: Untold Story of How an Erstwhile Princely State Saved Gir’s Lions from Extinction #IndiaNEWS #Gujarat At the turn of the 20th century, the great Asiatic lions, which once roamed from Palestine to

Untold Story of How an Erstwhile Princely State Saved Gir’s Lions from Extinction #IndiaNEWS #Gujarat
At the turn of the 20th century, the great Asiatic lions, which once roamed from Palestine to Palamau, began disappearing in large numbers across West Asia and North India.
The only consistent refuge they found was in Gir forest of present-day Gujarat. Even there, they had become victims of shikar (hunting) expeditions by British officials and princes, loss of habitat and conflict with cattle, owned by residents living in its vicinity.
Today, the protected area of the Gir National Park of Gujarat, which covers an area of 1,412 square kilometres, is a standard bearer for the conservation of the Asiatic lions in India. But the foundation of present day conservation efforts was laid by the Nawabs of the erstwhile princely state of Junagadh, whose territories covered large tracts of the forest.
Historians have stated that the Junagadh princely states efforts under the Nawabs of the Babi clan were among the earliest attempts in India at protecting a species for its own sake since many of these present day national parks and protected natural areas were once the old hunting grounds of Indian princes and British officials.
Lions at Gir. (Image courtesy Twitter/Narendra Modi)
Early History
It was in 1735, when Sher Khan Babi evicted the last Mughal governor out of the region and created a dynasty of nine Nawabs which lasted until 1947. The focus of this article will be on the reign of the eighth and ninth Nawabs which was split by a decade of direct rule by the British colonial administration.
Without the intervention of these Nawabs, it’s safe to say that the Asiatic Lions would have all but disappeared from the Gir forest. Having said that, the first significant effort at conserving these lions came from the sixth Nawab Mahabat Khanji II (1851-1888) in 1879.
Angered at dwindling sightings of lions in his territory, he issued a set of rules which basically banned all forms of hunting and trapping of the animal unless they received specific permission from the state.
Supporting him in this endeavour was Lord Sandhurst, the Governor of Bombay. This was a significant order by any stretch because according to some estimates from 1875 to 1925 about 150,000 leopards, 80,000 tigers and 200,000 wolves were killed for sport or rewards while many others died without notice.
Despite their best intentions, neighbouring princes and British officials continued to pursue these lions. The next significant order came from the Nawab Rasul Khanji (1892-1911) in 1892, who banned the killing of the peacocks and passed a set of rules that basically stated that lions “could only be shot by special permission of the state for special reasons and circumstances,??? according to this article in the Conservation and Society journal.

Stock Market NEWS Best intraday tips Intraday Stocks below 100