Hunting accounts online

Online accounts about hunting, which was usually called sport or shikar in India.

Also including online accounts about fishing.

Many accounts include detailed observations about animals and their habitats.

External links

Hunting accounts

• "A Bibliography of Big Game Hunting and Shooting in India and the East" by Lt. Col. R W Burton pages 222-241 Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, Volume 49, catalogued 1950. Archive.org.
• 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. Archive.org version, mirror from 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

• Past Days in India, or Sporting reminiscences of the Valley of the Soane and the Basin of Singrowlee by a Late Customs’ Officer, N W Provinces, India. 1874 Archive.org. Set in the period prior to the Indian Mutiny. Mirzapore, Central India.
• The Hunting Grounds of the Old World by "The Old Shekarry" H A L [Henry Astbury Leveson] 2nd edition 1860. Includes India, Circassia and Algeria. 3rd edition 1865 New edition, 1871 All Archive.org

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

The Forest and the Field by H. A. L. The "Old Shekarry" 1867. Archive.org. India and Africa

Wrinkles; or, Hints to sportsmen and travellers on dress, equipment, and camp life by The Old Shekarry [Henry Astbury Leveson], a New Edition 1874. Archive.org

• 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.
• ‪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.
• Gunner Jingo's Jubilee by Major-General T Bland Strange. Late Royal Artillery 1893 Archive.org. Includes chapters when the author had leave in 1861, when he went on a six months hunting trek in Kashmir and Ladak. Thomas Bland Strange Wikipedia. “Strange, Thomas Bland” by Roderick C. Macleod in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003.
• 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.
• Wanderings of a Naturalist in India : the Western Himalayas, and Cashmere by Andrew Leith Adams, Surgeon 22nd Regiment. 1867. Archive.org
• 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.
• The Highlands of Central India : notes on their forests and wild tribes, natural history, and sports by Captain J Forsyth, Bengal Staff Corps. First published 1871, when the author was formerly Assistant Conservator of Forests, Central India. 1871 edition, 1889 edition, 1919 edition Archive.org
• How I Killed the Tiger being An Account of my Encounter with a Royal Bengal Tiger by Lieut.-Colonel Frank Sheffield 1902. With illustrations. Archive.org, K.K. Venugopal Collection. The incident took place in 1871 at Palaspai, Midnapore, and the author was badly wounded.
• Wild Men and Wild Beasts: Scenes in Camp and Jungle by William Gordon-Cumming, 1872 Archive.org
• 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
• A Narrative of Travel and Sport in Burmah, Siam and the Malay Peninsula by John Bradley 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

Fifty years' reminiscences of India : a retrospect of travel, adventure and shikar by Colonel Pollock, [FitzWilliam Thomas Pollock] Madras Staff Corps 1896 seasiavisions.library.cornell.edu. Archive.org version The author arrived in Madras in early 1849, and was posted to a Native Infantry Regiment. In 1853 he was appointed to the Sappers and Miners in Burma.

• 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

• Reminiscences Of Sport In India by Major General E F Burton, Madras Staff Corps 1885 Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. Poor quality print, but generally readable. Lacks most illustrations.
• 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.
• A First Bear-Shoot in Kashmir being a guide for would-be sportsmen by W Dutton Burrard 1892, published Allahabad. Pdf download PAHAR- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset (MCADD)
• 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 Ladakh. Five letters from “The Field” by F. E. S. A. [Sir Frederick Edward Shafto Adair] ; illustrated from photographs by R. S. A. 1895 Archive.org. Originally appeared in The Field newspaper.

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. 2nd file, images may be marginally better.

• 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 Trip to Kashmir by James Arbuthnot 1900. Archive.org, mirror from Central Secretariat Library, Government of India
• Innermost Asia : travel & sport in the Pamirs by Ralph P Cobbold (late 60th Rifles) 1900 Archive.org
• Bullet and shot in Indian forest, plain and hill. With hints to beginners in Indian shooting by C E M Russell, late Senior Deputy Conservator of Forests, Mysore Service. 1900 Archive.org
• A Sportswoman in India: Personal Adventures and Experiences of Travel in Known and Unknown India by Isabel Savory 1900 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 Sportsman's Book for India by F G Aflalo 1904 Archive.org
• "Sport in India" page 115 October 1904 Highland Light Infantry Chronicle. Catching a mahseer (fish), riding an elephant. Google Books.
• Elephant & Seladang Hunting in the Federated Malay States by Theodore R Hubback 1905 Archive.org
• A varied life: a record of military and civil service, of sport and of travel in India, Central Asia and Persia 1849 -1902 by Gen. Sir Thomas Edward Gordon. 1906 Archive.org. Gordon was the author of at least two other books, see Kashmir and Iran.
• "Two Months in Kashmir" by Captain T H Stevenson, Royal Army Medical Corps, page 308 Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps March 1907. jramc.bmj.com
• "Snipe Shooting at Mandalay" by Lieutenant-Colonel W Watson Pike, page 318 Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps March 1907. jramc.bmj.com
• "A Shooting Camp in Cooch Behar" page 97 July 1907 Highland Light Infantry Chronicle. Google Books.
• Hunting & Shooting in Ceylon by Harry Storey 1907. Archive.org. Includes elephant shooting.
• The Indian Field Shikar Book by W. S. Burke, Editor of The Indian Field. Fourth edition 1908. Archive.org. First published prior to 1904, the date of the 2nd edition.
• Forty Years Among The Wild Animals Of India From Mysore To The Himalayas by F C Hicks , late Dy [Deputy] Conservator, Imperial Forest Service 1910 Archive.org.

Volume I only (although catalogued Vol. 2] 1911 edition, published in four volumes. Archive.org

The author was appointed as Assistant Conservator of Forests in 1866 at Hoshangabad, C P.

• Sport and Travel in the Far East by J C Grew 1910 Archive.org. The travel occurred in 1902-1903. Joseph Grew Wikipedia. He became an American diplomat, and from 1932-1941 was Ambassador to Japan.
• Life in an Indian Outpost [Buxa Duar, North East India] by Major Gordon Casserly, Indian Army, first published c 1910. Archive.org. Hunting was a major activity. He was also the author of two books of fiction set in the same area:

The Elephant God by Gordon Casserly 1921 Gutenberg.org.

The Jungle Girl by Gordon Casserly 1922 Archive.org

• 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.
• Roughing it in Southern India by Mrs M A Handley 1911 Archive.org. The author was the wife of a Forest Officer.
• 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. With illustrations by the author. The author spent sixteen years in the Indian Forest Service

Stalks in the Himalaya: Jottings of a Sportsman-Naturalist by E P Stebbing 1912. With illustrations by the author and his wife. Archive.org, K.K. Venugopal Collection.

• 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
• Indian memories; recollections of soldiering, sport, etc by Lieut-General Sir Robert Baden-Powell 1915. Archive.org. With illustrations by the author. He arrived in India in November 1876, an officer in the 13th Hussars. The book probably mainly relates to his early years in India. For a book on pigsticking, see further below.

• 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.
• The Wanderings of a Temporary Warrior : a territorial officer's narrative of service (and sport) in three continents by Captain Alban F L Bacon (late Hampshire Regiment) [2/4 Battalion] 1922. Archive.org. The regiment was stationed in Quetta much of the time it was in India January 1915-April 1917. He went duck shooting around Quetta, and in Sind.
• With Pen and Rifle in Kishtwar by Otto Rothfeld 1918. The author was a member of the Indian Civil Service. He describes Kishtwar as, "…the province of Kishtwar, situated between Kashmir and Chamba on the way to Simla, and ruled by H. H. the Maharaja of Kashmir and Jammu". Pdf download, PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If the book download does not display, locate the digital file under Books.
• "The Strap-Hanger of the Ganges" by Captain J G Bennett RAMC, page 474 The Wild World Magazine Volume 42, April 1919. Hunting a gavial (fish-eating crocodile) near Delhi.
• "Struma Valley 1919" [Southern Macedonia] page 166, USI [United Service Institution Of India] Journal Vol.lxxii Jan to Oct 1942. Archive.org. Hunting wild fowl, on leave in December 1919 from the author’s regiment in Constantinople, part of the Army of the Black Sea.
• A Guide To Tiger Shooting by Madhav Rao Scindia 1920. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• 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
• Days and Nights with Indian Big Game by Major-General A E Wardrop with chapters by C W G Morris. 1923. Archive.org. Wardrop was also the author of Modern pig-sticking, see below.
• Sport and Service in Assam, and Elsewhere by James Alban Wilson 1924. Pdf download Pahar-Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If download does not display, look under Books/ Indian Subcontinent.
• Big Game Hunting in the Himalayas and Tibet by Major G. Burrard RFA (Retired) 1925 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Download from PAHAR- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset (MCADD). If download does not display, look under Books/Himalaya and Karakoram.
• 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. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. 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.
• When the Red Gods Call: Being The Biography Of A Shikari In The Making by Rawdon Malet 1934. Link to a pdf download, PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If the download does not display, go to Books/Indian Subcontinent/scroll to 1934. An account of the hunting career of James Carmody Collinson. He came to India after demobilisation following WW1. His travels took him to Baltistan, Tibet and Ladakh, where he hunted ibex and other game; journeying to India's Central Provinces, he successfully pursued tiger, sambur and bear.
• Shikar Memories by Lieut.-Col. H S Wood [Henry Stotesbury], IMS (Late M O 2/8th Gurkhas and Civil Surgeon, Assam) 1934. Full title: Shikar Memories. A record of sport and observation in India and Burma. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Battle between an Assam tigress and a Rajput elephant involving C. B. a forestry official with a wooden leg, from Kathiawar, pages 251-254 Khyber Caravan: Through Kashmir, Waziristan, Afghanistan, Baluchistan and Northern India by Gordon Sinclair 1936. Archive.org.
• 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. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. 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.
• "Hunting and Training for War" by Major-General AVT Wakely page 46, USI [United Service Institution Of India] Journal Vol.lxxii Jan to Oct 1942. Archive.org
• 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.
• For books by Jim Corbett, see Kumaon Division.
• 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.
• The Rupa Book Of Shikar Stories edited by Ruskin Bond 2004. Selections from many authors; the first account in the book is dated 1929. Archive.org.
• 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. 2nd file with images correctly rotated Archive.org.
• The Kadir [Cup] Sketches from My Sketch Book in the Shiny by Snaffles (Charlie Johnson Payne) 1930 Google Books
• The magazine The Indian Forester from c 1884 included the additional title A Monthly Magazine Of Forestry, Agriculture, Shikar And Travel. See Forestry - Historical books online

Fishing accounts

• 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 HathiTrust Digital Library.
• North Punjab Fishing Club Anglers' Handbook by G H Lacey, Bengal Staff Corps 1888 Archive.org
• The Mighty Mahseer and other Fish : or Hints to Beginners on Indian Fishing by Skene Dhu , pseudonym for Cecil Lang, 2nd edition 1906. The University of British Colombia, Hawthorn Fly Fishing & Angling Collection

The Angler in India ; or, The Mighty Mahseer. Being the incorporated 3rd edition of The Angler in Northern India and The Mighty Mahseer by Skene Dhu , pseudonym for Cecil Lang 1923. With chapters on Burma and Ceylon. The University of British Colombia, Hawthorn Fly Fishing & Angling Collection

Note, these files may be slow to open and you may need to change browsers, (e.g. to Chrome) as problems were at times noted with Safari.

Game Birds

• The Game Birds of India, Burmah, and Ceylon by Hume and Marshall 1879. With coloured plates. Archive.org.Volume I, Volume II. Volume III
• Game, Shore and Water Birds of India by Colonel A Le Messurier R E . With illustrations. 3rd edition 1888 (first edition c 1874) Archive.org

Game, Shore, and Water Birds of India, with additional references to their allied species in other parts of the world by Colonel A Le Messurier, late Royal Engineers. 4th edition 1904 Archive.org

• A Manual of the Game Birds of India by Eugene W Oates Part I – Land Birds 1898; Part II - Water Birds 1899. Archive.org
• The Indian Ducks and their Allies by E C Stuart Baler. With Coloured Plates 1908 Archive.org.
• The Game Birds of India and Asia by Frank Finn, late Deputy Superintendent Indian Museum. 1911 Archive.org.
• The Ducks Of India: Their Habits, Breeding Grounds And Migrations; Together With Other Useful Information for the Sportsman and Observer by R G Wright and Douglas Dewar 1925 Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection. Poor quality images, lacking the original coloured plates.