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When and where did Corbett kill his first and last man-eater?
His first man-eater was killed in 1907 when he was 31 years old at Champawat and his last was at Thak village when he was 63 years old in 1938. It was recently established, that the exact date of the killing of Champawat man-eating tiger was May 12th, 1907. You can view the full discussion of the source at the discussion page dedicated to the Champawat man-eater here. Updated 14/7/18 by Joseph Jordania |
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Did Corbett kill a man-eating leopard in Nagpur, as it was mentioned in the letter of villagers to Corbett (in the story of Kanda man-eater tiger)?
The villagers around Kanda recalled to Corbett, in a summoning letter, that he killed the famous Nagpur leopard. It’s in fact the leopard of Rudraprayag, who was known by different names in different localities. Nagpur is one of the small ‘patties’ (small villages) around Rudraprayag. Interested readers can read a special research paper on this topic HERE |
Did Corbett ever shoot at people?
Corbett is reported to have shot at people, but there is no evidence of that. We had met a man in Dalkania who claimed that Corbett accidentally shot and killed his father. But the man was quite incoherent in his report and could not substantiate further evidence. In Kaladhungi village, a few people remember Corbett shooting at poachers, only to dislodge their muzzleloaders from their hands and render them unusable. This claim made by people independently appears more plausible, since Corbett himself admits in MY INDIA “Sultana” chapter, that he could have shot at the rifles from the hands of Sultana’s men in their camp. |
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Did Corbett ever have experienced supernatural events during his hunts?
Corbett did mention in his stories a few cases which he could not explain, like the “night of ghosts” experience in Champawat bungalow, or the agonizing human scream from a deserted Thak village, or the mysterious lights under Purnagiri Temple. Some of these mysteries had been explained by perfectly natural means, and if you are interested, you can read about these explanations HERE “Mystery of Champawat Bungalow“ and “Mysterious Night Scream from the Deserted Thak village” HERE |
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How many rifles did Corbett use when hunting man-eaters and where are they now?
For most of his life Corbett was using two of his most famous and trusted rifles: (1) the Rigby-Mauser .275, given to him in 1910 for killing the Champawat man-eating leopard. The rifle was relatively light, and Corbett was using it when accuracy over a long distance was required. The Rigby .275 is now in the UK, London, with the maker of the rifle, John Rigby and Co Gunmakers Company. Corbett bequeathed the rifle to the Oxford University Press, and from there the rifle ended up with the maker of the rifle. (2) The second rifle was a heavier double barrelled 450/400, used when the meeting with the quarry was expected to happen in close quarters. Since 2015 the 450/400 heavy rifle is in the USA, with a private owner of the historic rifles, Bill Jones. Earlier Corbett used other rifles as well – please check the special research article dedicated to Corbett rifles HERE |
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Are any of the copies of the first Corbett’s book "Jungle Stories" still around?
There is one confirmed copy of the book in possession of the Rigby & Co Gunmakers in London, UK, and there are possibly couple of other copies available. All the other copies, as Corbett mentioned, were “read to death”. You can read a special article on this topic here HERE |
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Are there are moving images of Jim Corbett available?
Yes, there is a unique, indeed unique moving picture of Corbett. This is however viewable, upon application (and a fee) at the BFI archives near Tottenham Court Road station in London, UK. This is a plan of about 10 seconds of a shy Corbett gradually lifting his hat which had been hiding his face and later cupping a rabbit as it ran into his hands. The rabbit part had been on YouTube for some time HERE, by someone who had filmed the BFI archives screen with a camera, but the resolution is quite bad. |
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Why there are some inconsistencies between Corbett letters to his sister and his stories?
There are inconsistencies first of all, between his books itself, mainly Temple Tiger and MEOK. Then there are inconsistencies between his letters to Maggie and his published stories. Despite our initial belief that Corbett had kept a diary, we have found in fact he never kept one, and he didn’t even rely on the letters, sometimes written on the scene of the story, only a few hours after the hunt, when he was writing his books. A perfect example would be for the Kanda man-eater. In fact Corbett relied on his memory only to write the story, never on his letters, which explain the slight inconsistencies. Other source of differences between Corbett's stories and his letters to Maggie was possibly the concern about her, as Corbett was sometimes downplaying the danger of the hunts in his letters. Several of such inconsistencies are discussed in the book “Behind Jim Corbett’s Stories” HERE |
How many books about Corbett have been so far published?
There have been a number of books written on Corbett, biographies to be precise. The number can’t be told exactly as some are not well-known at all. However, the most famous ones are “Jim Corbett of Kumaon” (1979) by D.C. Kala, “Carpet Sahib” (1986) by Martin Booth, “Under the Shadow of Man-Eaters” (1997) by Jerry Jaleel, “Shikari Sahib” (2003) by Peter Byrne and “On Jim Corbett Trails” (2004) by A.J.T. Johnsingh. The contents of these books vary from biographical notes to research into Corbett stories. There are also numerous children books on Corbett, including cartoons. There are also novels, one written by Tim Werling, purely fictional and another one by Stephen Alter, which can be classed as semi-fictional. And finally there is the book “Behind Corbett Stories” written by our group of researchers, this book is purely about research on Corbett-related topics. |