The Indian Bully Kutta (also known as Indian Mastiff or Indian Bully) is a type of large dog that originated in the Indian subcontinent, dating back to the 16th century. The Bully Kutta is a

working dog A working dog is a dog used to perform practical tasks, as opposed to pet or companion dogs. Definitions vary on what a working dog is, they are sometimes described as any dog trained for and employed in meaningful work; other times as any dog ...

used for

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/ tusks, horn/ a ...

and guarding. The type is popular in the

Punjab region Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

of India and Pakistan, including

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

, as well as in Maharashtra and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

. The

Indian National Kennel Club The Indian National Kennel Club is a registry of purebred dogs in India. Beyond maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including dog shows and specialty shows. History The India ...

, along with th
Indian Mastiff Registry
recognizes this breed officially.

Name and description

Alangu mastiff real appearence sculpture dharasuram temple

Bully Kutta literally translates to "heavily wrinkled dog". The word "Bully" comes from the root word of the

Hindustani Hindustani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Hindustan (another name of India) * Hindustani language, an Indo-Aryan language, whose two official norms are Hindi and Urdu * Fiji Hindi, a variety of Eastern Hindi spoken in Fiji, and ...

and

Punjabi language Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab, Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first lan ...

s "Bohli" which means ''heavily wrinkled''. "Kutta" means dog in the

Hindi-Urdu Hindustani (; Devanagari: , * * * * ; Perso-Arabic: , , ) is the '' lingua franca'' of Northern and Central India and Pakistan. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standard registers, known as Hindi and Urdu. Thus, the la ...

language. The Sindhi mastiff resembles the

mastiff A mastiff is a large and powerful type of dog. Mastiffs are among the largest dogs, and typically have a short coat, a long low-set tail and large feet; the skull is large and bulky, the muzzle broad and short (brachycephalic) and the ears droo ...

, and is notable for its hardiness and size. The colour is black and white with some red in places. The tail curls up and is long and bushy, with the coat being long and thick.The Indian dog
Waman Vishwanath Soman, Popular Prakashan 1963, page 85 The “pocket” bully is a small version of an American Bully They are more compact and shorter about 14-17″ tall.

History

The Bully Kutta originated in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

, either in the

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the ...

and Tiruchi districts of

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

or the

Sind Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

region of

medieval India Medieval India refers to a long period of Post-classical history of the Indian subcontinent between the "ancient period" and "modern period". It is usually regarded as running approximately from the breakup of the Gupta Empire in the 6th cent ...

. In Thanjavur, the Bully Kutta was a favorite pet of ruling families. The Mughal emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, H ...

owned a Bully Kutta, which he used for hunting. The Second International Dog Show at Islington Agricultural Hall, held on 28 May 1864 in London, showcased the Indian Mastiff among several other dog breeds. The previous year, Edward, the Prince of Wales, and Princess Alexandra, entered an Indian Mastiff in the same show, along with a

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Russian Tracker and two

Borzoi The Borzoi or Russian Hunting Sighthound is a Russian breed of hunting dog of sighthound type. It was formerly used for wolf hunting, and until 1936 was known as the Russian Wolfhound. Etymology The system by which Russians over the ages ...

s. In 1884, '' Littell's Living Age'' said that historically, a "large Indian mastiff" was employed by kings "in the chase of wild beasts".

Temperament

Bully Kuttas have been described as intelligent, alert, responsive, energetic and aggressive. A well-known

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

Dr. L.N. Gupta from Agra, India has stated that Bully Kuttas are a dominating canine and should only be handled by well-experienced owners. The

American Humane Association American Humane (AH) is an organization founded in 1877 committed to ensuring the safety, welfare, and well-being of animals. It was previously called the International Humane Association before changing its name in 1878. In 1940, it became t ...

has stated that "on tests conducted in 2009 by the American Temperament Test Society, bullies scored better than several breeds that are rarely associated with aggression, including beagles and collies." However, this is misleading, as the ATTS test is not an aggression test, it tests "different aspects of temperament such as stability, shyness, aggressiveness, and friendliness as well as the dog’s instinct for protectiveness towards its handler and/or self-preservation in the face of a threat", and Beagles and Collies fail the test not due to aggression, but due to fear of hostile strangers.

Use as a fighting dog

Bully Kuttas have been illegally used for

dog fighting Dog fighting is a type of blood sport that turns game and fighting dogs against each other in a physical fight, generally to the death, for the purposes of gambling or entertainment to the spectators. In rural areas, fights are often staged ...

in India and Pakistan, including areas such as

Gurugram Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

, and

Noida Noida, short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority, is a planned city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Noida is a satellite city of Delhi and is a part of the National Capital Region (India) ...

. In June 2018, police in Indian Punjab filed

First Information Report __NOTOC__ A first information report (FIR) is a document prepared by police organisations in Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asian countries including Myanmar, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan when they receive information about the commi ...

(FIR) for the first time against organizers of a dog fight. Many non-profit organizations are now working against illegal fighting and creating awareness among the people.

Popularity

The Bully Kutta is popular in the

of India and Pakistan. In India,

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist ...

s from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu and Maharashtra focusing on scientific breeding of this dog under the guidelines of Indian Mastiff Registry. They have been part of many competitions in India. According to the ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'', it has importance among Indian youth of having a macho image.

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Bully Kutta - Canine Heritage
{{Mastiffs Dog breeds originating in India Dog breeds originating in Pakistan Dog fighting breeds Hunting dogs