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indubitably one of the best gifts that Britain gave
India and her people. It is in the light of such people
that the depravity of British actions in India may
seem, if at all, a bit more tolerable. A man of great
humility, rectitude, and the courage of a tiger, this
best known hunter-naturalist from India has left a
deep impression on many a budding naturalist,
including me. It would be an injustice to the science
of conservation in India (or anywhere for that matter)
to not celebrate one of its earliest proponents.
Jim Corbett was born on 25th July 1875 to Mary
Jane and William Christopher Corbett, the
penultimate of 9 children. Corbett grew up in
Kaldhungi and Nainital, in the present day state of
Uttaranchal in North India. Corbett's Parents were
themselves born to British immigrants (of Irish Stock)
to colonial India.
Rudraprayag
foothills of the Himalayas. Nainital was mainly the
summer retreat of the Corbetts' and Kaladhungi,
another settlement at lower altitude was used as the
winter refuge.
Jim's Sister Maggie had a special place in his life -
almost as a second mother. Maggie remained unmarried
and cared for Jim through his childhood and till his
death.
Jim was deeply interested in the wild surroundings
around Nainital and Kaladhungi and followed his
brother Tom into the jungle. Jim's childhood was full of
adventures of hunting jungle fowl for the pot with his
brother and sometimes with the local Shikari and
poacher Kunwar Singh. Kunwar Singh would later
become a life long friend and advisor of Corbett.
Although an average student at school, Jim was,
however getting very proficient in sharp-shooting with a
catapult, using a shotgun.
dialects and became very fluent in them. This would prove very useful later when hunting man-eaters as it not
only allowed him to commiserate with stricken villagers but also share in their sorrows in a way that touched
them deeply. That itself contributed greatly to the legend of Corbett - the fluent 'phirangi' sahib who killed
man eaters. People who read Corbett's books may percieve him as racist, but nothing could be further from
the truth; although he identified himself as white, his heart and soul was truly one with the natives.
influenced by a few things: his shooting of a
leopard as a teenager. He realized how beautiful
this great cat is and that wild animals rarely harm
humans without reason. Second was his reading of
books by Fennimore Cooper - The Pathfinder,
and, The Last of the Mohicans. Corbett often uses
the phrase 'the happy hunting grounds' - borrwoed
from Cooper. Third, he collected most of the 480
birds that were used to write Stephen Dease' Birds
of Kumaon. Corbett gained a great amount of
knowledge about birds and their habits, which he
used to great effect throughout his life.
Soon after schooling he joined the railways at age
18 (Jim wanted to be an engineer) as a temporary
fuel inspector.
(in present day bihar) on the banks of the Ganges. For nearly the next twenty years he remained in this position
and managed a large workforce. It was during this time that Corbett became hugely popular as a hunter of
Man-eaters. When ever a tiger or a leopard became a man-eater and people begged him to help them, he would
take a leave of a few days in which he would try to kill the man-eaters. A few of these man-eaters took longer to
track down and kill than expected. Due to the work load at Mokameh-Ghat Jim could never leave for long periods.
Man-eaters put him in great danger during his first
encounters with them. While out to kill the Champawat
Man-eater, a tigress that had already killed over 400
people, he shuddered with fear at night and every shadow
looked like a man-eater approaching him. After years of
following man-eaters to kill them, he obtained a great
appreciation of how clever and cunning these animals can
be. His experiences while tracking the Man-eating
Leopard of Rudraprayag over a period of one year makes
for fascinating and bone-chilling reading. Jim's greatest
asset was his ability to doggedly pursue a man-eater and
try to outwit it - a veritable battle of nerves - which he
often won. What endeared him to the locals was his
strong sense of purpose at a job which many would not
even take up or many others had left unfinished. Corbett
continued to hunt man-eaters till in his late fifties, much
against the protests of sister Maggie.
Corbett Killed.
of Conservation, and predicted as early as 1950
that strong plans are required to save the tiger and
other wonderful denizens of the Indian Jungle. He
went to great lengths help implement conservation
policies and nature reserves.
It is difficult to do justice to Corbett's exploits in
this short space. The best way to enjoy and
appreciate Corbett is to read his books written by
him in years preceding his death. Corbett left India
in 1947 after the British vacated India. He was too
proud an 'Englishman' to stay on in independent
India. He moved to Kenya (still a british colony
then). There he wrote up his man-eater stories.
Corbett wrote a total of six books, three of them
man-eater stories. He, however, remained very
attached to India and felt strongly about returning
to India. Poor health prevented him from doing so
and Corbett died in Kenya on April 19th 1955.
before he died
Corbett National Park, which, even till this day serves as a haven for tiger conservation. His
legacy lives on even brighter in the minds of people inspired by tales of Corbett and who feel
strongly about conservation of nature - like myself. Corbett described a tiger as a 'large hearted
gentleman with boundless courage'. Nothing describes him better. Long live Jim Corbett of
Kumaon
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