Colonial masculinity and indigenous śikārī: a history of sport-hunting in Kashmir during Dogra rule

Abstract

Hunting was recognized and practised as a popular sport by the adventure loving people of the ruling community during British rule in India. Colonial hunting which emerged in the late nineteenth century reflects the changing nature of the Colonial state and also a new imperial ideology of dominance. The importance given to the hunting and to the notion of fair play while hunting reflects the moral and physical superiority of British rulers. Kashmir also became hunting ground for the big game hunters of the British Rāj from the late nineteenth century. The British and even the other Europeans came to this mountain girt territory for shooting the game animals like Markhor, Ibex, Kashmiri Stag etc. The present study is an endeavour to show the Game Laws which were prescribed by the Kashmir Game Preservation Department for the colonial as well as for indigenous hunters along with the various shooting routes which were followed by them during the hunt. The focus of the paper is also on the identity of British colonial sportsmen and indigenous hunters and how the former maintained dominancy over the later in matter of fair play and marked themselves off from the indigenous hunters.