I'm interested in the hunting, government and cultural history of early 20th India. I'm not wanting anything too deep, just some ideas of what it was like. If you would, please PM. thanks captdavid

Rather than PM I thought it best to share on the forum.

I was born in the mid 50s and grew up with stories of hunting in South India from the 40s.

Here are a few comments

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India is a very large country with lots of people even in the 19th century - inhabited area is larger than the US or even Canada. Wilderness area is smaller and very fragmented.

Each region / state / province / former feudal principality has various traditions, terrain etc. For example the famous elephant safaris where tigers were driven & shot by British monarchs and aristocracy was limited to a small area in north & central India

Sport hunting was the exclusive privilege of the local elite - royalty, civil servants & military officers - British or Indian.

Most hunting in India was with shotguns - even for tiger. My dad shot 2 tigers with a SXS hammer gun in 1952. He also bought a FN 10.75X68 later and shot leopards with that. Rifles were not commonly used - mostly by the British tea planters, military etc and the Indian royals. Firstly rifles were expensive and ammo was not easy to get. Secondly the close proximity of villages and towns was a safety issue in many regions. Even in deep jungle you would find villagers cutting wood, collecting honey or grazing cattle.

Common forms of hunting was to organise beats with a few guns in a party and the entire village involved in beating for wild boar & deer. Tigers were also beaten for sport. My dad organised a beat hunt in the mid 1960 for a wealthy textile baron in India.

Pig sticking with dogs in an ancient village sport

Sitting up on machans (high stand on trees) for tiger & leopard was also the norm

Read Jim Corbet and you will get a great feel for Northern Indian hunting. There is a modern biography or two about Corbet. A few other expat British officers like Carington Turner, Dunbar Brander etc. wrote good books. Sanderson is amazing but that is older 1800s and very rare. I have an old copy!

A lot of rubbish was also written exaggerating everything and making a mockery of India and hunting. Careful - Kenneth Anderson is entertaining fiction at best!

"When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick."

quote:

A lot of rubbish was also written exaggerating everything and making a mockery of India and hunting. Careful - Kenneth Anderson is entertaining fiction at best!

Well said Naki...I had trouble believing some of the things he said....until I realised I was reading fantasy fiction