Description
Antique print dated 1895.
The page is over 115 years old and in good condition.
In order to enhance and protect the page we have set in within a bespoke frame and mount.
Frame size 400mm x 370mm. available also in a
gold frame, your choice. RtW.166.
Entitled – Hyderabad. An Elephant Fight.
Below the picture an inscription reads:
Hyderabad. – The title of Indian Prince has somehow become a synonym for lavish extravagance.
These potentates actually have to be occasionally restrained by the Resident from buying single diamonds worth half a million or so, bedsteads of solid silver, and golden baths encrusted with gems.
No wonder, then, that their pastimes are also unique, bizarre, and costly.
Probably there are hundreds of British officers who have witnessed an elephant fight, such as is shown in our reproduction, within the precints of the Nizam’s dominions; of course, the Nizam can afford this sort of thing, since his revenue approaches two millions.
The great animals are carefully starved some days before the battle, and are further infuriated with goads by their reckless riders.
It is thought advisable, however, to have a low wall between the trumpeting monsters; this ensures a protracted fight, and gives the mounted men some chance of their lives.
The Maharajah of Jeypore numbers among his hobbies the collecting of man-eating tigers, and not far from his palace (which occupies one-seventh of the entire city) one may see ten or twelve of these horrible monsters confined in hugh cages.
These tigers are trapped in pitfalls, where they are left for some days until they have been starved into extreme weakness; one of these strange pets is known to have killed and devoured fifteen human beings, another ten, and a third seven.
This same prince also keeps a pack of cheetahs or hunting leopards, which are kept muzzled when their services are not in requisition, in addition to fifty elephants, 300 horses, and a tank of alligators.
An elephant fight, such as is depicted in our illustration, can only be seen in a native State; this sort of “sport” is not allowed in purely British territory.
If you buy an item and then see it relisted this is because we occasionally have more than one available, each page is
original and not a photocopy.
Thank you for looking, please visit our shop.
