Raol Shree Dharmakumarsinhji (April 1917 – January 1986) was an Indian ornithologist, environmentalist and writer as well as a ruling prince. His elder brother

Krishna Kumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Colonel Maharaja Raol Sir Krishna Kumarsinhji Gohil KCSI (19 May 1912 – 2 April 1965) was an Indian king and politician, the last ruling Maharaja of the Gohil dynasty, who ruled Bhavnagar State from 1919 to 1948 and also served as the fir ...

was the last

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

of the

Bhavnagar State Bhavnagar State was a princely state with 13 Gun Salutes during the British Raj. It was part of Kathiawar Agency in Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra. The State of Bhavnagar covered an area of 2,961 sq. miles and had a population of 618,429 i ...

in western India.

Early years

Orphaned at the age of two, Dharmakumarsinhji studied under an English tutor before attending Rajkumar College in

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the ...

. He then joined

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

in England, where he became the under-14

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

champion.

Ornithology

Dharmakumarsinhji had wide-ranging interests and talents. He emerged as a pioneer in the field of Indian wildlife photography as well as an amateur painter, having won numerous awards in both fields. In his youth, he was an enthusiastic

hunter Hunting is the 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, bone/tusks, ...

, a collector of avian eggs, and also a keen falconer with an exquisite collection of birds from the genus ''Falco''. His interest in birds led him to undertake field studies of the

Great Indian Bustard The great Indian bustard (''Ardeotis nigriceps'') or Indian bustard is a bustard occurring on the Indian subcontinent. It is a large bird with a horizontal body and long bare legs, and is among the heaviest of the flying birds. Once common on th ...

and the

Lesser Florican The lesser florican (''Sypheotides indicus''), also known as the likh or ''kharmore'', is the smallest in the bustard family and the only member of the genus ''Sypheotides''. It is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent where it is found in tall gra ...

Conservation

In 1950, the Government of India appointed him to conduct biogeographical surveys across five Indian states –

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

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 ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

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 ...

and

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

– and make recommendations on areas suitable for conversion into designated national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Over the next three decades, he held several conservation-related government positions in India. He served as India's first Honorary Wildlife Warden, Vice Chairman of the Indian Board for Wildlife, and a member of the Rajasthan and Gujarat Wildlife Advisory Boards.

Publications

As well as many papers in journals, such as the ''

Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society The ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society'' (also ''JBNHS'') is a natural history journal published several times a year by the Bombay Natural History Society. First published in January 1886, and published with only a few interruption ...

'', books authored by Dharmakumarsinhji include: *'' Birds of Saurashtra''. 1955. Bombay: Dil Bahar *
Sixty Indian Birds
' (with K S Lavkumar). 1972. New Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India *''Reminiscences of Indian Wildlife''. 2000. Mumbai: Oxford University Press India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dharmakumarsinhji 1917 births 1986 deaths People educated at Harrow School Indian environmentalists Indian naturalists 20th-century Indian nobility Indian ornithologists Indian botanical writers Indian nature photographers People from Bhavnagar district 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers 20th-century Indian photographers 20th-century Indian zoologists Scientists from Gujarat Photographers from Gujarat 20th-century naturalists