British Women In Field Sports India, Photo 1890
Old 1890 photo of British Women readying for field sports in colonial India. Visible are European men and Women on horseback some with spears most likely for wild boar or pig-sticking hunt. The hunting of wild boar was first popularized in India, the hunting was always on horseback.
Wild pigs would breed rapidly and destroy crops, and did not hesitate in attacking other animals or even humans when cornered. The sport was a very fast and extremely dangerous pastime. It was no sport for the unfit and only hardened men took it up, fewer women were involved in this rough sport.
The wild boars were extremely swift, agile, and vicious. They invariably charged the horse and rider when cornered or wounded. Their tusks were razor-sharp. There were even pig-sticking clubs in India. It attracted men from every branch from the civil services and military to planters. Pig sticking was mainly concentrated around Poona (Pune), Allahabad, Mathura, Nilgiris, and so on. Click on the photo for better view.
Read more Pig Sticking in India. See post Viceroy of India Tiger Hunting Party Gwalior – Old Photo 1914.
Did you know- before pig-sticking it was bear-sticking because the bears became scarce, the sport turned to hunt down wild pigs.
From the collection- Raja Ravi Varma’s “Birth of Shakuntala” Oleograph 1894., View of Elephanta Caves Bombay – 2 Old Postcards 1910., Making Of The Mullaperiyar Dam – Old Print 1895., 24 Choice Views Of Bombay – Photogravure Book 1915
