Royal Bengal Tiger

Illustrious life of the Royal Bengal Tiger

As cyclone Amphan destroyed Asia’s largest book market in College Street, Kolkata, I read the Animalia Indica.

Indranil Halder

In it, I came across a story entitled , “The Last Tiger” by Ruskin Bond. A statement caught my eye. It says , ‘ A tiger has his dignity to preserve! ‘

Recognised as king of the jungle with a fearsome reputation, the tiger avoid humans. The tiger used to roam across the Asian continent and is part of the culture of many south and south east asian countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and South Kore. In these countries, influence of the tiger is also represent in cosmologies, mythology and religion.

The tiger has always been a part of the Indian civilisation, heritage and culture. According to National Geographic, “ Over many centuries they have become an important part of Indian tradition and lore.”

Historically, the tiger had a significant presence in the Indus Valley Civilization, Hindu mythology and Vedic era. During the Hindu festival such as Durga pujo , Goddess Durga is always associated with a tiger, as the animal vehicle of Goddess Durga.

Indian state of West Bengal is fortunate to have the Bengal tiger, also known as the Royal Bengal Tiger or the Indian tiger , is to call their own. Bengal tiger illustrious. There are four main areas to take into consideration.

Habitat : Sundarbans

The Sundarbans is an unique Bengal tiger habitat. It has world’s largest mangrove forest of 10,000 km² shared between India and Bangladesh. The Sundarbans is formed at the delta of 3 rivers where the Bengal tiger lives.

The Bengal tiger co -exists with the Gangetic dolphins, estuarine crocodiles, Olive Ridley turtles ,spotted deer, wild boar, gaur, water buffalo and mud crabs in between the Sundari trees. The beauty of Sundarbans was described by writer Amitav Ghosh, in his novel, The Hungry Tide as : “A mangrove forest is utterly unlike other woodlands or jungles. There are no towering, vine-looped trees, no ferns, no wildflowers, no

chattering monkeys or cockatoos. Mangrove leaves are tough and leathery, the branches gnarled and the foliage often impassively dense. Visibility is short and the air still and fetid. At no moment can human beings have any doubt of the terrain’s hostility to their presence, of its cunning and resourcefulness, of its determination to destroy or expel them. Every year, dozens of people perish in the embrace of that dense foliage, killed by tigers, snakes and crocodiles.”

The Sundarbans is equally important as the African savanna, the Amazon rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef with its natural resources, various inhabitants and the largest symbiotic ecosystem of its kind. The Bengal tiger also shares the Sundarbans’ ecosystem with agriculturists, fishermen and honey gatherers. Author Neil Grant’s wonderful story of a young man named Rudra and his connection to West Bengal and the man-eating Bengal tiger, highlights Sundarbans as the home of the Bengal tiger. This is their habitat , there they swim, they stalk , they hunt. Rudra, the character from his book, “Honeyman and The Hunter “ retells stories told by his grandmother of her childhood in the Sundarbans. The fragile coexistence of the Bengal tiger and the human population is also explored by author Annu Jalais. She pioneered an anthropological work “ Forest of Tigers: People, Politics and Environment in the Sundarbans.”

While, Sujit Mukherjee from the University of Wollongong, Australia looked at the connection of the Bengal tiger in fictional characters associated with Sundarbans, stated in his paper :Tigers in Fiction: An Aspect of the Colonial Encounter stated ’,’As for the tiger achieving the dignity of literature, this was provided by snake- and tiger-infested lower Bengal in eastern India which cultivated, in addition to the snake goddess Manasa, a number of tiger deities, chief among which was Dakshin Raye. Worshipped even now in the Sunder- bans region, this neighbourhood deity was eulogised in numerous folk verses and one famous long poem, the Rayemangal of Krishnaram Das, a Bengali work composed in about 1786. The poem that celebrated supremacy of two local deities of the area, Daksin Ray (Lord of the South) and Bada-khan Ghazi (Big Khan the Ghazi) of the Muslims’, thereby also signifying that the awe and dread of the lord of the Sunderban jungle was shared by both communities.’

It highlights the integration of the Sundarbans into the Bengali culture. The Sundarbans is not just a part of the Bengali culture but of the global

cultural too. Known to traders from the ancient world of Arabia, Greece and Rome, the traders of Portuguese, English and French origin who came to know about the Sundarbans in 12th century as trade increased. The Sundarbans has gone through significant changes and today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It remains the home of the Bengal tiger across Bangladesh and India.

Influence : Art, Literature & Aristocratic Lifestyle

Children in India grow up listening to stories of the Bengal tiger. And stories of Tipu Sultan’s love for Bengal tiger is one such story. Tipu had two live Bengal tigers in his palace , tiger was the symbol on his sword and his throne was a life-sized tiger crusted with gold and precious stones. His other most famous item is Tipu’s Tiger ( in Victoria and Albert Museum, London has a life-sized wooden musical toy in the form of a tiger made around 1793) which makes ‘the growling roar of the Bengal tiger’. And fascinating stories span around Tipu’s love for the Bengal tiger.

Over time, several authors have written about this fascinating tiger. Rudyard Kipling created Shere Khan as the famous Bengal tiger in the Jungle Book. Yann Martel won the Man Booker Prize in 2002 for his novel-Life of Pi, which tells the story of a 16 year old Indian boy castaway on the Pacific Ocean with a Royal Bengal Tiger. Life of Pi went on to win four Oscar in Hollywood at the 85th Academy Awards for directing, visual effects, cinematography and music. The Hollywood movies have been celebrating the Bengal tiger for many decades. In 1949, another American adventure film Song of India involved a young arrogant Indian prince, his girl , a Bengal tiger and a local boy who helped the captured animals was a great success.

The Bengal tiger has been associated with many British Raj stories too. One such story is “The Tiger and Ruby,” the author Kief Hillsbery, who is the nephew of Nigel Halleck wrote about Neil. Neil, left Britain as a clerk for the East India Company and disappearing in the mountain kingdom of Nepal. Tracing his ancestor’s journey, Nigel travelled from Lahore to Calcutta to Kathmandu to find out Neil was a friend to an Afghan prince (Sa’adat al-Mulk),book-keeper in an opium warehouse and hunter of the Bengal tiger.

The Bengal tiger used to roam in the Asian subcontinent in large numbers but that was not the case in India after the British Raj rule. Tiger hunting became a glamour sport that drew crowds from the UK and the USA. The violence of the tiger hunt was highlighted inNightrunners of Bengal (1951) by John Masters. He penned a line that said,‘ firing practically into the teeth of a wounded tigress (see chapter seven) before he can impress an Indian princess.’ William Manchest’s Shadow of the Monsoon (1956) depicted a string of tiger-shooting. The stories of the tiger-hunting was part of British Raj mythology and paintings in British canvases across the empire. John Zoffany’s painting ‘The Death of the Royal Tiger’(1795) also portrayed the hunting of Bengal tiger. In 1890, sketches like ‘Tiger Shooting in India’ made during Prince Albert Victor’s Indian trip.

Tiger hunting, as sport was not reserved only for Europeans or Americans but also became fashionable amongst many Indians. Represented in the Mughal miniatures paintings are images of the tiger hunting. Across the Indian subcontinent, paintings of Maharajas killing tigers are common in palaces. In the state of West Bengal, paintings of the Bengal tiger , taxidermied large the Bengal tiger heads with chandeliers and ceiling high Belgian glass mirrors in mansions and the tiger skins are still symbols of prestige in Bengali upper crust.

The Indian royals and elites would also attend shikar ( hunt) parties with their English counterparts. It was not just reserved for the men. Women also participated. Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur , was one of the world’s Ten Most Beautiful Women (Vogue magazine), often went to shikars with her husband Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. A certain, Time magazine published article stated in her younger days, Maharani Gayatri Devi hunted and killed 26

Bengal tigers.

In 2018, journalist Prasun Sonwalkar for the Hindustan Times London reported the story of a Bengal tigress in England from a set of rediscovered 18th century ledgers at the British Library. The story goes , an iconic Bengal tigress was presented to the fourth Duke of Marlborough in Oxfordshire. It was gifted by governor of the Bengal presidency, Clive of India. The Bengal tigress was kept at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, as an ultimate status symbols for wealthy British aristocracy. A British artist George Stubbs, painted the tiger three times. In 1995, one of those paintings was sold in 1995 for £7.9 million.

Before the end of the British rule in India, the local Maharajahs ruled nearly 550 Indian princely states. They would help subjects to over come problem of man-eating Bengal tigers. Maharaj Kumar Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur of Cooch Behar state would hunt man-eating Bengal tigers around the Himalayan foothills to save their subjects. Man-eating the Bengal tiger is still a problem. Dane Huckelbridge wrote in her book , “No Beast So Fierce “: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, The deadliest animal in History, about a man eating serial killer, the Bengal tiger in Nepal.

Through literally work, the Bengal tiger found its presence in war-torn Baghdad too. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo , is a play by Rajiv Joseph and in his book, the author characterised the Bengal tiger at the Baghdad Zoo that wandered through the war-torn Iraqi landscape looking for answers but unable to find any.

There are several contemporary documentary stories of the Bengal tiger which include The True Story of Machli, the World’s Most Famous Tiger by Jason Bittel published in National Geography, (published December 12, 2017) where the author identified a 19 year old tiger Machli , she attacked crocodiles, defended cubs from males, and managed to survive for years with one eye. And the story of this Bengal tigress in India’s Ranthambore National Park, was the favourite amongst both domestic and international tourists.

Recently, rumour mills were in overdrive as the news of J.K. Rowling’s new book called What’s Left of the Jungle Book, to be published on a tourist guide at a West Bengal tiger reserve in India.

In our society, the strength of human characters are compared to the strength of the Bengal tiger. The number of the Bengal tiger may have decreased significantly, but life of the tiger was preserved, when the British Raj first awarded the title ‘Royal Bengal Tiger’.

Also in the Bengali culture, the author often compare the strength of human characters to the strength of a Bengal tiger. In the early 1870s , a certain stubborn teenager from a middleclass Bengali Hindu family joined a wrestling gymnasium in Dacca. The young wrestler was the pioneer of the cult of physical strength and courage in undivided Bengal. Author Arpita Mukherjee in her bookThe Monk Who Tamed the Tiger: Biography of Paramhangsa Soham Swami explored Soham’s life.

While, Tiger Women by Sirsho Bandyopadhyay also explored Priyanath Bose who is considered to be one of the pioneers of circus in India. In 1887, he was the founder of the Great Bengal Circus. Sushila Sundari who was the first Indian woman went on to perform in a circus with two Bengal tigers is part of Tiger Womenstory.

The flamboyant sport of horse polo had a team from Kolkata, India named Bengal Tigers for their excellent polo playing skills. Their skills were matched by their name. In the glory days of the Calcutta Polo Club, polo was a passion for many Maharajahs, members of the Indian army and Bengali elites. In 1979, the fierce Bengal Tigerstoured south-east Asia and Australia. This Kolkata polo team also won the Centenary Gold Cup in 1961 which is played every 100 years.

The witty Bengali writers celebrate the closeness of their culture with the Bengal tiger as they continue to write stories of how the powerful beast lacks intelligence especially in the company of a clever jackal. According to Sujit Mukherjee, “It must have been intended as adding their own tribute to the undisputed jungle overlord of eastern India. Yet the same region has fostered, especially in Bengali, any number of fables in which the strong but stupid tiger is outwitted by the clever jackal, thus demonstrating that familiarity had bred a certain measure of contempt. No factual study or fictional work by an English- man or woman has ever reflected this attitude, perhaps because the British in India never lived close enough to the tiger.” These societal comparisons of the Bengal tiger makes its life more illustrious.

Awareness:

The Bengal tiger and its habitat are under threat due to climate change, wildlife trade and lack of awareness.

In Australia, the awareness about the Bengal tiger is raised through zoos and media reports. The animal is looked after throughout its life. It was reported in 2016,Bakkar, the beloved Bengal tiger at Canberra’s National Zoo and Aquarium, passed away due to old age at 21. In 2017, Dreamworld Australia’s oldest Bengal TigerRama had passed away with kidney failure. And in 2020, Indira the Bengal Tiger from Zambi Wildlife Park in Sydney’s west had minor eye surgery as reported. An Australian designer Camilla had an eye catching print of the Bengal tiger in jewelled turban on leather handbags to match her 2018 exquisite and colourful Indian print kaftan collection.

In India, awareness about Bengal tiger is being raised since 1970s. In 1973, theSunderbans’ Tiger Reserve is one of the first of the nine tiger reserves to be created as part of Project Tiger . The reserve is spread across 2,500sqkm.

Indian hotel chains to fashion designers to wineries have joined the movement to raise awareness about Bengal tiger. TAj Safari , part of TAj Hotel, had organised 2019 jungle safari holiday package, A Trail of The Mysterious Bengal Tiger for guests to enjoy the majestic tiger in Indian summer. The hotel also has the logo of a tiger on its TAj Club tote shopping bag. Indian Fashion designer to Bollywood Stars, Sabyasachi Mukherjee has the Royal Bengal Tiger as his offical logo. The Royal Bengal Tiger logo could be found itself in exquisite waistbands of beaded lehngas, belts and bags of Sabyasachi collection. Founder Rajeev Samant from Sula Vineyard launching a new winery and part of the proceeds from the wines has been used towards spreading

awareness about Bengal tiger.

In Indian state of West Bengal, artist Bhaskar Chitrakar of Kalighat, is reviving this style “kalighat pata” painting from 19th and early 20th centuries and he celebrated the Bengal tiger in his painting Tiger Women like other ‘patuas’ or painters to raise awareness about the Bengal tiger. And the cafe cultural explosion in the cultural capital of India,has a Royal Bengal Tiger Cafe in Kolkata, dedicated to the love of the majestic Bengal tiger. It is also raising much needed awareness on the tiger conservation with cafe goers.

While in Bangladesh, the national cricket team is raising awareness by calling themselves: ‘ The Tigers’ after the Bengal tiger.

The state government of West Bengal, India is working diligently with environmentalists to raise awareness and protect the home of Bengal tiger, the Sundarbans. The reason being, India is experience a new era of development in road and railway infrastructure and the home of the Bengal tiger had been crouched upon by human since 1830. In 1830, 85,000 acres of land was in Meghna Estuary was cleared for cultivation and in 1862, 8650 acres of land was again cleared and named Port Canning( after Governor General of India), thus reducing the habitat of the Bengal tiger in Sundarbans.

In Italy, fashion designer Gucci’s Bengal Tiger Print Jacket featuring had been immensely popular with young and trendy fashionistas, possibly raising awareness with young people. The Bengal tiger has also been celebrated in Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore as it hosted Karen Knorr’s imagery of majestic India. In 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported in an article , ‘In Pictures: Tigers in Palaces, Horses in Havelis’ by Shanoor Seervai , the photographic presence of Bengal Tiger inside a palace. Increased awareness, has definitely improved protection of the Bengal tiger, thus increasing the tiger population. So is the “Wild Tiger” painting by a Brazilian artist Ricardo Siccuro, is of the Bengal tiger.

In 2019, Sikkimese forest department, had for the first time captured on camera a royal Bengal tiger roaming the Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary in East district at an altitude of 9,583ft.

In 2020, the popular Netflix series ‘Tiger King’ also raised awareness by highlighting the barbaric treatment, breeding and selling of the Bengal tigers such as ‘Bengali’ with other tiger species in captivity.The television series raised serious questions about the legal protection for tigers in private zoos across United States of America. And four years ago a pet Bengal tiger escaped from a private home and made headline news as it was spotted roaming on a busy highway. Panjo, the 140kg pet Bengal tiger in South Africa broke free from the back of a vehicle on his way to veterinary clinic. Again, it highlighted the issue of the Bengal tiger as pet away from the natural habitat.

Bhutan also reported recent sighting of a Bengal tiger in Ripu Reserve Forest, 3km from the India-Bhutan international border . This gave hope to the Bengal tiger survival in the wild as research by leading author Dr Sharif Mukul, an assistant professor at Independent University Bangladesh, casted doubt on the long term survival of the Bengal tiger in the wild. He published a paper in the journal, Science of The Total Environment which stated , “Fewer than 4,000 Bengal tigers are alive today. Dr Mukul also said “What is most terrifying is that our analyses suggest tiger habitats in the Sundarbans will vanish entirely by 2070.” The publication was a collaborative work with his Australian counterpart Professor Bill Laurance from James Cook University.

The Bengal tiger should be increasingly featured in the currency notes, postage stamps and children’s online learning programs across the globe, just as they do in India and the Bangladesh respectively. It’s survival depend on us. And we have to preserve both its dignity and survival.

To continue raising awareness about the Bengal tiger, it is time for me to celebrate the Bengal Tiger by cherishing my old memory to have hold two white orphan Bengal tiger cubs at the Kolkata Zoological Garden animal hospital with my brother. To celebrate International Tiger’s

Day ( 29/07) , I dedicate this poem “The Tyger” by English poet William Blake to the illustrious, powerful and majestic Bengal tiger.

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears And water’d heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

We can’t lose our tigers

Learn more about WWF’s work to double the number of wild tigers by 2022. To help support efforts to keep tiger in the wild, consider virtually adopting one today.