A Day After The Rogue Indian Elephant

[Kawshik Rahman]

Kawshik,
Another great historical account of hunting’s bygone days in a “far away land” to most of us here on AH. These historical hunting accounts by you are really something to be treasured and shared to all with like interests. As I mentioned to Hoss Delgado, it would be great if you could/would consider placing all of these accounts/ experiences/ photographs, etc., in a book/manuscript style format, which would preserve these things you’ve experienced through the many years forever?
CEH

Co Elk Hunter
You are very kind. Since so many people are asking me to do it , l will consider it. However , first l have to make sure that all of my students qualify this year for their water fowl hunting licenses successfully. This can only be done if they can competently shoot . However , due to their unfortunate choice of thinking that anything short of the 89 millimeter 12 bore cartridge is useless for hunting birds , this can be very difficult. The time for applying opens on 20th of October and l sadly have been given ten students , seven of whom have come to BSF with these large monstrosities and teaching them how to shoot is becoming a very difficult task in such a short period of time.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Excellent account. Thank you. I didn't realize Indian elephants were that large.

Newboomer
Thank you for your appreciation. I believe the African elephant is larger ?

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Sign me up to buy a copy, Mr. Rahman would have a pretty active client base to sell that book to right here.

MAdcox
I am glad that you are enjoying the accounts. I did not think much of them at the time.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Dear Sir,
The rebellion you have mentioned, in 1857, was again due to animals.
Colonial Indian troops, rebelled against British, under belief that paper cartridges used in then-muzzle loaders were greased with animal fat (beef and pork fat). Loading the from muzzle, it would require biting of a piece of paper holding powder, or lead balls greased by saliva...

Back, to the story,
I thank you for your time, you are opening the gate to old India for us.
Much appreciated!

Mark Hunter
You are a most well read young man. I believe the rifle was an Enfield firm rifle which was of .577 bore

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

+1 on buying the book.

I greatly enjoyed reading these accounts of your good friend.

My condolences.

Wounded, staying behind, manning his (machine) gun, willingness to sacrifice himself to save those of his unit, in a very bad situation.

Myself, now retired soldier, I salute his heroism.

Ridge Runner.
I respect everybody equally , but l have a special respect to those who served their motherland. Your country must be extremely proud of a gentleman like you.
Yes , Mohiyuddin's death was a very tragic one. It is my belief that he has killed more than his 14 confirmed kill number . The story is that the only reason he was overrun was because the barrel of that .50 calibre heavy machine gun got overtly hot . Unfortunately , as l never trained for the HMG post , l cannot confirm this and so cannot comment on what happened.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Thank you for another great adventure. I believe that I would have liked to have known your friend.

WAB
You are a most wonderful gentleman. You and Mohiyuddin would have gotten along very well. He wrote a journal for the Shiliguri forest department in 1968 , regarding how to shoot elephants properly. If people are interested , l will translate it from Bengali to English and post it here. I had to make a call to his son over the phone a week ago to have that journal sent by DHL to Bangladesh.

 

[Shootist43]

Kawshik, so you too are a firearms instructor. That is one way for an old man to stay in the game. At 76 I'm not as capable a shooter as I was as a young man, I expect the same is true for you. Our job is to teach the next generation(s) of hunters the finer points of marksmanship and then share their accomplishments. In 1986 I met a very accomplished shooter that was also the Firearms Instructor for his Department. I asked him if he ever had a student that wound up being a better shot than he was. His reply was in the affirmative. I then asked how he felt about that. His reply was "very proud, because every shot they make is partly mine." His words struck home and I became a Certified Firearms Instructor the following year.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Kawshik, so you too are a firearms instructor. That is one way for an old man to stay in the game. At 76 I'm not as capable a shooter as I was as a young man, I expect the same is true for you. Our job is to teach the next generation(s) of hunters the finer points of marksmanship and then share their accomplishments. In 1986 I met a very accomplished shooter that was also the Firearms Instructor for his Department. I asked him if he ever had a student that wound up being a better shot than he was. His reply was in the affirmative. I then asked how he felt about that. His reply was "very proud, because every shot they make is partly mine." His words struck home and I became a Certified Firearms Instructor the following year.

Shootist43
Your and my age is almost identical ( l am 77 ) . I am the joint secretary of Dhaka Rifle Club under BSF and l teach young men and women how to shoot shot-guns. It is very thrilling to teach young men and women to supersede you and many of my students often did. However , after the 89 millimeter cartridge began getting imported into Bangladesh , every boy who has access to Internet , read about them and begged their parents to buy them one . They seem to think that you need an 89 millimeter cartridge to shoot pigeons and they develop a troublesome flinch. If only they started with the smaller cartridge. I agree wholeheartedly with your feeling . Watching your pupil shoot better than you is the proudest feeling a teacher can have .

 

[mark-hunter]

Dear mr Rahman,

Since we are on this subject:
For target shooting, clay pigeon shooting, hunting - in general, is it popular in Bangladesh, or it is only few enthusiasts who are interested in.
Once I was looking at world wide hunting population, provided that hunting is allowed in certain country with relatively positive gun laws, average hunting population will be from 1% (where hunting is not popular) to 3% (where is poplar).
For example my country hunting and target shooting population is roughly <2%.

Sadly, our sport is declining in numbers, I was wondering how is in your place?

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Dear mr Rahman,

Since we are on this subject:
For target shooting, clay pigeon shooting, hunting - in general, is it popular in Bangladesh, or it is only few enthusiasts who are interested in.
Once I was looking at world wide hunting population, provided that hunting is allowed in certain country with relatively positive gun laws, average hunting population will be from 1% (where hunting is not popular) to 3% (where is poplar).
For example my country hunting and target shooting population is roughly <2%.

Sadly, our sport is declining in numbers, I was wondering how is in your place?

Dear Mark Hunter,
Fortunately , in Bangladesh, it is like this : People either directly partake in hunting or they are indifferent towards it. I will say it is above 2 %.

 

[mark-hunter]

Thank you, sir!

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

A really grat article. Thanks for sharing.

 

[edward]

exciting writings,very enjoyable.please continue.

 

[gesch]

The rogue weighed upwards of five tons . We had promised the Garo trackers the meat of the elephant and indeed , in a few moments , our enthusiastic Garo friends were cutting the animal open with ram daos ( large knives ) and kudaal ( large , heavy axes ) . Inside the brain of the rogue , l was most surprised to see a few ( four , if l recall correctly ) large maggots squirming around . However , l was told by Mohiyuddin that this was not an uncommon sight. The poor creature also had several quills from a Shojaru ( porcupine ) embedded in it's right hind leg. Perhaps , it had turned rogue for a reason...
Mohiyuddin would go on to shoot more rogue elephants , all over central India , as part of his work as a forest department officer. Eventually , he would expend his old stock of .303 bore cartridges and then would use the issued Soviet Kolashnikov fully automatic rifle for the 7.62 millimeter cartridge . Despite the pointed heads of the metal envelope bullets , he was able to kill several more rogue elephants . However , this was done by firing fifteen to twenty cartridges at their heads and bodies and can therefore , hardly qualify as sporting killing.
During the Bangladesh Liberation war , he was was assigned to an HMG post ( heavy machine gun ) where he had to operate a .50 caliber Browning model 2 machine gun . He was killed in action in October , 1971 during an ambush at Tangail . He was posthumously awarded the title of Bir Bikrom , one of the highest military awards given in Bangladesh. The story among his surviving squadron members was that he had his foot destroyed by a mortar blast and stuck to his HMG position to provide automatic fire and allow his team members time to escape. I dedicate this article to him and l also thank his son , for providing me with the very first photograph in this article.
I am also interested to know from my respected forum members about how large African Elephants typically can be. I understand that the legal minimum caliber for them is .375 bore , although some sources state that it is .400 bore.

Thank you for another great report. I appreciate the respect that is a part of every thing you write.

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Thank you for another great report. I appreciate the respect that is a part of every thing you write.

Gesch
Thank you so much for your support and interest .

 

[WAB]

WAB
You are a most wonderful gentleman. You and Mohiyuddin would have gotten along very well. He wrote a journal for the Shiliguri forest department in 1968 , regarding how to shoot elephants properly. If people are interested , l will translate it from Bengali to English and post it here. I had to make a call to his son over the phone a week ago to have that journal sent by DHL to Bangladesh.

Mr. Rahman, I for one would very much like to read that journal! Bill

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

Mr. Rahman, I for one would very much like to read that journal! Bill

Wab
Alright. It is a three page affair. I will translate it and put it here . You have my word. I will add his sketches too .

 

[Kawshik Rahman]

exciting writings,very enjoyable.please continue.

Edward
Thank yo so much for your kind words and support.

 

[Nyati]

Another very interesting article, thank you !

 

[kevin masters]

Another great read and A wonderful honor to your friend!