Hunter-Habib
AH legend
These days, no word stirs up more distrust in me than the word “Journalist”. As an unrepentant hunter, passionate firearms owner/enthusiast, retired forest officer and politician… journalists have always been the bane of my existence. Today, the vast majority of journalists whom I encounter, invariably write all sorts of sensationalized garbage against hunting & firearms ownership.
However, such was not always the case. Take my childhood hero, Tahawar Ali Khan (July 15th, 1926- March 15th, 2004) for instance. He was a journalist who also enjoyed the distinction of being Pakistan’s most famous hunter. A gentleman whose skill with the typewriter & camera was rivaled only by his skill with the rifle & shotgun. And today marks his 22nd death anniversary, which is why I’m going to tell you all a little about this great man and the adventurous life which he lived.
Tahawar Ali Khan With The Man Eating Tigress Of Nil Kamal Khal (1957)
Tahawar Ali Khan was born on 15th July, 1926 in Uttar Pradesh, India (which was a British colony at the time). His father was a government official and greatly enjoyed hunting in the rural parts of the various states of India where he would be posted to. Like many traits passed on from father to son, Tahawar Inherited his father’s immense passion for the great Asian outdoors and soon became an avid hunter in his own right.
When Tahawar was studying at Lucknow University, his father was posted to oversee Lakhipur in the wild Kheri district bordering Nepal in the Indian foothills. Big game abounded those forests and during his holidays… Tahawar would hunt regularly in those hills. By 1939, he he had accumulated a pretty decent three gun battery of sporting firearms:
A Pre-War Winchester Model 70 Bull Barrel chambered in .375 Holland & Holland Magnum
A Pre-War Winchester Model 70 Super Grade chambered in .30-06 Springfield
A BSA (Birmingham Small Arms) Wild Fowler boxlock ejector side by side shotgun chambered in 12 gauge 3” Magnum with 30” fully choked barrels.
He joined the Indian army in 1942 and went on to serve in the Second World War, before being released from the army in 1946 and going on to work in the state service in the Deccan. During his life in India (both before and after the war), he shot 17 Asiatic spotted leopards and four Central Indian tigresses (all man eaters). In 1949, he immigrated to Lahore in Pakistan (two years after the British granted India her independence and Pakistan was born) and began his work as a journalist… writing extensively about the various social & economic problems in Pakistan.
In 1956, he visited East Pakistan (modern day Bangladesh) and stayed there for a year to conduct research on the Mog tribal people inhabiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts. During this time, he was privileged to be a member of the hunting party which accompanied his Imperial Highness Prince Abdul Reza Pehlavi of Iran into the Sundarban mangrove forests for a Royal Bengal tiger hunt (which was unfortunately unsuccessful although the party did manage to secure a few excellent Axis stags during the hunt).
Tahawar Ali Khan (Second From The Left) During The Prince’s Failed Tiger Hunt (1956)
What this hunt did, however… was inspire Tahawar to start writing a book about the Sundarban mangrove forests (the first of it’s kind). When Prince Abdul Reza Pehlavi halfheartedly joked that Tahawar should write a book about the mangrove forests where their entire hunting party had attempted so hard in vain to bag a Royal Bengal tiger… Tahawar actually took the Prince’s comments to heart. And equipped with rifles, shotgun & Rolli-Flex camera… Tahawar began to frequently visit the Sundarbans again (hoping to accumulate research material for his book) starting from 1957 all the way until 1970 (at which point, he returned to Pakistan before the outbreak of the Indo-Pak War in 1971).
In the years between 1957 and 1970… Tahawar would go on to bag 5 man eating Royal Bengal tigers (including one tigress), 2 Axis stags (one for supplementing his hunting party with fresh venison for the larder & one as part of a bet) & one crested wild boar (in self defense) in the Sundarban mangrove forests. Had he bagged an Asiatic saltwater crocodile, then he would have been the only person to successfully bag all members of the Sundarban Big Four (namely Royal Bengal tiger, Axis deer, wild boar & saltwater crocodile).
It’s worth noting that Tahawar enjoys the distinction of having shot the most Royal Bengal tigers (five) inhabiting the Sundarbans mangrove forests. I myself have three to my credit (all man eaters), the late Inspector General Of Forests Yusuf Salauddin Ahmad shot three (all of which were chance encounters during the British colonial era) and the late Captain Gauhar Ayub Khan shot two (for sport during the East Pakistani era). Local resident, the late Pachabdi Gazi (the official Shikari of the Sundarban Department Of Forests from 1958 to 1973) killed 57 but exclusively through the use of setting gun traps in their hunting trails (not by shooting). A very few lucky visiting hunters (such as as East Pakistan’s Governor Sir Feroze Khan Noon) were able to bag a Royal Bengal tiger purely by chance from launches or boats (when a tiger could sometimes be spotted swimming across the creeks or coming to drink water at the riverbanks) or while hunting Axis deer inside the forest. But that is about it, as far as my knowledge goes.
Tahawar Ali Khan (Front) With One Of His Man Eating Royal Bengal Tigers (1967)
If Dave Ommaney became famous as “Winchester’s Man In Africa”, then Tahawar Ali Khan should have been famous as “Winchester’s Man In Asia”. He never used anything except Winchester ammunition his entire life. For his .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, he exclusively preferred the 300Gr Winchester Silver Tip cartridge. For his .30-06 Springfield, he exclusively preferred the 220Gr Winchester Silver Tip cartridge. For his 12 gauge, he exclusively preferred Winchester Super X 36 gram #8 shells & Foster rifled slugs.
For all of his big game hunting purposes, Tahawar exclusively preferred to use his .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. His .30-06 Springfield would invariably stay in his room at the old Shahbagh Hotel in Dacca (where he would take up lodging whenever he used to visit East Pakistan) during his hunting trips into the Sundarbans. He would simply bring it with him to East Pakistan as a spare rifle, in case anything ever happened to his beloved .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. This makes complete sense, because (as I myself would learn during my two terms as Divisional Forest Officer of the Sundarbans from 1980-1983 and 1986-1989) the Sundarban mangrove forests are what can best be described amongst sportsmen as “One Gun Terrain”. The sportsman here has an equally random opportunity of encountering an Axis deer, a wild boar, a Royal Bengal tiger or saltwater crocodile. If he carries a light caliber of rifle for deer or boar shooting, then he might find himself woefully undergunned if he crosses paths with a Royal Bengal tiger or a saltwater crocodile. Thus he arms himself with the heaviest possible class of rifle, thereby ensuring good insurance against all manner of four legged game which dwell in those forests.
Tahawar published his autobiography “Man Eaters Of Sundarbans” in 1961, which details the hunts for his first two man eaters (The Man Eating Tigress Of Nil Kamal Khal & The Man Eating Tiger Of Rai Mangal Island). And it enjoys the distinction of being the first of the only two books to ever be authored in English regarding hunting in the Sundarban mangrove forests. The second would be my own autobiography “Baagh Shikari: The Last Tiger Hunter” published in the summer of 2022. Coincidentally, I highlighted Tahawar’s other three tiger hunts in my book.
The Only Two English Books Ever To Be Authored About Hunting In The Sundarban Mangrove Forests: “Man Eaters Of Sundarbans” Written By Tahawar Ali Khan In 1961 And “Baagh Shikari: The Last Tiger Hunter” Written By The Author In 2022
When Tahawar’s book was first published, it immediately became almost universally popular amongst all the young men in both East Pakistan & West Pakistan… to say nothing of aspiring hunters in pursuit of adventure in those mysterious coastal forests. When my parents gifted me a copy for my 11th birthday in 1962, I immediately became hooked to the book. In a mere three days, I had completed reading all 216 pages of it. Despite only being a wing shooter at that time, I began to have vivid dreams about being a tiger hunter someday (little did I know that I would actually succeed just 19 years down the road).
I was quite fortunate to meet Tahawar no less than seven times between 1963 and 1970. My parents would frequently take me to Shahbagh Hotel on weekends for lunch or dinner and my mother used to host several of her tea parties with her friends there (since it was the only three star hotel in East Pakistan at that time). Tahawar could frequently be encountered either smoking a packet of Camel cigarettes at the lounge or enjoying a Danish pastry & a cup of Turkish black coffee at the bakery. And he was always a most approachable & affable gentleman to everybody who crossed paths with him. To a young teenager & aspiring hunter such as myself, meeting him was quite akin to how a fan of country music today might feel spending a day with the great Ted Nugent (who himself is an extremely passionate hunter as well).
Advertisement Of Hotel Shahbagh (1968)
Tahawar told me that when he wasn’t hunting man eating Royal Bengal tigers, his favorite quarry to hunt (for the larder) was golden snipe at the larger creeks of the Sundarban mangrove forests. We bonded quite a bit over this fact, since I myself was quite fond of snipe shooting at the banks of the Tista River in my home town (Rangpur). I invited him to come hunt jack snipe with me (and my father & uncle) in Rangpur when he had a pocket of time on his busy schedule. He gratuitously accepted my humble invitation, but unfortunately this never quite materialized. We also bonded quite a bit over the fact that we both hunted with BSA 12 gauge shotguns (he with a pre World War II era side by side and me with my uncle’s 1954 made single barreled Model XII).
Tahawar Ali Khan With Axis Stag Shot For The Larder (1958)
Something Tahawar told me in 1967 stuck with me forever, during one of our conversations about the most appropriate battery of firearms for a traveling sportsman who intended to make a mixed bag. He told me that a gentleman equipped with the three following firearms could successfully hunt every single game animal (be it fur or feather) that walked the earth:
A .375 Holland & Holland Magnum for big & dangerous game shooting
A .30-06 Springfield for deer & boar shooting
A 12 gauge for small game & wing shooting
59 years (and countless Asiatic, African, European, Australian & American hunts) later… I still concede that Tahawar Ali Khan knew exactly what he was saying back in 1967. My own current battery (A .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, a 7x57mm Mauser and a 12 gauge) is very similar to what Tahawar had recommended to me all those years ago while sitting at the cafe of the Shahbaagh Hotel. I do however disagree with Tahawar in one very significant area- He absolutely DESPISED double rifles and considered them to be “Expensive toys owned by men who wanted to have something impressive to brag about in their gun cabinet rather than to take into the field”. As I myself were to unfortunately discover during the hunts for my three man eating Royal Bengal tigers in 1981, 1988 & 1989… the instant second shot afforded by a reliable double rifle could have easily spared me (and my men) from a great deal of inconvenience (and danger).
The last time I met Tahawar Ali Khan was in November 1970. I had just returned from (West) Pakistan, having completed my postgraduate degree in “Principles Of Forestry” at the University Of Peshawar. He had just returned from a three week hunting trip in the Sundarbans, having bagged what would be his final man eating Royal Bengal tiger and he was on the way to the airport to board the next airplane to (West) Pakistan. Due to the political turbulence at the time (we were just on the brink of the 1971 Indo-Pak War), he and many other members of Pakistani high society were evacuating East Pakistan fast. He optimistically told me he would return to East Pakistan when things “Calmed Down Again” and take me to the Sundarbans with him to bag a man eating Royal Bengal tiger of my own. Of course, fate has a way of not letting us choose our own endings. The war broke out, I got conscripted into the East Bengal Regiment and East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Tiger hunting got banned in the Sundarban mangrove forests in 1973; with even man eaters unfortunately being granted full legal protection. Only four were legally hunted since then (three were shot by myself and one was killed via gun trap set up by the Gazi brothers). Tahawar never did return to South Bengal and I never saw him again.
Tahawar Ali Khan (Left) With His Final Man Eater Royal Bengal Tiger. Captain Abdus Salam Stands To The Right With Tahawar’s .30-06 Springfield Winchester Model 70 (1970)
In 2011, I finally learnt what became of Tahawar through some of my close hunting friends in Pakistan (where I frequently visit at least once every four years since my mother’s home town is in Peshawar). A chain smoker since youth, Tahawar unfortunately developed emphysema during his later years. It would eventually claim his life on March 15th, 2004. My life’s greatest regret is that he never got to know that I would eventually go on to hunt three man eating Royal Bengal tigers myself. If he did, I know that he would have been extremely proud of me.
The Author With The Man Eating Royal Bengal Tiger Of Mohesshoripur (1981)
The Author With The Man Eating Tiger Of Chand Pai (1988)
The Author With The Man Eating Royal Bengal Tiger Of Atharobeki (1989)
His son, Sultan Tahawar owns a gun shop in Lahore called “Hunter’s Own”. His daughter, Mumtaz Ghawar has a You Tube channel called “Grandma Gul Of The Jungle” and she frequently makes videos about the Sundarban mangrove forests even now. Needless to say; both of Tahawar’s children have inherited their father’s immense passion for firearms, hunting & the great outdoors. I myself am also immensely fortunate in that both of my own children have also inherited my passion for firearms, hunting & outdoor adventure.
Sultan Tahawar’s Business Card
Mumtaz Ghawar’s You Tube Channel
Ever since he passed away, Tahawar was posthumously subjected to a great deal of defamation by many members of the very hunting community whom he was always made so many immense contributions to. People who never hunted a tiger, let alone one which had turned man eater, let alone in the world’s most dangerous mangrove forest. They accused him of stolen valor and having fabricated many of the incidents in his book. Others will claim that he made somebody else shoot all the Royal Bengal tigers for him.
All I will say is this:
I) There are at least three photographs of him with dead Royal Bengal tigers (and one more of a tiger that was shot by him).
II) Many of his accounts are corroborated by others (such as Gauhar Ayub Khan, Captain Abdus Salam and my predecessor Divisional Forest Officer Abdul Alim).
III) The official log book of the Sundarban Department Of Forests accredits him with shooting at least four man eaters for which he officially received generous cash rewards for his services towards the local inhabitants.
IV) Isn’t it highly convenient how people only commenced to discredit him after he was no longer alive to defend himself & his accounts ?
A 1966 Article By Captain Abdus Salam Showing One Of The Man Eating Royal Bengal Tigers Shot By Tahawar Ali Khan
However, such was not always the case. Take my childhood hero, Tahawar Ali Khan (July 15th, 1926- March 15th, 2004) for instance. He was a journalist who also enjoyed the distinction of being Pakistan’s most famous hunter. A gentleman whose skill with the typewriter & camera was rivaled only by his skill with the rifle & shotgun. And today marks his 22nd death anniversary, which is why I’m going to tell you all a little about this great man and the adventurous life which he lived.
Tahawar Ali Khan With The Man Eating Tigress Of Nil Kamal Khal (1957)
Tahawar Ali Khan was born on 15th July, 1926 in Uttar Pradesh, India (which was a British colony at the time). His father was a government official and greatly enjoyed hunting in the rural parts of the various states of India where he would be posted to. Like many traits passed on from father to son, Tahawar Inherited his father’s immense passion for the great Asian outdoors and soon became an avid hunter in his own right.
When Tahawar was studying at Lucknow University, his father was posted to oversee Lakhipur in the wild Kheri district bordering Nepal in the Indian foothills. Big game abounded those forests and during his holidays… Tahawar would hunt regularly in those hills. By 1939, he he had accumulated a pretty decent three gun battery of sporting firearms:
A Pre-War Winchester Model 70 Bull Barrel chambered in .375 Holland & Holland Magnum
A Pre-War Winchester Model 70 Super Grade chambered in .30-06 Springfield
A BSA (Birmingham Small Arms) Wild Fowler boxlock ejector side by side shotgun chambered in 12 gauge 3” Magnum with 30” fully choked barrels.
He joined the Indian army in 1942 and went on to serve in the Second World War, before being released from the army in 1946 and going on to work in the state service in the Deccan. During his life in India (both before and after the war), he shot 17 Asiatic spotted leopards and four Central Indian tigresses (all man eaters). In 1949, he immigrated to Lahore in Pakistan (two years after the British granted India her independence and Pakistan was born) and began his work as a journalist… writing extensively about the various social & economic problems in Pakistan.
In 1956, he visited East Pakistan (modern day Bangladesh) and stayed there for a year to conduct research on the Mog tribal people inhabiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts. During this time, he was privileged to be a member of the hunting party which accompanied his Imperial Highness Prince Abdul Reza Pehlavi of Iran into the Sundarban mangrove forests for a Royal Bengal tiger hunt (which was unfortunately unsuccessful although the party did manage to secure a few excellent Axis stags during the hunt).
Tahawar Ali Khan (Second From The Left) During The Prince’s Failed Tiger Hunt (1956)
What this hunt did, however… was inspire Tahawar to start writing a book about the Sundarban mangrove forests (the first of it’s kind). When Prince Abdul Reza Pehlavi halfheartedly joked that Tahawar should write a book about the mangrove forests where their entire hunting party had attempted so hard in vain to bag a Royal Bengal tiger… Tahawar actually took the Prince’s comments to heart. And equipped with rifles, shotgun & Rolli-Flex camera… Tahawar began to frequently visit the Sundarbans again (hoping to accumulate research material for his book) starting from 1957 all the way until 1970 (at which point, he returned to Pakistan before the outbreak of the Indo-Pak War in 1971).
In the years between 1957 and 1970… Tahawar would go on to bag 5 man eating Royal Bengal tigers (including one tigress), 2 Axis stags (one for supplementing his hunting party with fresh venison for the larder & one as part of a bet) & one crested wild boar (in self defense) in the Sundarban mangrove forests. Had he bagged an Asiatic saltwater crocodile, then he would have been the only person to successfully bag all members of the Sundarban Big Four (namely Royal Bengal tiger, Axis deer, wild boar & saltwater crocodile).
It’s worth noting that Tahawar enjoys the distinction of having shot the most Royal Bengal tigers (five) inhabiting the Sundarbans mangrove forests. I myself have three to my credit (all man eaters), the late Inspector General Of Forests Yusuf Salauddin Ahmad shot three (all of which were chance encounters during the British colonial era) and the late Captain Gauhar Ayub Khan shot two (for sport during the East Pakistani era). Local resident, the late Pachabdi Gazi (the official Shikari of the Sundarban Department Of Forests from 1958 to 1973) killed 57 but exclusively through the use of setting gun traps in their hunting trails (not by shooting). A very few lucky visiting hunters (such as as East Pakistan’s Governor Sir Feroze Khan Noon) were able to bag a Royal Bengal tiger purely by chance from launches or boats (when a tiger could sometimes be spotted swimming across the creeks or coming to drink water at the riverbanks) or while hunting Axis deer inside the forest. But that is about it, as far as my knowledge goes.
Tahawar Ali Khan (Front) With One Of His Man Eating Royal Bengal Tigers (1967)
If Dave Ommaney became famous as “Winchester’s Man In Africa”, then Tahawar Ali Khan should have been famous as “Winchester’s Man In Asia”. He never used anything except Winchester ammunition his entire life. For his .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, he exclusively preferred the 300Gr Winchester Silver Tip cartridge. For his .30-06 Springfield, he exclusively preferred the 220Gr Winchester Silver Tip cartridge. For his 12 gauge, he exclusively preferred Winchester Super X 36 gram #8 shells & Foster rifled slugs.
For all of his big game hunting purposes, Tahawar exclusively preferred to use his .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. His .30-06 Springfield would invariably stay in his room at the old Shahbagh Hotel in Dacca (where he would take up lodging whenever he used to visit East Pakistan) during his hunting trips into the Sundarbans. He would simply bring it with him to East Pakistan as a spare rifle, in case anything ever happened to his beloved .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. This makes complete sense, because (as I myself would learn during my two terms as Divisional Forest Officer of the Sundarbans from 1980-1983 and 1986-1989) the Sundarban mangrove forests are what can best be described amongst sportsmen as “One Gun Terrain”. The sportsman here has an equally random opportunity of encountering an Axis deer, a wild boar, a Royal Bengal tiger or saltwater crocodile. If he carries a light caliber of rifle for deer or boar shooting, then he might find himself woefully undergunned if he crosses paths with a Royal Bengal tiger or a saltwater crocodile. Thus he arms himself with the heaviest possible class of rifle, thereby ensuring good insurance against all manner of four legged game which dwell in those forests.
Tahawar published his autobiography “Man Eaters Of Sundarbans” in 1961, which details the hunts for his first two man eaters (The Man Eating Tigress Of Nil Kamal Khal & The Man Eating Tiger Of Rai Mangal Island). And it enjoys the distinction of being the first of the only two books to ever be authored in English regarding hunting in the Sundarban mangrove forests. The second would be my own autobiography “Baagh Shikari: The Last Tiger Hunter” published in the summer of 2022. Coincidentally, I highlighted Tahawar’s other three tiger hunts in my book.
The Only Two English Books Ever To Be Authored About Hunting In The Sundarban Mangrove Forests: “Man Eaters Of Sundarbans” Written By Tahawar Ali Khan In 1961 And “Baagh Shikari: The Last Tiger Hunter” Written By The Author In 2022
When Tahawar’s book was first published, it immediately became almost universally popular amongst all the young men in both East Pakistan & West Pakistan… to say nothing of aspiring hunters in pursuit of adventure in those mysterious coastal forests. When my parents gifted me a copy for my 11th birthday in 1962, I immediately became hooked to the book. In a mere three days, I had completed reading all 216 pages of it. Despite only being a wing shooter at that time, I began to have vivid dreams about being a tiger hunter someday (little did I know that I would actually succeed just 19 years down the road).
I was quite fortunate to meet Tahawar no less than seven times between 1963 and 1970. My parents would frequently take me to Shahbagh Hotel on weekends for lunch or dinner and my mother used to host several of her tea parties with her friends there (since it was the only three star hotel in East Pakistan at that time). Tahawar could frequently be encountered either smoking a packet of Camel cigarettes at the lounge or enjoying a Danish pastry & a cup of Turkish black coffee at the bakery. And he was always a most approachable & affable gentleman to everybody who crossed paths with him. To a young teenager & aspiring hunter such as myself, meeting him was quite akin to how a fan of country music today might feel spending a day with the great Ted Nugent (who himself is an extremely passionate hunter as well).
Advertisement Of Hotel Shahbagh (1968)
Tahawar told me that when he wasn’t hunting man eating Royal Bengal tigers, his favorite quarry to hunt (for the larder) was golden snipe at the larger creeks of the Sundarban mangrove forests. We bonded quite a bit over this fact, since I myself was quite fond of snipe shooting at the banks of the Tista River in my home town (Rangpur). I invited him to come hunt jack snipe with me (and my father & uncle) in Rangpur when he had a pocket of time on his busy schedule. He gratuitously accepted my humble invitation, but unfortunately this never quite materialized. We also bonded quite a bit over the fact that we both hunted with BSA 12 gauge shotguns (he with a pre World War II era side by side and me with my uncle’s 1954 made single barreled Model XII).
Tahawar Ali Khan With Axis Stag Shot For The Larder (1958)
Something Tahawar told me in 1967 stuck with me forever, during one of our conversations about the most appropriate battery of firearms for a traveling sportsman who intended to make a mixed bag. He told me that a gentleman equipped with the three following firearms could successfully hunt every single game animal (be it fur or feather) that walked the earth:
A .375 Holland & Holland Magnum for big & dangerous game shooting
A .30-06 Springfield for deer & boar shooting
A 12 gauge for small game & wing shooting
59 years (and countless Asiatic, African, European, Australian & American hunts) later… I still concede that Tahawar Ali Khan knew exactly what he was saying back in 1967. My own current battery (A .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, a 7x57mm Mauser and a 12 gauge) is very similar to what Tahawar had recommended to me all those years ago while sitting at the cafe of the Shahbaagh Hotel. I do however disagree with Tahawar in one very significant area- He absolutely DESPISED double rifles and considered them to be “Expensive toys owned by men who wanted to have something impressive to brag about in their gun cabinet rather than to take into the field”. As I myself were to unfortunately discover during the hunts for my three man eating Royal Bengal tigers in 1981, 1988 & 1989… the instant second shot afforded by a reliable double rifle could have easily spared me (and my men) from a great deal of inconvenience (and danger).
The last time I met Tahawar Ali Khan was in November 1970. I had just returned from (West) Pakistan, having completed my postgraduate degree in “Principles Of Forestry” at the University Of Peshawar. He had just returned from a three week hunting trip in the Sundarbans, having bagged what would be his final man eating Royal Bengal tiger and he was on the way to the airport to board the next airplane to (West) Pakistan. Due to the political turbulence at the time (we were just on the brink of the 1971 Indo-Pak War), he and many other members of Pakistani high society were evacuating East Pakistan fast. He optimistically told me he would return to East Pakistan when things “Calmed Down Again” and take me to the Sundarbans with him to bag a man eating Royal Bengal tiger of my own. Of course, fate has a way of not letting us choose our own endings. The war broke out, I got conscripted into the East Bengal Regiment and East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Tiger hunting got banned in the Sundarban mangrove forests in 1973; with even man eaters unfortunately being granted full legal protection. Only four were legally hunted since then (three were shot by myself and one was killed via gun trap set up by the Gazi brothers). Tahawar never did return to South Bengal and I never saw him again.
Tahawar Ali Khan (Left) With His Final Man Eater Royal Bengal Tiger. Captain Abdus Salam Stands To The Right With Tahawar’s .30-06 Springfield Winchester Model 70 (1970)
In 2011, I finally learnt what became of Tahawar through some of my close hunting friends in Pakistan (where I frequently visit at least once every four years since my mother’s home town is in Peshawar). A chain smoker since youth, Tahawar unfortunately developed emphysema during his later years. It would eventually claim his life on March 15th, 2004. My life’s greatest regret is that he never got to know that I would eventually go on to hunt three man eating Royal Bengal tigers myself. If he did, I know that he would have been extremely proud of me.
The Author With The Man Eating Royal Bengal Tiger Of Mohesshoripur (1981)
The Author With The Man Eating Tiger Of Chand Pai (1988)
The Author With The Man Eating Royal Bengal Tiger Of Atharobeki (1989)
His son, Sultan Tahawar owns a gun shop in Lahore called “Hunter’s Own”. His daughter, Mumtaz Ghawar has a You Tube channel called “Grandma Gul Of The Jungle” and she frequently makes videos about the Sundarban mangrove forests even now. Needless to say; both of Tahawar’s children have inherited their father’s immense passion for firearms, hunting & the great outdoors. I myself am also immensely fortunate in that both of my own children have also inherited my passion for firearms, hunting & outdoor adventure.
Sultan Tahawar’s Business Card
Ever since he passed away, Tahawar was posthumously subjected to a great deal of defamation by many members of the very hunting community whom he was always made so many immense contributions to. People who never hunted a tiger, let alone one which had turned man eater, let alone in the world’s most dangerous mangrove forest. They accused him of stolen valor and having fabricated many of the incidents in his book. Others will claim that he made somebody else shoot all the Royal Bengal tigers for him.
All I will say is this:
I) There are at least three photographs of him with dead Royal Bengal tigers (and one more of a tiger that was shot by him).
II) Many of his accounts are corroborated by others (such as Gauhar Ayub Khan, Captain Abdus Salam and my predecessor Divisional Forest Officer Abdul Alim).
III) The official log book of the Sundarban Department Of Forests accredits him with shooting at least four man eaters for which he officially received generous cash rewards for his services towards the local inhabitants.
IV) Isn’t it highly convenient how people only commenced to discredit him after he was no longer alive to defend himself & his accounts ?
A 1966 Article By Captain Abdus Salam Showing One Of The Man Eating Royal Bengal Tigers Shot By Tahawar Ali Khan
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