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Mahout Washing His Elephant
A mahout is an elephant rider, trainer, or keeper. Mahouts were used since antiquity for both civilian and military use. Traditionally, mahouts came from ethnic groups with generations of elephant keeping experience, with a mahout retaining his elephant throughout its working life or service years. Mahouts would often ride on a howdah placed on the back of their elephant. Etymology The word ''mahout'' derives from the Hindi words ''mahaut'' (महौत) and ''mahavat'' (महावत), and originally from the Sanskrit ''mahamatra'' (महामात्र). Another term is ''cornac'' or ''kornak'', which entered many European languages via Portuguese. This word derives ultimately from the Sanskrit term ''karināyaka'', a compound of ''karin'' (elephant) and ''nayaka'' (leader). In Telugu, a person who takes care of elephants is called a ''mavati''; this word is also derived from Sanskrit. In Tamil, the word used is ''pahan'', which means "elephant keeper", and in S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
