Tiger Hunting Books

Tiger hunting books were written by many British military men who were posted to India during the time of the British Raj (1858 to 1947). Tiger hunting was one of their main leisure activities and a good tiger trophy enhanced manly prestige for some. Others took to tiger hunting as part of their interest in the natural history of India. After service In India, many officers decamped to Africa where many settled and continued their colonial and hunting careers.

The officers often took part in driven tiger shoots, riding on elephants or horses, which were considered great social events. Many of the super-rich maharajas of the time also loved the regal sport of tiger hunting, ordering fantastic custom Holland & Holland rifles by the dozen, and going out into the field with all their luxurious creature comforts.

'Shikari' is the term used for a native professional hunter in India. They were recruited by British officers and maharajas because of their local knowledge of the jungle and hunting skills.

Baiting a tiger with a dead or alive domestic animal and shooting from a machan was the uncomfortable method of choice, especially by forest rangers who were trying to deal with a problem man-eating tiger. Once up the tree, a hunter was stuck there until morning light as it was foolhardy to come down in the darkness when the tiger might still be around.

You may be interested to see a beautifully crystal glass engraving of an elephant-back tiger hunting scene, created by glass artist David Whyman.

This tiger hunting book section includes hunting in other Asian countries such as China, Burma, Persia and more.

Frederick George Aflalo

The Sportsman's Book For India edited by Frederick George Aflalo (1904). Contributions by Lt General Sir Montagu Gilbert Gerard, General A A A Kinloch, Lt Col P R Bairnsfather, Major C H Clay, Major Neville Taylor, Capt A G Arbuthnot, W Burke (Editor of the Indian Field), F O Gadsden and Harry Stokes. The fishing section includes 'Fly Fishing For Large Mahseer Near Meerut' by Capt Rivett Carnac and 'Where To Go For Fishing In India' by Lt Col P R Bairnsfather. The sea angling section is by F O Gadsden with a contribution on sea and estuary fishing in South Madras by Capt Gibson. The rest of the book concerns hunting tiger, panther, bear, Indian rhinoceros, bison or gaur and deer. There are sections on pig-sticking, polo, hunting, steeple-chasing and paper-chasing with tennis, football, cricket etc. Free eBook
More books by F G Aflalo

Yusuf S Ahmad

With The Wild Animals Of Bengal by Yusuf S Ahmad (1981). An uncommon work by a retired Bangladeshi Forest inspector recalling his big game hunting exploits dating from the 1920s to the 1960s after tigers, panthers, elephants, bison and other game in India's Bengal region.

R D T Alexander & A Martin-Leake

Lieutenant Colonel Robert D T Alexander served in India as the Chief Engineer for the Indian State Railways.

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Martin-Leake VC & Bar (1874 - 1953) was a British double recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Martin-Leake was the first of only three men to be awarded the VC twice.

Some Signposts To Shikar by R D T Alexander & A Martin-Leake (1932) is a scarce title giving much information about Indian hunting - guns, equipment, camps, tracking, spoor and more.

Book About Arthur Martin-Leake...

Ann Clayton

Martin-Leake: Double VC By Ann Clayton (1994) is the biography of Arthur Martin-Leake VC who trained as a doctor and spent much of his life working for an Indian railway company. He went to South Africa during the Boer War, where he won his first VC, then to Albania during the Balkan War of 1912-13 and finally to Flanders, where he won the bar to his VC. His story is re-created with the help of eyewitness accounts. As a keen hunter during his time in India, Martin-Peake co-wrote 'Some Signposts To Shikar' with R D T Alexander.

Hugh Allen

The Lonely Tiger by Hugh Allen (1960). After serving his war years in India, Allen returned to begin a farming life. He found it different than his native England, often involving constant sorties against marauding wild animals - tigers, leopards and bears.

Count Henrik Apponyi

My Big Game Hunting Diary: From India And The Himalayas by Count Hendrik Apponyi (1937) is one of the Asian hunting classics. A long trip with a lot of tiger hunting followed by hunting in the Khyber uplands for ibex, markhor and urial sheep. Then to Tibet for Ovis Ammon and blue sheep.

Ivan Aramilev

Beyond The Ural Mountains: The Adventures Of A Siberian Hunter by Ivan Aramilev (1961). The exciting memoirs of a famous Russian hunter whose nature and wildlife experiences in the Ural mountains and Siberia are here presented in English - explaining and describing the taiga, forests, rivers and mountains of these regions, and the vast wildlife encountered and hunted by himself there - bear, tiger, wolf, sable, fox, squirrel, capercaillie, duck and goose - as well as his remarkably faithful dogs that accompanied him everywhere.

Edward Caulfield Archer

Tours In Upper India, And In Parts Of The Himalaya Mountains by Edward Caulfield Archer (1833). 2 Volumes. Includes discussion of elephant fights, Hindu architecture, Agra, Delhi, the wild beasts of the Himalayan Mountains, tiger hunting, travelling Lamas, hill tribes, the Indian military and the beautiful mountains themselves.

A F L Bacon

Captain Alban Francis Langley Bacon (1879 - 1952) was a British barrister, author, hunter and angler. He was the son of Francis Bacon (1841 - 1930) who developed the Bacon Breechloader which was discussed in 'Modern Breechloaders' by W W Greener.

The Wanderings Of A Temporary Warrior: A Territorial Officer's Narrative Of Service (And Sport) In Three Continents by A F L Bacon (1922) is the account of serving with 4th Hampshires in India, in the third battle of Gaza in Palestine, then France in 1918 and finally in the Army of Occupation on the Rhine. His sporting episodes included chikor (Indian partridge), duck, geese and snipe shooting in Baluchistan and fishing. Free eBook

Thomas Bacon

Thomas Bacon (1813 - 1892) was a lieutenant with the Bengal Horse Artillery from 1835 to 1838.

First Impressions And Studies From Nature In Hindostan by Thomas Bacon (1837) 2 Volumes. This book is the account of the author's voyage to Calcutta and 5 years residence in Bengal and the Doab from 1831 to 1836 with much on tiger hunting. Free eBook Vol I Free eBook Vol II

A G Bagot

Arthur Greville Bagot (1849 - 1915) was a British soldier, journalist and sporting writer.

Sport And Travel In India And Central America by A G Bagot (1897) are the very readable reminiscences of the author's adventurous life in India and later in Central America during 1860s. Free eBook

N Baikov

Nikolai Apollonovich Baikov (1872 - 1958) was a guard on a railway line through Manchuria before becoming a naturalist and explorer. He published an essay about the Manchurian tiger which he believed was a separate tiger subspecies, Felis tigris manchurica. Taxonomists have since refuted this, claiming he was writing about the Siberian tiger or Amur tiger, Panthera tigris altaica.

Big Game Hunting In Manchuria by N Baikov (1936). The author calculated that roughly a hundred tigers were being taken out of greater Manchuria annually - virtually all of them bound for the Chinese market. "There were cases in the mating season," he wrote, "when a courageous hunter would meet a group of five or six tigers, and kill them one by one, where he stood."

Mrs W W Baillie

Mrs William Waters (S L) Baillie (b. 1856) was the English wife of a British army clergyman in India. Refusing to be left behind by her husband on his hunts, she became a very keen big game hunter in her own right and at the age of 65, wrote about her adventures hunting panthers, ibex, bison and tigers. She started hunting with a double .360 Express but quickly changed to a black powder.500 Express which was considered a better calibre for tigers. She survived a servere attack by a bear and carried on hunting even though her wounds had hardly healed.

Mrs Baillie was the only female hunter among dozens of male big game hunters, to feature in 'British Sports And Sportsmen: Big Game Hunting And Angling'

Days And Nights Of Shikar by Mrs W W Baillie (1921) is a very good colonial sporting work written from a woman's perspective. She had many firsthand encounters with the nastier insects of India so she includes fascinating practical methods of dealing with bee stings, ticks, leeches and scorpions. When she was stung by a scorpion, she advises to kill it and mash it up and apply the pulp to the bite as a poultice. Free Ebook

Edward B Baker

Sport In Bengal: And How, When And Where To Seek It by Edward B Baker (1887) is based on the author's forty years' experiences hunting tiger, buffalo, panther, bear, rhinocerous, wild boar and lesser game plus gunning for quail, snipe, partridge and waterfowl. Free eBook

E C Stuart Baker

Edward Charles Stuart Baker (1864 - 1944) was a British ornithologist who served in the Indian Police Service, stationed in Assam. Baker also became an enthusiastic big game hunter despite losing his left arm to a panther, being tossed by a gaur and trampled by an Indian rhinoceros during his various hunting expeditions.

Mishi The Man-Eater And Other Tales by E C Stuart Baker (1928). The sporting reminiscences of a police officer posted to the extreme north-east of India, beginning with an account of the career and ultimate fate at the author's hands of a man-eating tiger.

Captain John Henry Baldwin

The Large And Small Game In Bengal And The North-Western Provinces Of India by Captain J H Baldwin (1876) is a classic work on Indian sport. The author recounts hunts for tiger in the Nepal Terai, Assam and Mirzapore region, with additional sporting episodes after panther, bear, buffalo, boar, sambur, chital and various other deer species. There is also a note of mountain game such as Ovis ammon, serow, goral and thar. About one third of this book examines India's sporting bird species.

Valentine Ball

Valentine Ball (1843 - 1894) was an Irish geologist who worked in India for twenty years, searching for coal fields. He also became an ornithologist and anthropologist.

Jungle Life In India: Or The Journeys And Journals Of An Indian Geologist by Valentine Ball (1880). The author's account of his travels in India between 1864 and 1878.

Colonel Julius Barras

India And Tiger-Hunting by Julius Barras (1885) is a two volume book about tiger hunting in various parts of India by the author during his 28 years there. Free eBook Vol I Free eBook Vol II

The New Shikari At Our Indian Stations by Julius Barras (1885) is a two volume account of the author's personal recollections and experiences of a life spent at Indian Stations. Free eBook Vol I

Rama : A Sensational Story Of Indian Village Life by Julius Barras (1886) was written for English readers to learn more about the lives and customs of Indians. Free eBook

John Batten

Best Of Tiger Hunting by John Batten (1986) is an anthology of the greatest writing on the tiger from early hunting in India to the Trans-Caspian Basin, Siberia and Manchuria, China and Korea, Indo-China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Burma. Covers the Victorian period, the twentieth century, and includes an extensive bibliography.
More hunting books by John Batten

William Bazé

William Bazé (1899 - 1984) was a French rubber plantation owner in French Indo-china before World War II.

Tiger! Tiger! by William Baze (1957) is a thrilling collection of tiger hunting tales from the Indo-Chinese jungles. The author began shooting tigers at the age of seventeen, in defence of his herd of cattle, later making a speciality of it.

Just Elephants by William Baze (1955). The author spent 40 years in the Indo-chinese jungles. "My main purpose is to record some impressions and recollections of my many and varied contacts with elephants, either in their natural state or as trained and domesticated servants of man, and I hope to show that these giants of the Indo-Chinese jungle are fundamentally the most attractive and affectionate of God's creatures."

Fred Bear

Fred Bear's Field Notes: A Lifetime Of Outdoor Lore And Memories By One The Foremost Bowhunters In The World by Fred Bear (1976). Hunting big game with bow and arrow in British Columbia, Alaska, Africa, India and South America.
Other bowhunting books by Fred Bear

Astrid Bergman Sucksdorff

Astrid Bergman Sucksdorff (1927 - 2015) was a Swedish nature photographer, hunter and writer.

Tiger In Sight by Astrid Bergman Sucksdorff (1970) is an autobiographical account of a filming expedition to India and her unexpected encounters with man-eating tigers and leopards who were attacking people and cattle in a neighbouring village. The author, an expert markswoman, records events of overnight vigils, the excitement and fulfilment of the hunt and village life in the mountains and jungles of Central India.

Chendru, The Boy And The Tiger by Astrid Bergman Sucksdorff (1965) is the story of the life of a young boy, Chendru, of the Murias, a people of the Gahr-Bengal jungle of India, and his inseparable companion, Tambu the tiger cub.

Tooni The Elephant Boy by Astrid Bergman Sucksdorff (1971) describes the life of a nine-year-old Indian boy training to be an elephant mahout with his elephant Joytara.

Major Henry Bevan

Major Henry Bevan (1796 - 1846) served in the 27th Madras Native Infantry.

Thirty Years In India by Major Henry Bevan (1830). His account contains detailed descriptions of local manners and customs, discussion of religion, slavery, the silk trade, the cultivation of coffee, tea and opium. There is much relating to British military life in India and field sports - hunting for elephants, tigers, wild hog, cheetahs, bear, antelope, leopards, alligators and jackals.

Sir Bindon Blood

General Sir Bindon Blood (1842 – 1940) was a British Army commander who served in Egypt, Afghanistan, India and Southern Africa. Bindon Blood was also an important character in Winston Churchill’s early military, sports and writing careers. Blood and Churchill remained friends for life and Blood lived long enough to see his protégé become Prime Minister.

Four Score Years And Ten by Sir Bindon Blood (1933) is the memoir of the author's military life which includes much tiger hunting and pig-sticking while serving in India. Free eBook

Jim Bond

Hold That Tiger And Other Stories by Jim Bond (1958) accounts of big game hunting in India with the author bagging tiger, panther, black buck, sambar and more. There is a chapter on guns and game by Philip Crowe and a special chapter on battling with 4 tigers by Bond. Also includes chapters on hunting moose and mountain sheep.

Ruskin Bond

The Rupa Book Of Shikar Stories by Ruskin Bond (2004). Thrilling tales of true adventure in the jungles of India. Big game hunters and others describe their encounters with man-eating tigers, musth elephants, panthers and other predators.

Sir E Braddon

Sir Edward Nicholas Coventry Braddon (1829 - 1904) was a British-born Australian politician who served as Premier of Tasmania from 1894 to 1899, and was a Member of the First Australian Parliament. In 1847 Braddon left for India to take a job with his cousin's merchant business. He later joined the Indian civil service, rising to the position of assistant commissioner.

Thirty Years Of Shikar by Sir E Braddon (1895) is a memoir of the Braddon's extensive hunting career in India while working in the Indian Civil Service. Free eBook

John Bradley

John Bradley is thought to be a pseudonym. In the 'Dictionary of Literary Pseudonyms', 'John Bradley' is attributed to James Anthony Lawson (1817 - 1887), an Irish jurist and political economist. It is highly unlikely - his biography lists various judicial and political appointments with no mention of any interest in India or Asian big game hunting or sparing the time for long expeditions.

The second person who the pseudonym may be attributed to is a Captain John A Lawson. This is a far more convincing possibility. Captain J A Lawson wrote 'Wanderings In The Interior Of New Guinea' (Free eBook) about his (July 1872 to March 1873) expedition, published in 1875, a year before this book by 'John Bradley'. The New Guinea book was publically derided as a very obvious work of fiction by the scientific and exploration experts of the world - not least because when Lawson helpfully gave coordinates of places, they were found to be in the sea. Not surprising then when it came to publishing the account of his previous travel in Burma (Oct 1869 to April 1870), he felt obliged to use a pseudonym. He reverted to Captain J A Lawson for his final book 'The Wandering Naturalists: A Story of Adventure' published in 1880, which can be found here.

A Narrative Of Travel And Sport In Burmah, Siam And The Malay Peninsula by John Bradley (1876) combines travel, observation and big game hunting with his companions, Captain Lacy of the Bengal Native Infantry and a Mr Grant. Near the Sittang River in Burma, the author hunted numerous tigers, including an episode of tiger shooting related by his companion Captain Lacy. Near the River Thungyen, an elephant was bagged, with additional notes on hunting leopard, deer and other game in the area. Buffalo, rhino and more tiger were collected on the River Menaum. While in Malaya he hunted elephant, deer, and antelope. Free eBook

Adam Breede

Adam Breede (1878 - 1928) was an American newspaper owner from Nebraska. He contracted blackwater fever (a severe complication of malaria) while on safari in East Africa, became very ill on his voyage to India but recuperated and was able to continue his safari. He returned home and battled the disease for 2 more years before dying in 1928 at the age of 50. Read more about the life of Adam Breede.

Adventuring: A Story Of A Trip Around The World With Big Game Hunting In Africa And India by Adam Breede (1926). While much of the book is a travelogue, the author took time for a safari where he bagged rhinoceros, buffalo and a variety of plains game. Also hunting lion, oryx, giraffe, elephant and hartebeest, as well as tiger in India and brown bear in Alaska.

Sir Victor Brooke

Sir Victor Alexander Brooke (1843 - 1891) was an Anglo-Irish naturalist, big game hunter and baronet.

Sir Victor Brooke Sportsman And Naturalist: A Memoir Of His Life And Extracts From His Letters And Journals by Sir Victor Brooke (1894) includes his his hunting expeditions in India where his bag included 2 tigers, a black panther and a massive Asian elephant. Free eBook

James Moray Brown

James Moray Brown (b.1848) served in the miitary until his retirmeent in 1880, rising to the rank of lieutenant in the 79th Cameron Highlanders. Brown was a keen sportsman and polo player.

Stray Sport by J Moray Brown (1893). 2 volumes on shooting gamebirds and wild fowl, Scottish angling, pig-sticking and other Indian sports.

Shikar Sketches: With Notes On Indian Field-Sports by ling J Moray Brown (1887) details the author's hunting experiences in India with the hope it induces younger men to excel in field sports and acquire some knowledge of natural history. Free eBook

Powder, Spur And Spear: A Sporting Medley by J Moray Brown (1889) from an author who had enjoyed polo and other sports during his service with the 79th Cameron Highlanders. Chapters cover keeping the rabbits down in fields at home and then progressing to salmon fishing and more exotic pursuits in India. Free eBook

John Budden

John Austin Budden (1884 - 1967) was an author who also served in the 3rd Battalion, the Prince of Wales Own Yorkshire Regiment.

Jungle John: A Book Of The Big-Game Jungles by John Budden (1927). A novel based on fact about the natural history of Indian big-game animals.

Further Adventures Of Jungle John by John Budden (1929). Illustrated by Maj-Gen H J P Browne of the 5th Royal Gurka Rifles. This book of adventure is the sequel to 'Jungle John'. The author has endeavoured to introduce with accuracy the natural history and habits of almost every beast, large and small, found in the great game jungles of Central India. He ranges from tigers, bear and bison down to birds and butterflies.

W Douglas Burden

William Douglas Burden (1898 - 1978) was an American adventurer and hunter, who lent his services to the American Museum of Natural History on several occasions to shoot exotic and dangerous animals for the museum's collections.

Look To The Wilderness by W Douglas Burden (1956). Accounts of the author's hazardous hunting expeditions in North America, collecting for American Museum of Natural History in Indochina, hunting markhor and ibex in Himalayas, Komodo Dragons in East Indies. Free eBook

W S Burke

The Indian Field Shikar Book by W S Burke (1908) is intended to be a small encyclopedia to help sportsmen identify and hunt game in India. Includes large and small game with section on equipment, rifles, ammunition, game laws.

Colonel R W Burton

Colonel Richard Watkins Burton (1868 - 1963) like his brother, Brigadier-General R G Burton, was an officer who served in India who became a respected sportsman, naturalist and conservationist.

Tigers Of The Raj: The Shikar Diaries Of Col R W Burton by R W Burton (edited by Jacqueline Toovey) (1987). A diary of fishing and shooting trips throughout India from 1894 to 1948. Adventures hunting man-eating tigers, leopards and smaller game. Fishing mainly for mahseer, but a good deal of sea angling.

Khan Saheb Jamshed Butt

Khan Saheb Jamshed Butt was a head shikari or professional hunter who guided Robert Ruark and Warren Page, amongst other clients.

Shikar by Khan Saheb Jamshed Butt (1963). Robert Ruark had this to say, "One of the things that fascinates me about K S Jamshed Butt is a Watson .577 hammer double rifle, which is as old as he is and is considerably less well preserved. A .577 hurls a bullet about the size of a cucumber, and if he ever has to loose it off in my presence, I am sure I will faint. Better the tiger, because Khan Sahib's cannon is literally held together with string". With chapters on hunting tiger, bear and lesser game, mainly from the Central Provinces.
An interesting article about leopard hunt shenanigans written by Robert Ruark involving Mr Butt, from the Spokane Daily Chronicle 1962.

William Buyers

Recollections Of Northern India by William Buyers (1848) describes the Ganges delta, the city of Calcutta and Banaras, its inhabitants, European and native society, missionary and educational institutions, as well as tiger hunting and the opium trade. Free eBook

Harry R Caldwell

Blue Tiger by Harry R Caldwell (1925). An avid hunter and amateur naturalist, Caldwell noted the challenges of hunting big game like serow, big-horn, wapiti, boar and tiger. He described how hunting man-killing tigers paved the way for effective mission work and spent several chapters discussing the political landmines of trying to affect peace between soldiers and bandits in an effort to spare villagers caught between the fighting. Of particular interest, Caldwell described a fascinating creature, a blue-morph tiger, that he attempted to capture for science. The introduction is by Roy Chapman Andrews. In southern China after bighorn sheep, tiger and wapiti, Caldwell was Andrews' guide and Andrews considered Caldwell one of the finest hunters he ever met.

The Maltese tiger, or blue tiger, is a reported but unproven coloration of a tiger, reported mostly in the Fujian Province of China. It is said to have bluish fur with dark grey stripes.

John C Caldwell

China Coast Family by John C Caldwell (1953) are the adventures of the son of Harry R Caldwell (see above), who was an American missionary in China. The author recalls his numerous hunting trips to bag tigers and other game with his father.

Major Walter Campbell

The Old Forest Ranger by Major Walter Campbell (1853) Or "Wild Sports Of India On The Neilgherry Hills, In The Jungles, And On The Plains". The author wrote under the guise of a forest ranger with fictional characters but based on his true hunting experiences and those of his brother, George Campbell. Free eBook

Joshua E Carrington-Turner

Man-Eaters And Memories by Joshua E Carrington-Turner (1959) is the author's life story in the Indian Forest Service where he spent 15 years in the Kumaon area hunting man-eating tigers. More gripping tales of man-eaters from the area where Jim Corbett became legendary.

Lt Colonel Gordon Casserly

James Henry Gordon Casserly (1869 - 1947) was born in Dublin, He served in the British Army and went to India in 1892 and then joined 22 Bombay Infantry. He served in China in 1900 during Boxer Rebellion. The regiment was renamed 120 Rajputana infantry and then served in North Eastern frontier.

In The Green Jungle by Lt Colonel Gordon Casserly (1927)

Dwellers In The Jungle by Lt Colonel Gordon Casserly (1925) is a collection of eight stories about animals in the Indian jungle.

Life In An Indian Outpost by Lt Colonel Gordon Casserly (1914). The author was in command of a detachment of about 200 sepoys and one other British officer from the 120th Rajputana infantry who occupied a small fort in Cooch Behar, an outpost captured by the British from Bhutan in the war of 1864 and commanding one of the passes into India from the mountain kingdom. There is a good deal of detail about hunting tiger, sambhar, deer, bear, chasing and killing rogue elephants and man eating tigers. Free eBook

James Chilton

The Lord Of The Jungle: Bhurgi Bagh, The Life Story Of A Notorious Tiger by James Chilton (1947) is a fictional account of a man-killing tiger hunted by the author and others which seems to have a charmed life. The author was a big game hunter in the Bhurgi area of India & based the story on the local folklore.

Sydney A Christopher

Big Game Shooting In Lower Burma by Sydney A Christopher (1916) recounts his experiences in the Burmese jungles hunting tigers. There are also details on hunting gaur, bison, rhinoceros, various deer, plus the hunting and taming of Burmese elephants. Free eBook

Maharajah Of Cooch Behar

Nripendra Narayana Bhupa, Maharajah of Cooch Behar (1862 - 1911) succeeded his father at the age of one and ruled over a state in West Bengal of 1307 square miles with approximately half a million people. As well as being a keen tiger hunter, he tried to set up a model administration which was more representative of the people. The Maharajah of Cooch Behar was the most prominent Indian sportsman of his time and entertained many members of the British royal family. He visited London regularly to outfit himself with the very finest shooting equipment that could be bought. Between 1871 and 1907, 365 tigers and 311 leopards were killed on the Maharajah's lands.

Big Game Shooting In Eastern & North Eastern India by Maharajah of Cooch Behar (1908). Hunting of tigers, rhinos and other big game from 1871 to 1907 in the Terai area of Cooch Behar near Assam. Scarce book

Thirty-Seven Years Of Big Game Shooting In Cooch Behar, The Duars And Assam by Maharajah of Cooch Behar (1908) is the book of the hey-days of both the Indian maharajah and big game hunting of gaur, rhino, tiger, leopard, buffalo and deer. Includes eight pages of game records. Free eBook

Maharanee Sunity Devee of Cooch Behar

Bengal Dacoits And Tigers by Maharanee Sunity Devee (1916). The author was the wife of the late Maharaja of Cooch Behar, a great tiger hunter. This edition features 25 colour paintings specially commissioned for the occasion. The book contains stories of Bengal dacoits (bandits) and tigers.

Stanley Coxon

Stanley William Coxon (1861 - 1936) started out serving in the British Merchant Navy. After a life at sea, he became an Assistant Superintendent of Police in upper Burma. After a long period of illness brought on by his time in Burma, he was appointed to a post in the Civil Service of India.

And That Reminds Me by Stanley Coxon (1915) is an account of the author's travels in the Andaman Islands, Burma, Australia and India where he hunted tiger, leopard, bison and water buffalo.

Christopher Cradock

Sir Christopher George Francis Maurice Cradock (1862 - 1914) was a rear-admiral in the Royal Navy and a very keen big game hunter, who was killed in a WW1 sea battle off Chile.

Sporting Notes In The Far East by Christopher Cradock (1889). An officer in the Royal Navy, Cradock details his sporting adventures along the Chinese, Siberian and Japanese coasts. Most of the sport revolves around waterfowl and upland game, although he managed to bag a tiger on the Russian coast armed only with a shotgun. A fellow officer, Lt Davies, provides a chapter on hunting rhinoceros, wild boar and several deer species on Borneo and neighboring islands. Free eBook

John J Craighead & Frank C Craighead Jr

Life With An Indian Prince by John J Craighead & Frank C Craighead Jr (2001). The authors' previously unpublished diaries, describing their experiences while living with the royal family of Bhavnagar, India in 1940-41. Trapping and training falcons on the shores of the Arabian Sea, coursing cheetahs and other hunting experiences.

Colonel A H Cunningham

Colonel Allan Hannay Cunningham (died 1932) served in India and at Gallipoli.

Indian Shikar Notes by Colonel A H Cunningham (1932) was a private publication which gives detailed advice on the practicalities of big game hunting in India with particularly reference to rifles and calibres. Various chapters cover almost all of the big game animals to be found in India including tiger and leopard, bear, canine, deer and antelope, wild boar, elephant, rhinoceros, wild sheep, goats and more.

Sir Richard Dane

Sir Richard Morris Dane (1854 - 1940) was in the Indian Civil Service as Inspector-General of Excise and Salt, between 1874 and 1909.

Sport In Asia And Africa by Sir Richard Dane (1921) contains a chapter on mahseer fishing, while the rest of the book is on hunting buffalo, tiger, leopard, gaur, barasingh, bear and sambur in India, and hunting elephant, rhino, buffalo, kudu, gazelle and other game in Africa with professional hunter, Bill Judd. Free eBook

Lt Col David Davidson

Sir David Davidson (1811 - 1900) served in the Bombay Army and was a colonel of The Queens Edinburgh Volunteer Brigade.

Memories Of A Long Life by Lt Col David Davidson (1890). Accounts about India, with some pig-sticking, tiger and other hunting. Free eBook

J Wentworth Day

James Wentworth Day (1899 - 1983) was a British writer and broadcaster.

King George V As A Sportsman: An Informal Study Of The First Country Gentleman In Europe by J Wentworth Day (1935) includes shooting, horse-racing and King George V's visit to India. Big-game hunting in India and Nepal for tiger, rhino and bear. Free eBook

Sport In Egypt by James Wentworth Day (1938) is a book of sporting essays including two chapters on the Arab horse by H.R.H. Prince Mohamed Aly. The author visited Egypt as the guest of the Egyptian Government to report upon the possibilities of developing sport, especially wildfowl shooting and polo, for the visitor. Several well-known sportsmen have contributed chapters on duck shooting, desert shooting, big and small game and game fishing in Egypt.

Douglas Dewar

Douglas Dewar (1875 - 1957) was a British barrister, civil servant and an ornithologist in India .

Beasts Of An Indian Village: A Popular Account Of The Commoner Back-Boned Animals Of An Indian Village by Douglas Dewar (1923)

Many Indian bird books by Douglas Dewar

R S Dharmakumarsinhji Of Bhavnagar

Raol Shri Dharmakumarsinhji (1917 - 1986) was an Indian prince, hunter, falconer, ornithologist, environmentalist and writer.

Reminiscences Of Indian Wildlife by R S Dharmakumarsinhji (1998). The author, an Indian prince, was a respected naturalist, hunter and falconer. Published after his death by his daughter, this is probably the last published royal record of shikar from the South Asian subcontinent. He provides accounts of hunting both (Indian) lions and tigers, descriptions of various ungulates and of Indian birds, of falconry and coursing antelope with cheetahs. He was the subject of the Craigheads' film and book, "Life with an Indian Prince".

George Bassett Digby

George Bassett Digby (1888 - 1962) was a travel writer, journalist and geographer who specialised in Siberia.

Tigers, Gold And Witch Doctors by George Bassett Digby (1928) is an account of a journey through Siberia and northern Central Asia which provides details about the peoples and their customs (including witch-doctors and the Siberian Indians) as well as a description of the flora and fauna.

Colonel Heber Drury

Colonel Heber Drury (1819 - 1872) served in the Madras Light Infantry. Not only a big game hunter, Heber Drury was respected botanist.

Reminiscences Of Life And Sport In Southern India by Colonel Heber Drury (1890) recalls big game hunting, mainly in Travancore Cochin and Madras forests for tiger, leopard, elephant, sambar, gaur and other big game. Free eBook

A A Dunbar-Brander

Archibald Alexander Dunbar-Brander (1877 - 1953) was an officer of the Imperial Forest Service, Fellow of the Zoological Society and Royal Geographic Society.

Wild Animals In Central India by A A Dunbar Brander (1923) who spent several years in the forests of what is now, Kanha National Park. The book records the observations of a forest officer who wrote about animals in preference to his exploits as a shikari.

R H W Dunlop

Robert Henry Wallace Dunlop (1823 - 1887) was in the Bengal Civil Service.

Hunting In The Himalaya by R H W Dunlop(1860) "With Notices of Customs and Countries from the Elephant Haunts of the Dehra Doon, to the Bunchowr Tracks in Eternal Snow". Free eBook

Service And Adventure With The Khakee Ressalah Or Meerut Volunteer Horse, During The Mutinies of 1857-58 by R H W Dunlop(1858) is an historical sketch of the civil rebellion at Meerut based on Dunlop's own notes and letters. Free eBook

Sam Dunton

Samuel Cady Dunton (1910 - 1976) was an American animal photographer and recognised filmmaker, author, speaker and educator. He was a staff photographer for the Wildlife Conservation Society and Bronx Zoo.

Hold That Tiger by Sam Dunton (1957). The life experiences of the Staff Photographer of the New York Zoological Society.

Sir Edward Durand

Sir Edward Law Durand, 1st Baronet (1845 - 1920) was Assistant Commissioner of the Afghan Boundary Commission between 1884 and 1886 and went on to hold the office of Resident of Nepal between 1888 and 1891. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the service of the Indian Staff Corps.

Rifle, Rod And Spear In The East: Being Sporting Reminiscences by Sir Edward Durand (1911). Hunting in India and Nepal. Free eBook

J S Edye

Sport In India And Somali Land With Hints To Young Shikaries by J S Edye (1895). An Interesting account of big game hunting in East Africa and India, with many hints and tips for the beginner from the author's own experiences.

Captain Francis Egerton

Journal Of A Winters Tour In India: With A Visit To The Court Of Nepaul by Captain Francis Egerton (1852). The author landed in Ceylon where he met Samuel White Baker, then proceeded to hunt elephant and buffalo with Baker while on the road from Kandy to Trincomalee. While travelling through various parts of India, Egerton witnessed hunting deer with cheetahs, as well doing some of bird shooting. While in Gwalior, he and his party made an elephant-back tiger hunt.

Major-General James Gordon Elliott

Major-General James Gordon Elliott (1898 - 1990) served most of his military career in India.

Field Sports In India 1800-1947 by J G Elliott (1973) incudes two chapters on pig-sticking by Brigadier C R Templar.

Henry Wendell Endicott

The Saga Of The Tented Cities by Henry Wendell Endicott (1952). Tiger and leopard hunting in East and West Pakistan by the author who was the US Ambassador shortly after India gained independence.

Colonel P T Etherton

Colonel Percy Thomas Etherton (1879 - 1963) served with the 39th Garhwal Rifles.

On Either Side Of The Equator by Colonel P T Etherton (1953) recounts his numerous adventures trekking though Central Asia, hunting man-eating tigers in the Nepal Terai and visiting the newly formed Paricutin Volcano.

The Last Strongholds by Colonel P T Etherton (1934) is a very interesting account of travel to Mount Everest, the Himalayas and Kathmandu. It includes accounts of local people and their pastimes including hunting crocodiles and tigers.

Across The Roof Of The World: A Record Of Sport And Travel Through Kashmir, Gilgit, Hunza, The Pamirs, Chinese Turkistan, Mongolia And Siberia by Colonel P T Etherton (1911). The author trekked through Kashmir to Hunza, then followed the river valley to the Batur glacier. Entering the Pamirs, he hunted Ovis poli, then continued along the Yarkand River, ascended the hill country, crossed to Kashgar where he hunted gazelle. After reaching the Tian Shan range, Etherton stalked ibex, Ovis karelini, wapiti and roe deer in the Agiass Valley. This book represents a wonderful blend of travel, exploration and big game hunting. Free eBook

Major G P Evans

Major George Patrick Elystan Evans (b.1872) served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps.

Big Game Shooting In Upper Burma by Major G P Evans (1911). Hunting the Indian elephant, gaur, banteng, rhino, tiger, Malayan bear, sambur, brow-antlered deer and other game in Burma. Free eBook

Roger Fawcett

A Tiger Tale With Bear Behind: An Account Of A 1959 Hunt In India And A 1960 Hunt In Alaska by Roger Fawcett (1960). The author (vice-president of Fawcett Publications) bags a tiger in India, a polar bear and a Kodiak in Alaska (with a bit of fishing on the side). His companions include Joe Foss the World War II Fighter Ace and Medal of Honor recipient.

Softies On Safari by Roger Fawcett (1958). Six friends seek the big five on a 21-day hunt in Tanganyika, British East Africa. A diary of hunting elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, buffalo, eland and other game, with professional hunters Patrick Hemingway and George Dove.

Sir Joseph Fayrer

Sir Joseph Fayrer (1824 - 1907) was a British physician with a particular interest in the treatment of venemous snake bite in India. He became the Honorary Physician to Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) and accompanied the prince on his 1875 Royal Visit to India.

Recollections Of My Life by Sir Joseph Fayrer (1890) is about the Prince of Wales' royal visit to India. He bagged tigers during trips in Terai and on the Mohaan River. Considerable hunting ensued with the arrival of the Duke of Edinburgh in 1870 and Fayrer later hunted with the Prince of Wales on his sporting tour of India. The rest of the book is concerned with Fayrer's earlier career in Burma and during the Mutiny, when he was at Lucknow, as well as his peacetime practice in Calcutta. Free eBook

The Royal Tiger Of Bengal: His Life And Death by Sir Joseph Fayrer (1875). The author digresses from his medical work in India, in order to become a field naturalist on tigers. Free eBook

W N Fergusson

W N Fergusson was a traveller, hunter and explorer in Tibet and China whose path temporaily crossed with the Lieutenant John Weston Brooke (1880 - 1908) and Cecil Henry Meares (1877 - 1937) expedition in the same area.

When the Brooke's expedition ended with his murder, Cecil Meares returned to England and wrote some articles on the country they had been travelling through. These generated considerable interest and Mr Meares was urged to make a more permanent record of the journey, but as he was already enlisted by Captain Scott for the Antarctic Expedition, so the task fell to W N Fergusson. He was entrusted with Brooke's expedition diary and photographs to which he added his own knowledge of the remote Tibetan and western and southern Sechuan region, never previously visited by white people.

As an aside, in 1903 Lieutenant John Weston Brooke led an expedition with John Charles Blick, Robert Bittlebank and a Mr Brown. At the behest of Frederick Russell Burnham, the party, known as the 'Four B's', travelled from Nairobi via Mount Elgon to the western shores of Lake Rudolph to prospect for any potentially valuable mineral deposits.

Adventure, Sport And Travel On The Tibetan Steppes by W N Fergusson (1911) is an account of two hunting (serow, takin, goral) expeditions through China and Tibet undertaken by Lieutenant John Weston Brooke, who was killed by Lolo robbers on December 24, 1908. Brooke started in Shanghai in August, 1906 and travelled through Western Sechuan and Eastern Tibet in his search for the source of the Brahmaputra river. The work is based on Brooke's diary, with other observations and photographs by W N Fergusson and C H Meares.

Lt Col J C Fife-Cookson

Lt Col John Cookson Fife-Cookson (1844 - 1911) served in the New Zealand War, the Balkan campaign and at Gallipoli. For recreation he enjoyed big game hunting and salmon fishing.

Tiger-Shooting In The Doon And Ulwar: With Life In India by Lt Col J C Fife-Cookson (1887) Free eBook

Theodore R Flaiz

Dr Theodore R Flaiz (1896 - 1977) was a medical missionary from 1920 to 1932 where he directed the Telegu Mission in India.

Moonlit Trails In The Indian Jungle by Theodore R Flaiz (1938) describes the adventures of missionary Dr Flaiz, his wife and two young children hunting game - particularly tigers to protect people and domestic animals in India.

F W F Fletcher

F W F Fletcher was a planter in the Wynaad area, near the Nilgiris hills of India.

Sport On The Nilgiris And In Wynaad by F W F Fletcher (1911). Big game hunting for tiger, elephant, leopard, bison, bear, tahr, ibex and deer, in the region of Ootacamund in the North Indian Himalayas. Also about rifles, their bores, ammunition, recoil, the double eight bore and more. Free eBook

Capt James Forsyth

Captain James Forsyth (1838 - 1871) was an officer in the Bengal Staff Corps who became one of the first Europeans to explore Satpura. In 1861 he set up the forest department in central India. Forsyth acquired a reputation as a true sportsman, and spoke severely of "poaching proclivities" and "unsportsmanlike conduct."

The Highlands Of Central India: Notes On The Forests And Wild Tribes, Natural History And Sports by Capt James Forsyth (1871). Big game hunting in India - stalking deer, tiger, elephant, wild buffalo shooting. Appendices on diseases of elephant, rules for sale and lease of wastelands, useful trees of the forest. Vocabulary of local terms. Hints on the preservation of natural history specimens. In 1870 wrote the manuscript for this book with which he returned to England towards the close of that year. However Forsyth died while the book was being printed so it was published posthumously. Free eBook
Capt Forsyth also wrote The Sporting Rifle And It's Projectiles

Hugh Ganzter

The Scarlet Tiger And Other Stories by Hugh Ganzter (2006) is based on the author's hunting experiences in the jungles of India.

J Drew Gay

The Prince Of Wales In India: Or From Pall Mall To The Punjaub by J Drew Gay (1877). Accompanying the Prince of Wales on his tour, the author, a correspondent of the 'Daily Telegraph', describes hunts after deer with cheetahs in Kashmir, with an additional chapter devoted to tiger hunting in Jeypore. There is also a chapter relating the Prince of Wales' hunting trip to the Nepalese Terai after tiger and other driven game, and watching rhinoceros fight in the Maharaja's area. He also describes the territory, includes a trip to Ceylon and observes military manoeuvres. Free eBook

Edward Prichard Gee

Edward Pritchard Gee (1904 - 1968) was an Anglo-Indian tea-planter and naturalist in Assam.

The Wild Life Of India by Edward Prichard Gee (1964) who spent half a lifetime studying and photographing animals and birds in India. He has sat in the open within ten feet of a lion, has fallen in front of a charging rhinoceros and he has a strange tale to tell of a bird mystery in Assam. Although it is full of good stories, this is not a book of daring deeds. It is a unique panorama of the wildlife resources of India - her sanctuaries, the animals which inhabit them and the men who have done most to preserve them.

Sir Montagu Gerard

General Sir Montagu Gilbert Gerard (1842 - 1905) had a distinguished military career, serving in India (among many other places), where he hunted over 170 tigers.

Leaves From The Diaries Of A Soldier & Sportsman During Twenty Years' Service In India, Afghanistan, Egypt & Other Countries 1865-1885 by Sir Montagu Gerard (1903) Gerard was posted to India in 1866 and he recounts numerous adventures, including pig-sticking at Nagpur, tiger hunting near the Wurdah River with additional notes on bagging bear and cheetal. Later assignments brought him to various regions of the Central Provinces where he collected more tigers and a lion. On other sporting escursions, he hunted panther and tiger, with additional bouts of pig sticking.

Colonel Alexander I R Glasfurd

Colonel Alexander Inglis Robertson Glasfurd (1870 - 1942) served in the Indian army.

Rifle And Romance In The Indian Jungle: A Record Of Thirteen Years by Alexander I R Glasfurd (1905) details hunting bear, sambur, tiger, buffalo and other game near Junglypur. Free eBook

Musings Of An Old Shikari: Reflections On Life And Sport In Jungle India by Alexander I R Glasfurd (1928) combines numerous sporting adventures from his previous works, as well as a few new ones, in this work. He describes hunting bison in the Poshida Pass, pig-sticking near Chandrabhaga and hunting tiger, buffalo, chital and other game in India's Central Provinces.

Leaves From An Indian Jungle: Gathered During Thirteen Years Of A Jungle Life In The Central Provinces, The Deccan, And Berar by Alexander I R Glasfurd (1903) Free eBook

Captain B R M Glossop

Capt Bertram Robert Mitford Glossop (1870 - 1941) was an officer in the 5th Dragoon Guards.

Sporting Trips Of A Subaltern by Captain B R M Glossop (1906). Various expeditions for big game shooting by the author in India, Somaliland and Nigeria. Free eBook

Sir Thomas Edward Gordon

Sir Thomas Edward Gordon (1832 - 1914) was a Scottish soldier, diplomat and traveller. He served with the 4th Foot, was in the Mutiny, Indian Staff Corps and Military Attache to Persia.

A Varied Life: A Record Of Military And Civil Service, Of Sport And Of Travel In India, Central Asia And Persia by Sir Thomas Edward Gordon (1906) is an accountof the author's busy life which includes his sporting interests - tiger hunting experiences and brief notes on stalking wild sheep. Free eBook

The Roof Of The World: Being The Narrative Of A Journey Over The High Plateau Of Tibet To The Russian Frontier And The Oxus Sources On Pamir by Sir Thomas Edward Gordon (1876). The author's account of the mission to Kashgar in 1873-4, one of the first expeditions to combine exploration with scientific investigation. Free eBook

Persia Revisited 1895: With Remarks On H.I.M. Mozuffer Ed-Din Shah And The Present Situation In Persia by Sir Thomas Edward Gordon (1896) Free eBook

William Gordon-Cumming

Sir William Alexander Gordon Gordon-Cumming, 4th Baronet (1848 - 1930) was a Scottish landowner, soldier, adventurer and nephew of big game hunter Roualeyn George Gordon-Cumming. He hunted in India and the Rocky Mountains.

Wild Men And Wild Beasts: Scenes In Camp And Jungle by William Gordon-Cumming (1861) Free eBook

W J D Gould

Ten Years In India In The 16th Queen's Lancers And Three Years In South Africa In The Cape Corps Levies by W J D Gould (1880) "replete with anecdotes, incidents inseparable from military life, manners and customs of the several Indian races, Mahomedans, Hindoos and Kaffir tribes, tales of elephant hunting, etc., etc." Free eBook

C E Gouldsbury

Charles Elphinstone Gouldsbury served as a Superintendent with the Bengal Police until he retired in 1903.

Tiger Land: Reminiscences Of Forty Years Sport And Adventure In Bengal by C E Gouldsbury (1913) relates numerous encounters with tigers in this work packed with sporting adventures. He hunted tiger from elephant back and machans, leopard and elephant. In the hills of Trevancore, bison, ibex and more tiger were hunted. Free eBook

Tiger Slayer By Order by C E Gouldsbury (1915) is the story of Digby Davies, late Inspector General of Police, Bombay whose official position as a 'Tiger Slayer', enabled him to hunt down numerous marauding tigers that were a direct threat to the inhabitants. The author able to extract details by personal contacts and studying Davies' notes. Free eBook

Dulall The Forest Guard: A Tale Of Sport And Adventure In The Forests Of Bengal by C E Gouldsbury (1909) Free eBook

Life In The Indian Police by C E Gouldsbury (1912) Free eBook

Government Of India

Big Game Hunting And The Game Animals Of India by The Government Of India (1948). The game regulations were hardly changed when this book was prepared in 1947 when the British left the country. This vintage volume features large and small game shooting in various parts of India during Jim Corbett's period, including the Himalayas and Kashmir where Corbett hunted, as well as the Plains, Punjab and Assam, providing opportunities for the sportsmen to bag tiger, bison, sambar, cheetal, urial, nilgiri tahr (ibex), leopard and other game.

With Gun And Rod In India (1950s) Various editions of handbooks for pursuing sport in India published by the Ministry of Transport. With elaborate notes on the game found in the Himalayas, Deccan and the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Also feathered game and fishing are covered.

B N Gordon Graham

Hunter At Heart by B N Gordon Graham (1950) describes his hunts for man-eating tigers and leopards, as well as hunts after stags, buffalo, bison, wild hogs and other game in India and Ceylon.

Patrick Grant

The Good Old Days by Patrick Grant (1956). Major Grant's recollections range over the best part of 70 years, well back into the reign of Queen Victoria. An officer who served in the Indian, East African, Finnish and Czechoslovak armies, he has hunted lion, tiger and other big game, played polo and ridden to pig.

Joseph C Grew

Joseph Clark Grew (1880 - 1965) was a US diplomat whose book 'Sport And Travel In The Far East' became a firm favourite with Roosevelt. He wrote "My dear Grew, I was greatly interested in your book "Sport and Travel in the Far East" and I think it is a fine thing to have a member of our diplomatic service able both to do what you have done, and to write about it as well and as interestingly as you have written.... Your description, both of the actual hunting and the people and surroundings, is really excellent;..."

Sport And Travel In The Far East by Joseph C Grew (1910) The author was a US diplomat who travelled extensively in the Malay jungles, India, Kashmir, Singapore, Baltistan, New Zealand and China - hunting markhor and other wild sheep as well as tigers in India and China. Free eBook

"Silver Hackle"

"Silver Hackle" was identified as the pseudonym of one Albert George Shuttleworth.

Indian Jungle Lore And The Rifle: Being Notes On Shikar And Wild Animal Life by "Silver Hackle" (1929) is a scarce Indian big game and natural history title. Includes chapters on tigers, panthers, sloth bears, hyena, wild dog, gaur, sambar, swamp deer, spotted deer, hog deer, barking deer, four-horned antelope, blue bull, black buck, ravine deer, mouse deer and wild boar. Free eBook

Man-Eaters And Other Denizens Of The Indian Jungle by "Silver Hackle" (1928) is illustrated with the authors photographs, original sketches and from photographs of heads and antlers mounted by the taxidermists, Van Ingen & Van Ingen. Includes hunting man-eating tigers and leopards as well as numerous other Indian big game from the Himalayas where Corbett hunted, to the southern Indian jungles of Mysore where Kenneth Anderson roamed. There are special comments on how to treat natives and hunt cheaply by cutting down on wages and tips.

General Douglas Hamilton

General Douglas Hamilton (1818 - 1892) was a British army officer who served in the 21st Regiment of the Madras Native Infantry from 1837 to 1871. He was a surveyor of British hill stations in South India, a noted sportsman, shikari, big-game hunter and naturalist. He legitimately shot more game in the Nilgiri Hills than any other sportsman.

Records Of Sport In Southern India by General Douglas Hamilton (1892) and edited by his brother, Edward Hamilton. Delightful shikar yarns from the southern Indian jungles, considered once as the paradise for hunters, teeming with tigers, leopards, elephants, gaur, Sambar, deer and antelopes. Free eBook

Leonard M H Handley

Major Leonard Mourant Hay Handley (b. 1890) served in the British Army and Indian Army and was a writer and big game hunter.

Hunter's Moon: Big Game Hunting In India And Burma by Leonard M H Handley (1933) includes accounts of hunting man-eating tigers. Free eBook

Mrs M A Handley

Roughing It In Southern India by Mrs M A Handley (1911) is about her experiences as a forestry officer's wife, including her observations on elephants, hunting and natural history. Free eBook

Patrick Hanley

Tiger Trails In Assam by Patrick Hanley (1961). The author was an English tea planter and this book depicts his big game hunting in the jungles of Assam for elephants, Indian rhino, tigers and leopards.

Lord Hardinge

Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (1858 - 1944) was a British diplomat and statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1910 to 1916.

On Hill And Plains by Lord Hardinge (1933). Pigsticking and tiger hunting on a grand scale by the author who was viceroy in India.

Eric Harrison

Eric George William Warde Harrison (1893 - 1987) served in the Royal Artillery and was an Olympic hurdler.

Gunners, Game & Gardens by Eric Harrison (1978) is an entertaining autobiographical adventure with much shooting and hunting in UK, Baltistan, India and Tanganyika.

Michael G Harrison

The Jackals Will Be There by Michael G Harrison (1987). The author was born in Rawalpindi in the 1920's. He joined the Indian police force, remaining in service in Pakistan after partition. This book is an autobiographical account of his sporting exploits, mainly big game, man-eaters, marauding wild pigs and game birds, with observations of local affairs and people.

"Red Heather"

Memories Of Sporting Days by "Red Heather" (1923). Recollections of shikar in India for blackbuck, chital, sambar, crocodile and elephant. Black bear hunting in Kashmir and sitting up for tiger on moonlit nights. Deer hunting in Scotland.

John K Heughan

By Canoe And Elephant: Adventures In The Burma-Siam Jungle by John K Heughan (1942) is the author's memoir of his adventures hunting, fishing and rafting on and near the Salween River of Burma and present-day Thailand.

Sir John Hewett

Sir John Prescott Hewett (1854 - 1941) was a administrator in India and very keen tiger hunter, often clearing his official work very early in the morning to fit in his shooting expeditions.

Jungle Trails In Northern India: Reminiscences Of Hunting In India by Sir John Hewett (1938). As the Governor of United Provinces, Sir John Hewett enjoyed tremendous opportunities to hunt tigers in various parts of northern India. Thanks to the many royal friends - princes and maharajas who lavishly spoiled him with luxury jungle camps fitted with Rolls Royce cars and champagne breakfasts, Sir John witnessed the death of hundreds of tigers. He also gives a concise account of tiger shooting in India, together with numerous anecdotes from fellow sportsmen, measurements and who bagged most tigers. When Jim Corbett killed his first man-eating tigress in 1907, Sir John awarded him with a .275 Rigby rifle.

Frederick Codrington Newton De Ferrers Hicks

Frederick Codrington Hicks arrived in India in 1866 and later joined the Forest Service.

Forty Years Among Wild Animals Of India: From Mysore To The Himalayas by F C Hicks (1910) describes his numerous hunts in great detail. He hunted tigers, buffalo, bison, pathers and antelopes as well as small game. Free eBook

Peter Hirsch

The Last Man In Paradise by Peter Hirsch (1961). Big-game hunter Hirsch's first-hand accounts of safaris in Africa, India and Alaska. "If it feels good, do it. I hunt because I enjoy it!"

Edward Hodges-Hill

Man-Eater: Tales Of Lion And Tiger Encounters by Edward Hodges-Hill (1992). Few lions or tigers become man-eaters. Of those that do take human beings or cattle as regular food, most are driven by famine or injury. They become a scourge, roaming over wide areas, terrorizing villages and isolated settlements, their cunning often allowing them to elude capture for many years. Among the stories are encounters with man-eaters credited with 50 or even 100 victims, successfully attacking protected villages, construction sites or railway stations in pursuit of prey.

William Hornaday

Two Years In The Jungle: The Experiences Of A Hunter And Naturalist In India, Ceylon, The Malay Peninsula And Borneo by William Hornaday (1885). After serving as a taxidermist at Henry Augustus Ward's Natural Science Establishment in Rochester, New York, he spent the years, from 1877 to 1878 in India and Ceylon collecting specimens. In May 1878 he reached southeast Asia and travelled in Malaya and Sarawak in Borneo. Free eBook
All other books by William Hornaday

W O Horne

William Ogilvie Horne (b.1862) served in the Indian Civil Service as Chief Secretary in Madras. Apparently Madras was where those with low examination results were posted without a choice in the matter.

Work And Sport In The Old ICS by W O Horne (1928) is an account of life in the Indian Civil Service, the prime motive for the author joining being..."having also strong open-air tastes, a love of all sport, a certain hankering after adventure, and a whole-hearted detestation of desk or clerical work, I thought the I.C.S. would suit me.". He did much big game hunting for tigers, bears and other smaller game. Free eBook

Theodore Rathbone Hubback

Theodore Rathbone Hubback (1872 - 1942) was a British engineer, big game hunter, first class cricket player and conservationist. He initially went to Malaya as an engineer on the railways, later becoming a rubber plantation owner in Pahang and big game hunter. He also became an authority on wildlife conservation and published several wildlife books. He discovered the Malayan seladang species, Bos gaurus hubbacki which was named after him. Hubback was instrumental in the formation of the King George National Park and became its Chief Game Warden.

Elephant And Seladang Hunting In The Federated Malay States by Theodore R Hubback (1905). One of the classic Asian elephant hunting titles and one of the very few on seladang hunting. A longtime resident in Malaya, Hubback recounts his numerous hunting trips after elephant and seladang. Travelling from Singapore to the Pertang River and Kenawan, he collected seladang which he treated with respect. Free eBook

Three Months In Pahang In Search Of Big Game: A Reminiscence Of Malaya by Theodore R Hubback (1912) Free eBook

To Far Western Alaska For Big Game: Being An Account Of Two Journeys To Alaska In Search Of Adventure by Theodore R Hubback (1929) is an account of two hunting expeditions for sheep and moose in the Kenai Peninsula, brown bear in the Pavlov region, sheep in the Rainey Pass country and moose and caribou in the Ptarmigan Valley of Western Alaska.

General Hutchinson

Diary Of Service In Burma by General Hutchinson (1862). The author's identity and rank is not clear from his book. Shooting is the author's sport of choice - jungle fowl, pigeons, hog deer, deer, bucks and monkeys. He and his friends and beaters nearly bagged a tiger, a hunt which he describes in detail - wounded tiger escapes in thick jungle.

W H Florio Hutchisson

Pen And Pencil Sketches: Being Reminisences During Eighteen Years Residence In Bengal by W H Florio Hutchisson (1883). Hutchisson is the pen-name of George Trigger, an appropriate surname for an author who obviously enjoyed the sporting in India. Includes discussions on snipe shooting and hunting for quail, hogs, tigers, rhinoceros, buffalo and alligators. Free eBook

S A H A A Imam

S A H A A Imam (b.1920) was a big game hunter, horseman, yachtsman and sports car racing driver.

Brown Hunter! The Big Five Of Indian Jungle Game, Tiger, Elephant, Leopard, Buffalo And Gaur, With A Reference As Well To Himalayan Big Game by S A H A A Imam (1979). The author describes his hunting adventures, including bagging several man-eaters during his 30 shikars in India.

James Inglis

James Inglis (1845 - 1908) was a Scottish indigo planter, tea merchant, author, big game hunter and politician.

Tent Life In Tiger Land: Sport And Work On The Nepaul Frontier Or Twelve Years Sporting Reminiscences Of An Indigo Planter by James Inglis (1892). The author went to India in 1866 and became an indigo planter in Bihar and the North-West Provinces. He revelled in tiger shooting and pigsticking and published sporting verses, Tirhoot Rhymes (Calcutta, 1873), under the pseudonym 'Maori'. Sir Charles Dilke describes him as an out-and-out free trader, a fluent witty speaker, a popular lecturer, and author of some of the stiffest Indian 'tiger stories'. Free Ebook

Tirhoot Rhymes by James Inglis (1873) is a collection of sporting verse. Free eBook

Augustus Henry Irby

Lt Col Augustus Henry Irby (1818 - 1861) served in India and died of cholera there, aged 43.

The Diary Of A Hunter: From The Punjab To The Karakorum Mountains by A H Irby (1863) Free eBook

Shuja Ul Islam & John H Roush Jr

Hunting Dangerous Game With Maharajas by Shuja Ul Islam & John H Roush (2000) are tales of adventures on a grand scale that took place for the most part in the first half of the 20th century.
More hunting and fishing books by John H Roush

Lt Col M M Ismail

Call Of The Tiger by Lt Col M M Ismail (1964). The author, an officer in the Gurkha Rifles, describes his hunts after marauding tiger and leopard near Dhobghata, Pipalhjonpa, Palasghata and other regions of India.

Daniel Johnson

Daniel Johnson (1767 - 1835) was a surgeon for the East India Company. He was appointed assistant surgeon in the Bengal medical service in 1789 when he conducted experiments on snakebite, and later communicated his findings to his fellow Bengal surgeon James Johnson. He was promoted to surgeon in 1805, and retired from the service in 1809. He settled in Devon, and in 1822 printed his 'Sketches of Indian Field-Sports: As Followed By The Natives Of India.

Sketches Of Indian Field Sports: With Observations On The Animals by Daniel Johnson (1827) is an account of the author's travels and experiences in India, including the hunting of buffalos, tigers and leopards in the jungles around Ramghur, Rogonautpore and Bundbissunpore. Free eBook

Sketches Of Field Sports As Followed By The Natives Of India by Daniel Johnson (1822) includes tales of pigeons and hyenas, hawking, coursing with greyhounds, variant methods of catching tigers and other wild cats, smoking porcupines and more, with a few anecdotal tangents on manufacturing iron and silk and Indian social customs. Free eBook This is Daniel Johnson's 1st book printed in 1822. His second book was printed in 1827 with a similar title.

J W D Johnstone

The Gwalior Of Scindias by J W D Johnstone (1905). The book was originally published as 'Gwalior 1905', as it was a narrative of the official visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Gwalior in the year 1905. The book was written at the request of the Maharaja Scindia who wanted to record this event. The title of book was changed because it also was an in-depth study about the historical Gwalior and the Scindias who ruled over it for centuries.

Sher Jung

Sher Jung (1904 - 1996) was a freedom fighter, writer, hunter and a pioneer wildlife conservationist. Read more about the life of Sher Jung.

Tryst With Tigers by Sher Jung (1967). After several chapters describing the habit and life of tigers, the author recounts his hunts in the Kalagarh Forest of the Tarai Bhabar and near the Kumaon district.

Ramblings In Tigerland by Sher Jung (1979) is about three different encounters in the wild including his long chase of 'Landa', the vile, stump-tailed man-eating tiger.

Sankhala Kailash

Arjan Singh's Tiger Book by Sankhala Kailash (2001) is an anthology on the tiger in India. The contributors come from various walks of life (conservation, wildlife, ecology, photography and film-making) bound by a common interest in the tiger including Jim Corbett, the hunter turned conservationist who edited India's first magazine on the subject.

Warren Franklin Kellogg

Hunting In The Jungle With Gun And Guide After Large Game by Warren F Kellogg & Louis Jacolliot (1888) Free eBook

R G Kelly

Trails, Trouts And Tigers: Outdoor Reminiscences On Six Continents by R G Kelly (1961). Hunting moose, sheep, pronghorn, goat, elk, polar bear, duck and goose, tiger in India, elephant in Africa, fishing for bass, muskellunge, trout, marlin, tuna, grayling, Atlantic and Pacific salmon, mahseer, bonefish, tarpon and more.

Major R L Kennion

Major Roger Lloyd Kennion (1866 - 1942) was an officer in the British Indian Army, serving in the Central India Horse. He joined the Indian Foreign and Political Department, later was to be appointed a Consul in Persia.

By Mountain, Lake And Plain: Being Sketches of Sport In Eastern Persia by Major R L Kennion (1911) who was British consul in the area and spent much time hunting ibex and wild sheep. He had the best areas made available to him for hunting, also bagging maral stag and tiger. Free eBook

Sport And Life In Further Himalaya by Major R L Kennion (1910). Big game hunting plus observations of falcons, yaks and other indigenous creatures of the Himalaya region of Northern India and Tibet, in a series of well-told episodes.

Diversions Of An Indian Political by R L Kennion (1932) is a collection of reminiscences about British rule in India - the 'diversions' being lots of tiger, bear and deer hunting.

Gohar Ayub Khan

Gohar Ayub Khan (b.1937) is a Pakistani politician, businessman and retired army officer.

Shikar In The Days Gone By by Gohar Ayub Khan (2009) describes the author's sporting activities between the 1950s and the present day. He hunted in various parts of the Himalayas, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh, as well as the Sundarbans. Khan's preference was for high, wild, inaccessible areas and maximum discomfort, although he does also describe tiger hunts using elephants. Includes hunting tigers, ibex, markhor, urial, Marco Polo sheep, wild boar, game birds, crocodiles and the odd raccoon.

Tahawar Ali Khan

Man-Eaters Of Sunderbans by Tahawar Ali Khan (1961). The author, a great fan of Jim Corbett, was able to bag several man-eaters from the Sunderban jungles where tiger was the king.

William Henry Giles Kingston

William Henry Giles Kingston (1814 - 1880) was a prolific English author of adventure novels for boys.

The Young Rajah: A Story Of Indian Life And Adventure by W H G Kingston (1897)

Alexander Kinloch

Brigadier General Alexander Angus Airlie Kinloch (1838 - 1919) served in the British army in India. He was the grandfather of Uganda Game Warden Bruce Kinloch of 'Shamba Raiders' fame and an accomplished big game hunter.

Large Game Shooting In Thibet, The Himalayas, Northern And Central India by Alexander Kinloch (1885) describes his many hunting adventures together with accounts of the habits and haunts of the game involved. Includes much on the sheep, markhor and ibex. Kindle Version

Travel, Exploration And Sports In Himalayas: Tales Of Large Game Shooting by Alexander Kinloch (1885) is the revised edition of two volumes 'Large Game Shooting in Tibet and the North-West' and had been the complete guide book for sportsmen, researchers, scholars, wildlife lovers and for all those interested in travels and exploration of nature. The book should also serve a guide book for the preservation of nature, history and specimens.

George Hogan Knowles

In The Grip Of The Jungles by George Hogan Knowles (1932) is the author's account of his travels through India in search of sport. Mainly shooting but with an interlude of mahseer fishing. Tigers, deer, panthers and others, with many observations of local life and culture.

Jungle Haunts by George Hogan Knowles (1934) is the last of the author's trilogy and life and hunting in India.

Terrors Of The Jungle by George Hogan Knowles (1932) is a scarce book which is currently unavailable. Free eBook

Ludwig Koch-Isenburg

Through The Jungle Very Softly: A Quest For Wild Animals In The Far East by Ludwig Koch-Isenburg (1963) describes his adventures seeking out animals and birds in Asia.

Tobias J Lanz

On The Trail Of The Indian Tiger by Tobias J Lanz (2009) is an interesting anthology of pieces on tiger shooting in India between 1788 and 1966, mainly by British colonial authors. It goes from the earliest story by William Blane in 1788 to the latest story by Robert Ruark in 1966.

Colonel Cuthbert Larking

Colonel Cuthbert Larking (1842 - 1910) was a big game hunter who served in the 15th Hussars in India. Besides writing about his hunting exploits, he dabbled in writing romantic novels. In 1884 he was appointed as the English aide-de-camp to the Khedive of Egypt and also held positions in the households of Queen Victoria and her son the Duke of Connaught.

Bandobast And Khabar: Reminiscences Of India by Colonel Cuthbert Larking (1888). Big game hunting in the Deccan jungles. Free eBook

With Everything Against Her by Colonel Cuthbert Larking (date unknown) is a 3 volume novel.

Of The Deepest Dye by Colonel Cuthbert Larking (1897) is a novel.

J A Lawson

The Wandering Naturalists: A Story Of Adventure by J A Lawson (1880) is about a plant-hunting expedition in Northern India and the Himalayas. While there they hunted wild boar, attempted to climb Mount Everest and hunted some tigers, jackals, lynxes, hyenas and wolves. Discusses the dangers of hunting tiger and elephant, the loss of life among British officers and being seriously wounded himself by a tiger.

George J Leahy

Shikar For Sher Khan by George J Leahy (1964). The author was a friend of Hemingway and wrote this book at Ernest's suggestion. It is the record of a Chicago salesman following an elusive Bengal tiger. Having hunted in Africa earlier, Leahy was obsessed with adding a tiger to his trophy list, and he arranged a shikar in Central India for 18 days from in 1964. This book describes his daily records in pursuit of big game in India and details of bagging a leopard etc. On the last day, he was able to fulfill his ambition.

Oswald Lewis

I'd Like To Go Again: Being Some Further Impressions Of Travel In Many Lands by Oswald Lewis (1954) is the second book by an inveterate traveller and big-game hunter and covers hunting in Africa and India, adventures in Russia, the Far North, South America, Caribbean, Maderia and Majorca.

Because I've Not Been There Before by Oswald Lewis (1929) are extracts from the correspondence of Oswald Lewis while travelling round the world in 1926-7. Travels in India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Sir Francis Lindley

Sir Francis Oswald Lindley (1872 - 1950) was a British diplomat, serving as British Ambassador in Austria, Greece, Norway, Portugal and Japan.

A Diplomat Off Duty by Sir Francis Lindley (1928) is a book of sporting reminiscences including tiger hunting, salmon fishing, duck shooting and more.

Lt Col Arthur Locke

Lt Col Arthur Locke (b. 1910) was in the Malayan Civil Service working as a District Officer. His tasks included combating Communist terrorist gangs and killing tigers which attacked humans or domestic animals.

The Tigers Of Trengganu by Lt Col Arthur Locke (1954). Trengganu is a remote state in northeastern Malaya and Colonel Locke was sent there to be the British Government Administration officer. Part of his duties were to hunt and kill tigers who were man-eaters or who were destroying domestic animals. He collected a vast quantity of information about the tigers - their distribution, size, habits, diet, the way in which they make their kills and train their cubs, the territory they cover, and the superstitions and legends about them. Free eBook

Edward Lockwood

Edward Dowdeswell Lockwood (1834 - 1903) served for 20 years in India with the Bengal Civil Service and as a magistrate in Monghyr.

Natural History, Sport, And Travel by Edward Lockwood (1878) is an account of the author's life in India where he hunted and as a naturalist collected specimens, particularly insects. Free eBook

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Page Updated: May 2024