty Years of Shikar, with a Map: Oudh Forest Tracts and Nepal Terai by Sir Edward Braddon 1895 Archive.org. The
author was in India from 1847, including the Civil Service. Australian Dictionary of Biography. He left India in 1878, and later became a politician in Australia.

Rifle and spear with the Rajpoots: being the narrative of a winter's travel and sport in northern India by Mrs Alan Gardner (Nora Gardner) 1895 Archive.org

Sport on the Pamirs and Turkistan steppes by Major C S Cumberland 1895 Archive.org

Sport in the Highlands of Kashmir. Being a narrative of an eight months' trip in Baltistan and Ladak, and a lady's experiences in the latter country; together with hints for the guidance of sportsmen ... by Henry Zouch Darrah, Indian Civil Service 1898 Archive.org

A Summer in High Asia, being a record of sport and travel in Baltisan and Ladakh by Capt F E S Adair, late Rifle Brigade 1899 Archive.org

Sport and politics under an eastern sky by [Lawrence Zetland] the Earl of Ronaldsay 1902 Archive.org. Part I "In Pursuit of Wild Game in Highest Asia".

The Indian Field Shikar Book by W. S. Burke, Editor of The Indian Field. First published prior to 1904, the date of the 2nd edition. Pdf download, Digital Library of India

The Sportsman's Book for India by F G Aflalo 1904 Archive.org

Hunting & Shooting in Ceylon by Harry Storey 1907. Archive.org. Includes elephant shooting.

Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya by Major R L Kennion 1910 Archive.org. The author joined the Indian Foreign and Political Department in 1893, serving in Kashmir, Gilgit and Leh until 1907. He also wrote a book on sport in East Persia.

Sport on the Nilgiris and in Wynaad by F. W. F Fletcher 1911 Archive.org

Jungle by-ways in India; leaves from the note-book of a sportsman and a naturalist by Edward Percy Stebbing 1911 Archive.org. The author spent sixteen years in the Indian Forest Service

Across the roof of the world; a record of sport and travel through Kashmir, Gilgit, Hunza, the Pamirs, Chinese Turkistan, Mongolia and Siberia by Lieut P T Etherton, 39th Garhwal Rifles (Indian Army) 1911 Archive.org

Adventure, sport and travel on the Tibetan steppes by N W Fergusson 1911 Archive.org

Jungle Sport in Ceylon from Elephant to Snipe by Marcus W Millett, an Old Ceylon Shikari. 1914 Achive.org

The Ibex of Sha-ping, and Other Himalayan Studies by Lieut. L B Rundall 1st Gurkha Rifles (Killed in Action Dec.19, 1914) 1915 Archive.org. With illustrations by the author.

A Guide To Tiger Shooting 1920. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org version.

A Soldier's Shikar Trips by Brigadier General H G Mainwaring late South Wales Borderers (24th Regiment) 1920 Chapter V onwards is about India, from 1899. Archive.org

Days and Nights of Shikar by Mrs W W Baillie 1921 Archive.org

"A Shooting Trip in Chamba" by F L Farrer page 318 Blackwood’s Magazine, no 211 January-June 1922 Archive.org

Sport and Service in Assam, and Elsewhere by James Alban Wilson 1924. Pdf download Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset

Big Game Hunting in the Himalayas and Tibet by Major G. Burrard RFA (Retired) 1925 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Pdf download, Digital Library of India

Work And Sport In The Old I. C. S. by W O Horne [William Ogilvie] 1928. He was appointed to the Madras Civil Service in 1882. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org version. Includes reference to the Madras Hunt.

Beyond Leh: A Shooting Trip in Ladakh, 1926 by K. W. Dickson, wife of R, a Medical Officer. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps
Part 1 1933;60:5 377-392. Part 2 1933;60:6 456-461. Part 3 1933;61:1 61-70. Part 4 1933;61:2 133-144. Part 5 1933;61:4 304-309. Part 6 1933;61:5 379-393. Part 7: not online. Part 8 1934;62:2 142-150. Part 9 1934;62:3 224-233. Part 10 1934;62:5 365-376. Part 11 1934;62:6 430-440. Part 12 1934;63:2 127-134. Part 13 1934;63:3 193-206.

"Suggestions as to the Cheapest Methods of Shooting Tiger in the Central Provinces, India" by Exile Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps 1934;62:1 pages 65-71.

Shikar Memories by Henry Stotesbury Wood. 1934. Full title: Shikar Memories. A record of sport and observation in India and Burma. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org version.

The Tiger Hunters by Brigadier-General R G Burton 1936 Archive.org

Jungle Trails in Northern India: Reminiscences of Hunting in India by John Hewett. With 24 plates and a map 1938. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org version. Sir John was Governor of United Provinces with many royal friends. Hunting largely between 1907 and 1912, including tiger hunting in the jungles of Tarai, Cooch Behar, the Central Provinces, and up north in Kumaon and Garhwal.

Call Of The Tiger by Colonel A N W Powell 1957 Archive.org . The author was a contemporary of Jim Corbett, the latter was born 1875.

Have You Shot An Indian Tiger? by R D Mackay c 1968 Pdf download, Digital Library of India

Assam Shikari. A tea planter's story of hunting and high adventure in the jungles of North East India by Frank Nicholls, Tea Planter (born 1889) 1970. Pdf download Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset

Pigsticking or, Hoghunting: a complete account for sportsmen, and others by Captain R. S. S. Baden-Powell [of Scouting fame] Illustrated by the author. 1889 Archive.org

Reminiscences of twenty years' pigsticking in Bengal by Raoul 1893 Archive.org

Modern pig-sticking by A. E. Wardrop, Royal Horse Artillery, with chapters by J. Vaughan, F. W. Caton Jones, M. M. Crawford, and H. E. Medlicott 1914 Archive.org

The Kadir Cup Sketches from My Sketch Book in the Shiny by Snaffles (Charlie Johnson Payne) 1930 Google Books

[Woods]

Jim Corbett books are available in Hindi translation also . For Karnataka are KJ Rai has written some interesting stories in Kannada , won Sagitta Academy award and which were translated to English .

Some 18 years ago I purchased a book from a bus stand . Title was " Shero ka Shikar " it has been written by a police station in charge who was posted to some very remote places. The language is crude Hindi but the book is still a sort of memorabilia ...haha

[waulakh]

Mundaire, you are an encyclopaedia on hunting books. Thank you for providing all this info. I read " Hunter" by J A Hunter some years back, it's an excellent description of his hunting exploits in Africa in the good old days.
The biggest problem is that these books are almost impossible to come by nowadays, if available the prices are exorbitant.
Thanks once again.

[ASIF007]

Can anybody please send the link or mail me the book "Shikar by Khan Sahib Jamshed Bhutt" ? The book is not available in India.

[SMJ]

Here's another one
Bullet and shot in Indian forest, plain and hill. With hints to beginners in Indian shooting"

https://archive.org/stream/bulletshotin ... a_djvu.txt

[Pradyumna]

I was also searching the same book by Jamshed Butt but in vain.

[ASIF007]

Has anybody read "With the Wild Animals" (1981) of Bengal by Yusuf S Ahmad ? A book by an Bangladeshi Forest Officer of big game hunting in 1920s to 1960s in Bengal region.

[ASIF007]

Recently I came across a book " Gone Are the Days: Jungle Hunting for Tiger and other Game in India and Nepal 1948-1969" by Peter Byrne. Here is a brief description of the book:

Peter Byrne has led the life most of us can only dream about. After WW II he returned to Ireland, but being restless, he decided to find a job that would take him to exotic lands. Using his family's connections, he was hired as a manager on a huge Indian tea plantation in the Himalayan foothills--a posh job that came with 17 servants and a mansion. Almost immediately on arrival he was plunged into Indian jungle hunting, his primary love, when the local villagers turned to him with a plea to eliminate a rogue boar. Read his exciting description of how he jumped from a tree and sliced the boar's skull in two while half the adult males of the village stayed in the trees to watch and cheer him on. Share his many adventures in India with tiger, elephant, and leopard, and see how a fortuitous championing of a member of the ruling elite of Nepal during a bar brawl prompted Peter to move to Nepal and become a professional hunter there. Move with him to Nepal where he was, for years, the only authorized professional hunter to operate in that country. In the unspoiled wilderness of the White Grass Plains area of Nepal, where there were virtually no roads and the natives did not even know the name of the capital of the country, he hunted tiger right up till the close of tiger hunting in 1969. Follow his exploits in the Terai (forested southlands of Nepal) where he encountered a man-eater . . . that was eventually killed by a train! This is the true-life story about a time that now is completely gone--a time when virtually no cars were seen in the remote areas of India and Nepal, a time when tiger, gaur, leopard, sambar, and many other jungle denizens were plentiful beyond description. Those days are truly gone.

Added in 4 minutes 29 seconds:
Peter Byrne has led an adventurous life that embraced WW II service in the Royal Air Force, tea planting in north India, big game hunting in southern Nepal, Yeti hunting in the high Himalaya, international professional river running, Bigfoot hunting in the Pacific NW of the US. He is one of the olden days hunters who is still alive.