The Greatest Hunter of All Time.
Jim Corbett [1] the man who hunted the DEVIL of INDIA, a man who ventured alone as a hunter with nothing but his trusted Martini-Henry Rifle. He as a person was an extremely unique personality as did not really hunt for fame, pleasure or money but rather hunted due to his passion which was wildlife. Jim despite being of British descent was born in the year of 1875 in the city of Nainital, a place known for its wildlife and climate even today. He grew up in the foothills of the Himalayas, where he developed a deep love and respect for nature, at a very young age he could understand the species of an animal by only hearing the call of the animal. He dropped out of his school at 19 and started his career as a railway inspector, but he soon found himself drawn to the excitement of the hunt luckily, he followed his passion and became The Greatest Hunter of All Time.
In 1907 [2], Corbett was called upon to track and kill a man-eating tiger that had been terrorising the region of Kumaon. The deadliest animal of all time who has a Guiness Book of world records to herself, the tigress is called the Devil of India. She was a Bengal Tiger but hunted like a Serbian [3], one of the only man-eaters to hunt in the day something that even Jim was surprised about. This animal was able to kill about 440 people throughout Nepal, UP and Uttarakhand where people never set a foot outside, even during that day making the tigress to invade homes through windows and roofs and dragging out the bodies from their homes leaving a macabre trail which even the best could not follow. At request, a young Jim Corbett went for hunt which was priced at 10,000 to 20,000 rupees [4]. Jim first visited the region of Kumaon in the year of 1906 but to his dismay he was not able find the tigress. When he visited the village again in his second trip, he laid his eyes on what he thought was a ghost town but as he lit a fire up and waited villagers came out and explained how they all went into hiding for a total of 4 days. Later, he heard that a 16-year-old girl was hunted by the tigress in truly brutal fashion, the tigress usually hunted young girls and women, maybe because men were much more likely to hold weapons nonetheless as soon as he heard the news, he followed the blood trail. When Jim started to follow the trail of blood that was left at the sight of this murder, he was alone with his rifle as he was able to hear the rustling and rattling created by the swift movement of the tigress. Jim despite being one of the finest even while he was young did not want to risk his life, on a near invisible tigress in an environment which was reaching nightfall [5].
He retreated to the village to devise his next steps for the morning. Earlier next day he gathers a few villagers and asked them to make noise so as to bring the tigress out of the ravine, near the edge of the forest where Jim himself would be stationed. The villagers, a little too excited started shouting a little earlier making Jim run as he was still far from his station, weak and panting Jim finally saw her appear out of the forest, a majestic beast with her ears to her back and grazing through the forest, in a hurry his fired his shot injuring her back leg and then again fired a shot which he missed allowing her to climb up a pile of rocks and reach the higher ground, Jim alone followed her by climbing up the rocks. There Jim and the Devil of India came face to face both looked into each other and from a calm and weak stance, the tigress started her charge at him with her strange teeth clearly shown and eyes wide open a look that would send chills down the spine of any other hunter, Jim held his stance and fired a shot just before her sharp paws bashed his skull. She now dead fell onto a rock where Jim noticed that her upper and lower jaw was completely shattered, due to a foolish hunter who was neither skilled enough to kill her nor kind enough to not hunt, nonetheless the shattered jaw restrained her from eating her usual prey and caused her to resort to human flesh.
Jim would later skin her and keep the hind as a trophy but when he showed the hind to a mute woman she screamed in excitement and called her children, who never saw their mother ever speak, showing the terror that the Devil of India ruled with.
In addition to his hunting exploits [6], Corbett was also a tireless advocate for wildlife conservation for example he did not accept the 10,000 to 20,000 rupees as a prize as he only did the job out of his heart and thought that prizes led to more killings of innocent animals. He worked to establish national parks and sanctuaries to protect India’s tigers and other wildlife. He also authored several books about his adventures, which helped to raise awareness of the importance of conservation. Corbett continued to hunt and write until retirement and would die in 1955, Kenya. He left behind a legacy as one of the greatest hunters and conservationists of all time. His adventures continue to inspire people around the world, and his work helped to save India’s tigers from extinction.
Unlike the majority of cases where britishers imposed their names onto various landmarks of India, even here Jim is an exception where the Indian government, rightly so named their first national park in the honour of this great man. Jim Corbett was a true pioneer of wildlife conservation whose passion did not even allow himself to marry. His adventures were both exciting and important, and his legacy continues to inspire people around the world to protect our planet’s wildlife. He is The Greatest Hunter of All Time not only because he was able to hunt the fiercest animals but also because he did not accept any of the prize moneys, studied animals and respected them more than any hunter would.
[1] The Jim Corbett National Park was named after him by the Indian government not the british due to his efforts in conversation and research of the diverse species of animals that were present.
[2] He was only 31 at the time of the hunt of such a famed man-eating tigress.
[3] Serbian tigers will often lie in wait for their prey, concealed in the jungle. When the prey is close enough, the tiger will pounce and kill it with a single bite to the neck, but this tigress was from eBngal adding to her uniqueness.
[4] In today’s money that is about 5,00,000 rupees.
[5] This is because tigers and nocturnal hunters and, in the night, it’s their rule.
[6] There were many more equally thrilling and dangerous kills that Jim has to his name including other tigers and leopards.
Thanks for reading this article, after a quarter year break, I wrote this article because this story was just inspiring and motivating enough to kickstart my writing journey, Jim did many more hunts on which i might do more stories but till now, thanks for reading!