Author Description

The Indian subcontinent is home to an array of wildlife, attracting many a hunter and naturalist who have recorded their encounters with animals in the wild. This anthology compiles a wide-ranging selection of such writings, covering the hunt in its many forms: as ritual, as daily pursuit, as spectacle or for subsistence, on foot or mounted on an animal, with or without trained animals, in search of game, and so on. Hunting anecdotes may seem inappropriate with today's ecological awakening, but the written accounts left behind by hunters describe how the land looked at a time when hunting was a way of life. They also offer insight into the behavior and ecology of species that now exist only in isolated spots or have vanished entirely from the region. These celebrations of the hunt now provide vital information about diminishing ecosystems. The accounts included here show why India merited the epithet "Hunter's Paradise" as they bring to life the hunting of various regions, each with its prize quarry. Some accounts describe the rich array of game in the hills and mountains, beyond the tropical forest and thorn jungles. This volume offers insight into different hunting techniques--falconry, cheetah coursing, elephant round-ups--of the tribal and peasant hunters and trappers and of princes and sahibs. The accounts are highly evocative with their descriptions of the thrill and terror of the hunt for a man-eater or a rogue elephant. As the first part a two-volume series that brings together wildlife from the days of the Raj to present time, this book is a rich resource for scholars and specialists and an engaging historical account for the general reader.