Animal kingdoms: hunting, the environment, and power in the Indian princely states (First Harvard University Press edition.)

One evening in 1918, a leopard wandered into the gardens of an Indian palace.

Roused by servants, the prince's eldest son and his entourage rode elephant-back to find and shoot the intruder.

An insignificant vignette of life under the British Raj, we may think.

Yet the hunt was laden with symbolism. Carefully choreographed according to protocol, recorded by scribes and artists, its was a potent display of regal dominion over men and beasts alike.

This book uncovers the far-reaching cultural, political, and environmental importance of hunting in colonial India.