Mughal Emperor Akbar Had More Than 10 Thousand Cheetahs, Extinct 70 Years Ago; Know Their Interesting History
Noida: Cheetahs had become extinct from the country 70 years ago. Cheetahs were officially declared extinct in India in 1952. With the initiative of PM Modi, 8 cheetahs from Namibia were brought to India. These cheetahs have been kept in the Kuno National Park of Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh. In the coming time, 80 cheetahs will be brought to India from South Africa in three phases.
About 500 years ago there were more than a thousand cheetahs in the country
Divyabhanu Singh, former vice-president of the Bombay Natural History Society, has written a book about cheetahs in the country. The name of this book is – ‘The End of a Trail – The Cheetah in India’. In this book, he told that the presence of cheetahs was seen in the country during the reign of different kings. It is said that during the time of Mughal emperor Akbar, who ruled from 1556 to 1605, there were more than 10 thousand cheetahs in the country.
Even Akbar had many cheetahs. He used them to hunt black deer and gazelle. From then on, cheetahs were kept as pets by the kings. After the Mughal emperor Akbar, his son Jahangir also raised cheetahs for hunting and kept it as a hobby. Jahangir caught 400 deer through cheetahs.
The effect of tying on the fertility of cheetahs
Due to this, the condition of cheetahs was such that they too were kept tied like cows and bulls. The kings did not understand that cheetahs stop breeding by being tied. From here their population started decreasing. In some reports, it has also been claimed that apart from hunting cheetahs, their captivity was one of the main reasons for their extinction.
By the 20th century, there was a rapid reduction in the number of cheetahs
By the turn of the 20th century, the number of cheetahs in the country had come down to hundreds. Due to this the royals and kings started importing cheetahs. Those days the country was ruled by the British. The British were more interested in hunting lions than cheetahs. The reason for this was that lions are more dangerous and this poses more danger to humans, whereas this was not the case with cheetahs.
That is why the British did not hunt cheetahs but did not take any steps for the protection of cheetahs. However, where the cheetah killed more cattle, the British would keep rewards on them. In those days, people used to get six rupees for killing cubs and 12 rupees for killing adult cheetahs. So gradually the species of cheetahs become extinct.
Cheetahs were brought from Africa for royalty
Some kings even imported them from African countries, in about 200 cheetahs were imported from 1918 to 1945. In 1914, Will Freud, a foreign couple who came from England, came as a guest to Sawai Madho Singh II. He expressed his desire to see the cheetahs. Madho Singh told that now we do not have cheetahs here. On his way to Jaipur, Will Freud promised Maharaj that he would send cheetahs from England for him.
According to the Jaipur Foundation, Will Freud died in England. After this, his wife sent two cheetah cubs to Jaipur in April 1921. Cheetah cubs were sent to Jaipur through the Kavas Jadin firm. The cubs reached Mumbai by sea ship and then they were brought to Jaipur by rail. Five years later a cheetah had died. The second cheetah was kept in the animal house of Ram Niwas Bagh.
Raja of Chhattisgarh hunted 1200 cheetahs alone
Despite this, the hunting of cheetahs continued in the country. Raja Ramanuj Sharan Singh Deo of Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh alone hunted 1200 cheetahs. The last three cheetahs were hunted by the king of Korea, the princely state adjacent to Ambikapur. After the departure of the British from India and the integration of the princely states, along with the reduction in the number of cheetahs in the country, the practice of hunting them also ended.
