Jim Corbett

[SStomcat]

It’s in Hindi language, with Englisg subtitles but worth watching in reverence to the legend

4.3K views · 99 reactions | Discover the captivating Corbett Museum in Kaladhungi, Chhoti Haldwani, dedicated to the legendary Jim Corbett. Explore his former bungalow, filled with his personal belongings, memoirs, and letters. Immerse yourself in th

Discover the captivating Corbett Museum in Kaladhungi, Chhoti Haldwani, dedicated to the legendary Jim Corbett. Explore his former bungalow, filled with his personal belongings, memoirs, and letters....

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[migrabill]

Rigby put out a limited edition boxed set of 5 Corbett books. They are individually numbered. I have been looking for one ever since I found out they existed. I still haven't found one.

 

[Sika98k]

It’s great to see Jim’s house restored. I was In Kaladhungi some 27 years ago. My wife wanted to go to India for her birthday. She had done VSO in Tamil Nadu in her salad days. Having had a disastrous trip to Egypt the year before, think “Revenge of the Pharos “ I was reluctant. Delhi Belly !
So if we went I plumped for Delhi, the Red Fort and then Agra to see the Taj Mahal and then a pilgrimage to Kaladhungi, Nani Tal and the Corbett Tiger Park. After that we travelled into western Nepal and on to Kathmandu.
Sadly when we were there the house in Kaladhungi was rather dilapidated. Their summer house near the lake in Nani Tal was in good shape and occupied.

 

[SStomcat]

It’s great to see Jim’s house restored. I was In Kaladhungi some 27 years ago. My wife wanted to go to India for her birthday. She had done VSO in Tamil Nadu in her salad days. Having had a disastrous trip to Egypt the year before, think “Revenge of the Pharos “ I was reluctant. Delhi Belly !
So if we went I plumped for Delhi, the Red Fort and then Agra to see the Taj Mahal and then a pilgrimage to Kaladhungi, Nani Tal and the Corbett Tiger Park. After that we travelled into western Nepal and on to Kathmandu.
Sadly when we were there the house in Kaladhungi was rather dilapidated. Their summer house near the lake in Nani Tal was in good shape and occupied.

Thanks for sharing. Yes, India is certainly an interesting place, and a lot has changed over the years. I’m originally from India myself, but I’ve been in the US for about 30 years now. Even for me, India feels quite different from the country I remember leaving.

 

[JJEH]

Thank you for sharing. I love Jim Corbett, have read his books and some books about him.

A trip to India is on the bucket list for sure!

 

[baxterb]

It is nice to know local people still think enough about him to preserve things.

 

[SStomcat]

It is nice to know local people still think enough about him to preserve things.

Jim Corbett is a legend back home in India. He is very well respected throughout the country, and just about everyone knows who he is. He certainly earned that respect.

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but after independence, a lot of institutions, roads, and other places were renamed as part of various state government initiatives. Yet, Jim Corbett’s name and anything associated with him were left alone. I think that says a lot about the respect he has earned and continues to enjoy in India.

 

[baxterb]

Jim Corbett is a legend back home in India. He is very well respected throughout the country, and just about everyone knows who he is. He certainly earned that respect.

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but after independence, a lot of institutions, roads, and other places were renamed as part of various state government initiatives. Yet, Jim Corbett’s name and anything associated with him were left alone. I think that says a lot about the respect he has earned and continues to enjoy in India.

That indeed says a lot if Corbett’s name was left after independence. Thanks for the info! When I was in Kenya I saw plenty of roads and places that had been renamed - glad Corbett’s survive.

On another note, an old friend of my uncle named Peter Goutiere, who was a pilot for Pan-Am and also for HRH Cooch Behar, wrote in his book that his family were friends with Jim and his sister and remembers having tea with them in Bhowali when they were on their way back to Naini Tal.

 

[JJEH]

If you are on facebook, there is a "Jim Corbett" group as well as a research group. Great info there.
I can post the links but I'm not sure if it's allowed.

Some in the groups criticize the gov over there for not taking care of the official buildings connected to Corbett, and also for not cracking down on businesses that abuse the Corbett name. Sad.

 

[Mats Bergholm]

When you have read Jim Corbetts excellent books, start with "Nine maneaters and a rouge" by Kenneth Anderson. He hunted man eaters in southern India, while Jim Corbett hunted in the north. Kenneth stayed in India after 1947. He was sixth generation Scot and Kenneths ancestors still lives in India.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

In 1959, a little boy in East Pakistan (modern day Bangladesh) read “Man Eaters Of Kumaon” at the Library of British Council and it completely changed his life. He wrote a letter to then IGF (Inspector General Of Forests) Yusuf Salauddin Ahmad saying that he wanted to be a Forest Officer when he grew up and hunt man eating tigers.

That little boy was me. And I ended up not only becoming a career forest officer in 1972, but also hunting three man eating Royal Bengal tigers myself (the final one with a 7x57mm Mauser just like Jim Corbett !).

I know that Jim Corbett inspired a lot of the hunters on these forums. But without boasting, I can proudly say that his books (particularly that battered copy of “Man Eaters Of Kumaon”) literally inspired me to make my career choices.

A lot of anti hunters these days try to spin a pervasive narrative of Jim Corbett by saying that he became an anti hunter towards the end of his life. This is actually a complete lie. He became opposed to tiger hunting (for sport) in later life (due to seeing how indiscriminately tigers were being killed during the days of the British Raj in Northern India). But he continued to hunt for the pot his entire life.

On a related subject, Kenneth Anderson’s early books are an interesting read. But I really have no respect for him or his son, Donald Anderson. Kenneth was vocally outspoken against deer hunting and (after hunting got banned in India in 1972) both he & Donald became very outspoken anti hunters in order to curry favor amongst India’s growing anti hunting community. Turning on your own kind just to sell a couple of books, is not the act of a principled man. Donald Anderson had his autobiography “The Last White Hunter” posthumously published by an Indian anti hunter named Joshua Matthew in 2014. The entire book reads as if all the misfortunes Donald suffered in later life… was Karmic punishment for being a hunter. While the reality was that he made some very poor life choices in terms of financial management (after Kenneth died) and womanizing.

 

[SStomcat]

In 1959, a little boy in East Pakistan (modern day Bangladesh) read “Man Eaters Of Kumaon” at the Library of British Council and it completely changed his life. He wrote a letter to then IGF (Inspector General Of Forests) Yusuf Salauddin Ahmad saying that he wanted to be a Forest Officer when he grew up and hunt man eating tigers.

That little boy was me. And I ended up not only becoming a career forest officer in 1972, but also hunting three man eating Royal Bengal tigers myself (the final one with a 7x57mm Mauser just like Jim Corbett !).
View attachment 802636View attachment 802637View attachment 802638View attachment 802639View attachment 802640
I know that Jim Corbett inspired a lot of the hunters on these forums. But without boasting, I can proudly say that his books (particularly that battered copy of “Man Eaters Of Kumaon”) literally inspired me to make my career choices.

A lot of anti hunters these days try to spin a pervasive narrative of Jim Corbett by saying that he became an anti hunter towards the end of his life. This is actually a complete lie. He became opposed to tiger hunting (for sport) in later life (due to seeing how indiscriminately tigers were being killed during the days of the British Raj in Northern India). But he continued to hunt for the pot his entire life.

On a related subject, Kenneth Anderson’s early books are an interesting read. But I really have no respect for him or his son, Donald Anderson. Kenneth was vocally outspoken against deer hunting and (after hunting got banned in India in 1972) both he & Donald became very outspoken anti hunters in order to curry favor amongst India’s growing anti hunting community. Turning on your own kind just to sell a couple of books, is not the act of a principled man. Donald Anderson had his autobiography “The Last White Hunter” posthumously published by an Indian anti hunter named Joshua Matthew in 2014. The entire book reads as if all the misfortunes Donald suffered in later life… was Karmic punishment for being a hunter. While the reality was that he made some very poor life choices in terms of financial management (after Kenneth died) and womanizing.

Golam Saheb, you have been a source of inspiration to me.

Growing up in a hunting family, with a grandfather who hunted twelve Royal Bengal tigers, along with numerous other species, I developed a lifelong fascination with hunting and its history.

By the time I was fifteen, I had read nearly every book by Jim Corbett that we still proudly preserve in our extensive family library. *The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag* remains one of my all-time favorites.

And here is the legend himself, with his 7×57 Mauser, alongside the Bachelor of Powalgarh, one of the largest tigers ever recorded. What a piece of hunting history!

Jim Corbett: Eradicator of Man-Eating Tigers & Conservationist - Shooting Times

Jim Corbett became famous for hunting down man-eating tigers and leopards in India. Read how he later he helped establish India's first national park to protect the animals he once hunted.

www.shootingtimes.com

 

[SStomcat]

It is nice to know local people still think enough about him to preserve things.

It’s not just the locals who know his name, it echoes through the corridors of power in New Delhi.

 

[Rare Breed]

In 1959, a little boy in East Pakistan (modern day Bangladesh) read “Man Eaters Of Kumaon” at the Library of British Council and it completely changed his life. He wrote a letter to then IGF (Inspector General Of Forests) Yusuf Salauddin Ahmad saying that he wanted to be a Forest Officer when he grew up and hunt man eating tigers.

That little boy was me. And I ended up not only becoming a career forest officer in 1972, but also hunting three man eating Royal Bengal tigers myself (the final one with a 7x57mm Mauser just like Jim Corbett !).
View attachment 802636View attachment 802637View attachment 802638View attachment 802639View attachment 802640
I know that Jim Corbett inspired a lot of the hunters on these forums. But without boasting, I can proudly say that his books (particularly that battered copy of “Man Eaters Of Kumaon”) literally inspired me to make my career choices.

A lot of anti hunters these days try to spin a pervasive narrative of Jim Corbett by saying that he became an anti hunter towards the end of his life. This is actually a complete lie. He became opposed to tiger hunting (for sport) in later life (due to seeing how indiscriminately tigers were being killed during the days of the British Raj in Northern India). But he continued to hunt for the pot his entire life.

On a related subject, Kenneth Anderson’s early books are an interesting read. But I really have no respect for him or his son, Donald Anderson. Kenneth was vocally outspoken against deer hunting and (after hunting got banned in India in 1972) both he & Donald became very outspoken anti hunters in order to curry favor amongst India’s growing anti hunting community. Turning on your own kind just to sell a couple of books, is not the act of a principled man. Donald Anderson had his autobiography “The Last White Hunter” posthumously published by an Indian anti hunter named Joshua Matthew in 2014. The entire book reads as if all the misfortunes Donald suffered in later life… was Karmic punishment for being a hunter. While the reality was that he made some very poor life choices in terms of financial management (after Kenneth died) and womanizing.

Jim would be incredibly proud of you my friend!!! Your life and career are an inspiration for all of us!!! I am proud to call you my friend!!!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Jim would be incredibly proud of you my friend!!! Your life and career are an inspiration for all of us!!! I am proud to call you my friend!!!

Thank you so much, Craig. By the way, I just successfully completed a safari here in Tanzania. I managed to bag a good sized hippopotamus and my Swiss friend managed to bag a nice Cape buffalo. I am returning home day after tomorrow.

You will be pleasantly surprised to know that we came across SEVERAL leopard tracks out here (including just a few hundred yards away from camp). I actually think that if you want to try for leopard over bait again, you need to come out here. Unfortunately, Tanzania requires us to use a minimum of .375 caliber for leopard.

Otherwise, just take luck out of the equation altogether and hunt them over hounds in Botswana.

 

[BlueFlyer]

As a young child I was a reluctant reader. My mother in desperation started buying a weekly magazine "Look & Learn" that publication happened to serialise the Jim Corbett "Man Eater" books. I was totally captivated by the stories. I was no longer a reluctant reader!

 

[PerH]

Sadly on school libraries where I was it was seldom or never any Africa or Asia hunt books , just some of the Scandi ones . I didn’t know about Corbett , Ruark , Taylor etc until came 25 years ago .

 

[Raven]

My grandmother was a librarian. She often took me to work with her. As a child, I loved reading very much, so I didn't give my grandmother much trouble in the library. And there I once found Corbett's book Leopard of Rudraprayag on the adventure shelf. It all started with this book...

 

[SStomcat]

My grandmother was a librarian. She often took me to work with her. As a child, I loved reading very much, so I didn't give my grandmother much trouble in the library. And there I once found Corbett's book Leopard of Rudraprayag on the adventure shelf. It all started with this book...

That was a classic, can imagine how many the Leopard killed, the long tracking that Jim undertook before finaling put it to rest...

 

[pilar]

My mother and grandmother were both antique dealers and one day they came home from a auction with the full collection of Corbett books and the jack O’Connor collection on sheep and also a Elmer Keith “ Hell I was there “ and a enfield.303
Unfortunately when my mom passed from cancer I spent days digging through book shelves and boxes looking for them , I have since slowly been replacing them !
I love reading those stories!