Why legend of Jim Corbett is inextricably woven into Kumaon's folklore
July 25 is an occasion for great celebration in the hills and dales of the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand's Himalayas. Almost a century and a half has passed since the famous hunter-turned-conservationist and writer Jim Corbett was born in the lake city of Nainital. Yet, people here never forget to celebrate his birth anniversary.
The Corbett family and their story is like a folk tale, handed down from one generation in this hill region to the next. Jim Corbett is called Carpet Sahib by villagers here.
We need to learn lessons of conservation from this man as he understood the environment and wildlife of this region like nobody else. Today, these lessons are extremely relevant. Though the thrill of reading about his adventures as a killer of man-eaters is talked of often, his role as a conservationist has never been stressed upon enough. He maintained a balance to lessen the man-animal conflict.
On the occasion of Corbett’s 142nd birth anniversary this year, Corbett Gram Vikas Samiti organised, as it does every year, festivities involving villagers and school children. Dancing, singing and little skits based on the life of Corbett are part of the celebrations. Little boys dressed as Jim and little girls dressed as his sister Margaret (Maggie) can be seen taking parts in these festivities.
Edward James Corbett, affectionately called Jim by the family, was born in Nainital to Mary Jane Corbett and Christopher William Corbett who was the post master at Nainital. Before that, he was posted in Mussoorie which was first connected by telegraph with the world around 1865. In the year 1859, Christopher William Corbett, Jim’s father, was the post master at the Landour Cantonment Post Office. It was in Landour that he met and married Mary Jane Doyle in October that year.
In the foothills of the Kumaon Himalayas lies a serene little village, once the personal property of Jim Corbett. Called “Chhoti Haldwani”, this village is Corbett country in the true sense. Stories about Corbett, known as “Carbet Sahib” or “Carpet Sahib” among the villagers, do the rounds in this picturesque village in Nainital district. Eighty-seven years ago, Corbett hunted three tigers in Kumaon – the Chowgarh, Mohan and Kanda man-eaters, travelling large distances on foot.
He called the tigers “large-hearted gentlemen”. Alighting at Ramnagar station,in 1930, Corbett had to undertake a steep "4,000-ft climb" in pursuit of the Mohan man-eater. While hunting the Kanda man-eater, Corbett writes that he had to go “innumerable miles up and down incredible steep hills, and through thick thorn bushes that left my hands and knees a mass of ugly scratches, in search of a very wary man-eater.” We can feel from his writings that at the very moment when he shot a man-eater and certainly in the moment after, he experienced regret that was born out of respect and empathy for its condition.
In his preface to Maneaters of Kumaon, he explains at length – “There is, however, one point on which I am convinced - that all sportsmen will agree with me - that a tiger is a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage and that when he is exterminated – as exterminated he will be unless public opinion rallies to his support –India will be the poorer by having lost the finest of her fauna.”
Between 1907 and 1938, Corbett killed 19 tigers and 14 leopards, all documented man-eaters. Jim took up a job with the railways at the age of 17. He immortalised his life and times spent in Kumaon through his famous works Man-Eaters of Kumaon,a world classic, Jungle Lore, The Man Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, My India and Tree Tops.
The Temple Tiger and More Man-Eaters of Kumaon gives a fascinating picture of the rural life in the Uttarakhand hills. Corbett was the first writer, after Rudyard Kipling and Munshi Premchand, to mention Nainital in his works. His books are not only established classics, but have by themselves created a unique literary genre. Man Eaters of Kumaon is the best known of his books.
Corbett’s descriptions of his mission against the man-eaters of the Kumaon hills show that the qualities a successful shikari needs are physical strength, infinite patience and a great power of observation. His close understanding of man-eaters comes across to us in his works many a time.
In the “Author’s Note” in Maneaters of Kumaon, he writes, “A man-eating tiger is a tiger that has been compelled, through stress of circumstances beyond its control, to adopt a diet alien to it. The stress of circumstances is, in nine cases out of ten, wounds, and in the tenth case old age.”
Due to his innate love for forests, animals and birds, he became a skilled tracker who could track an animal based on its footprints alone even in thick jungles. It is known that Corbett could “read” animal tracks like a tiger’s pug marks, scratches on trees, and could tell the direction and speed of the animal.
His book My India weaves together many anecdotes involving Corbett's fellow workers, his living quarters and his adventures into the wild. In The Temple Tiger and More Man-Eaters of Kumaon, we come across the sympathy he had with the villagers whose cattle were attacked by the tigers.
“Luck had been with the tiger the previous evening but his luck could not last indefinitely, and for the killing of this cow he would have to die, for cattle are scarce in the hills and the loss of a milch cow to a poor man was a serious matter,” he writes.
Jim may not have been able to come back to Kumaon, the place where his heart lay. But he lives on in the hearts of the people of Kumaon whom he loved and looked after. Tales of his valour and wisdom echo in these hills.
Carpet Sahib is immortal here!