Shikargah ( śikārgāh), from Persian shikārgāh meaning shikār hunting + gāh ground, is often described as a

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

ground Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the solid terrestrial surface of the Earth * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical circ ...

where 'qamargah' or encircling of

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

occurs, an overtone of war exercise performed within a controlled arena of flora and fauna to create easier shooting and camping for hunting party. The

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

, who already had a hunting tradition in Central Asia, brought the practice to India upon their conquest of the subcontinent. On such occasions unresolved matters of courts were settled which included conspiration and preparation for mutinying, raising of invasion forces. The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

continued to entertain their dignitaries with elaborate tiger hunts famously known as "hunting party" at these Shikargah.

Jim Corbett National Park Jim Corbett National Park is a national park in India located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand state. The first national park in India, it was established in 1936 during the British Raj and named ''Hailey National Park'' after Willi ...

established in 1932 was first Shikargah turned into a national park during

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, only 40,000 tigers were left during India's independence in 1947, the first-ever all-India tiger census conducted in 1972 revealed the existence of only 1,827 tigers. Realizing the gravity of dwindling number of seven major big cats of the world —

tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

leopards The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

snow leopards The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...

, pumas,

jaguars The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat species in the Americas an ...

and

cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat and the fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, with a short snout and blac ...

Indian Govt Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

enacted

Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted for the protection of plants and animal species. Before 1972, India had only five designated national parks. Among other reforms, the Act established schedule ...

. As of December 2024, there are 57

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

s that have been designated as tiger reserves. , among which important tiger reserves where the numbers are more than 100 in each respectively are Corbett,

Rajaji Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and Indian independence ...

Pilibhit Pilibhit () is a city and a municipal board in Pilibhit district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Pilibhit is the north-easternmost district of Bareilly division, situated in the Rohilkhand region of the sub- Himalayan Plateau ...

, Dudhwa,

Bandhavgarh Bandhavgarh National Park is a national park of India, located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. It spreads over an area of and was declared a national park in 1968. It became Tiger Reserve in 1993 with a core area of . Bandhavgarh wa ...

Nagarhole Nagarahole National Park is a national park located in Kodagu district and Mysore district in Karnataka, India. This park was declared the 37th Tiger Reserve of India in 1999. It is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The Western Ghats Ni ...

Mudumalai Mudumalai National Park is a national park in the Nilgiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu in southern India. It covers at an elevation range of in the Nilgiri District and shares boundaries with the states of Karnataka and Kerala. A part of this are ...

Kaziranga Kaziranga National Park is a national park in the Golaghat, Sonitpur, Biswanath and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam, India. KNP has 5 ranges. The park, which hosts two-thirds of the world's Indian rhinoceroses, is a UNESCO World Herita ...

Sunderbans Sundarbans (; pronounced ) is a mangrove forest area in the Ganges Delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Hooghly River in India's state of West Bengal ...

and

Bandipur Bandipur () is a hilltop settlement and a rural municipality in Tanahun District, Gandaki province of Nepal. Bandipur is primarily known for its preserved, old time cultural atmosphere. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of ...

. Today

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

boasts 104 national parks, 551 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 131 Marine Protected Areas, 18 Biosphere Reserves, 88 Conservation Reserves ( 57 Tiger Reserves) and 127 Community Reserves, covering a total of 1,65,088.57 sq km. In total, there are 870 Protected Areas which make 5.06% of the geographical area of the country where 3,682 big cats are estimated ranking India with topmost share of 75% worldwide in 2022.

Chronicled Shikargah

Terrorizing wild beasts were often tamed by Mughals who considered themselves as protectors of people, sources record over seventy shikargahs situated in mountainous forests, deserts, Indo-Gangetic floodplains, rocky outcrops, and coastlands. AkbarHunt

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

Shikargah,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

Ana Sagar Lake Ana Sagar Lake is an artificial lake situated in the city of Ajmer in Rajasthan state in India. It was built by Arnoraja (alias Ana), the grandfather of Prithviraj Chauhan, in 1135 -1150 AD and is named after him. The catchments were built wi ...

, Nur Chashma Shikargah,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

Burhanpur Burhanpur is a historical city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative seat of Burhanpur District. It is situated on the north bank of the Tapti River and northeast of city of Mumbai , southwest of the state's capita ...

Bagh-i Zaynabad Shikargah,

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

* Hissar-i-Firuza Shikargah,

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

Narwar Narwar is a town and a nagar panchayat in Shivpuri district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Narwar is a historic town and the Narwar Fort is just east of the Sindh River and is situated at a distance of 42 km from Shivpuri. Narwar w ...

Shikargah *

Pakpattan Pakpattan (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ), often referred to as Pākpattan Sharīf (; ''"Noble Pakpattan"''), is an ancient, historic city in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, serving as the headquarters of the Pakpattan Distr ...

Shikargah

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Mahemdavad Mahemdavad is a town with municipality in the Kheda district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Mahemdavad is situated on the Vatrak River bank. The nearest city is Kheda. It is 30 km from largest city of Gujarat, Ahmedabad. Nearest airport ...

Shikargah Ahmedabad, Gujrat *

Palam, Delhi Palam (phonetically Pālam) is a major residential colony located in South West district of NCT of Delhi, India. It is one of 70 Vidhan Sabha constituencies of the Delhi National Capital Territory in northern India. History Palam is listed i ...

Shikargah, New Delhi *

Sheikhupura Sheikhupura (Punjabi language, Punjabi / ; ) also known as Qila Sheikhupura, is a city and district in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. Founded by the Mughal Empire, Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1607, Sheikhupura is the List of ...

(Jahangirpur/Jahangirabad) Shikargah,

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Earliest attempt of conservation of Shikargah

Nawab of Junagarh and his son in the 1870s

Shikargah Weave

In Popular Culture

In movie

The Deceivers (film) ''The Deceivers'' is a 1988 adventure film directed by Nicholas Meyer, starring Pierce Brosnan, Shashi Kapoor and Saeed Jaffrey. The film is based on the 1952 John Masters novel of the same name regarding the murderous Thuggee of India. Plot ...

(1988), the hunting party scene includes the phrase: "There is no greater pleasure than the hunt, for it reveals the essence of life and death." This line reflects the cultural and philosophical undertones of the film, which explores themes of deception, power, and morality in colonial India.

Gallery

Notes

References

{{Reflist

Wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

Shikargah Shikargah ( śikārgāh), from Persian shikārgāh meaning shikār hunting + gāh ground, is often described as a hunting Ground (unit), ground where 'qamargah' or encircling of Game (hunting), game occurs, an overtone of war exercise performed wit ...

Wildlife conservation in India Conservation-reliant species