The Royal Hunt in Eurasian History

From antiquity to the nineteenth century, the royal hunt was a vital component of the political cultures of the Middle East, India, Central Asia, and China. Besides marking elite status, royal hunts functioned as inspection tours and imperial progresses, a means of asserting kingly authority over the countryside. The hunt was, in fact, the "court out-of-doors," an open-air thea...

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From antiquity to the nineteenth century, the royal hunt was a vital component of the political cultures of the Middle East, India, Central Asia, and China. Besides marking elite status, royal hunts functioned as inspection tours and imperial progresses, a means of asserting kingly authority over the countryside. The hunt was, in fact, the "court out-of-doors," an open-air theater for displays of majesty, the entertainment of guests, and the bestowal of favor on subjects.

In the conduct of interstate relations, great hunts were used to train armies, show the flag, and send diplomatic signals. Wars sometimes began as hunts and ended as celebratory chases. Often understood as a kind of covert military training, the royal hunt was subject to the same strict discipline as that applied in war and was also a source of innovation in military organization and tactics.

Just as human subjects were to recognize royal power, so was the natural kingdom brought within the power structure by means of the royal hunt. Hunting parks were centers of botanical exchange, military depots, early conservation reserves, and important links in local ecologies. The mastery of the king over nature served an important purpose in official renderings: as a manifestation of his possession of heavenly good fortune he could tame the natural world and keep his kingdom safe from marauding threats, human or animal. The exchanges of hunting partners—cheetahs, elephants, and even birds—became diplomatic tools as well as serving to create an elite hunting culture that transcended political allegiances and ecological frontiers.

This sweeping comparative work ranges from ancient Egypt to India under the Raj. With a magisterial command of contemporary sources, literature, material culture, and archaeology, Thomas T. Allsen chronicles the vast range of traditions surrounding this fabled royal occupation.

1 Hunting Histories 1
World Histories and the World of Animals 1
Pursuing Protein 2
Pursuing Profit 6
Pursuing Power 7
This Hunting History 10
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1 Hunting Histories 1
World Histories and the World of Animals 1
Pursuing Protein 2
Pursuing Profit 6
Pursuing Power 7
This Hunting History 10
2 Field and Stream 14
Who Hunted? 14
Where Did They Hunt? 16
How Often Did They Hunt? 19
How Did They Hunt? 21
On What Scale Did They Hunt? 29
3 Parks 34
The Paradise and Its Antecedents 34
Hunting Parks at the Core and on the Periphery 37
Hunting Parks in East Asia 41
The Purposes of Paradise 46
4 Partners 52
Animal Assistants 52
Dogs 54
Birds 58
Elephants 70
Cats 73
5 Administration 83
Hunting Establishments 83
Success and Safety 86
Careers 88
Costs 91
6 Conservation 96
Killing and Sparing 96
Game Management 100
Cultural Constraints 106
Species Endangered 110
Natural Attitudes 114
7 A Measure of Men 119
Hunting and Hierarchy 119
Princely Virtues 124
Courting Danger 131
Publicizing Prowess 133
8 Political Animals 141
Power of Animals 141
Power over Animals 146
9 Legitimation 160
Animals and Ideology 160
Threat 164
Animal Control Officer 168
State and Nature 175
10 Circulation 186
On the Road 186
Pursuing Pleasures 193
Favors 197
The Court Out-of-Doors 201
11 Intimidation 209
Initiating Warriors 209
Imitating War 213
Intimating War 222
Initiating War 228
12 Internationalization 233
Traffic in Animals 233
Dogs 238
Birds 242
Elephants 252
Cats 254
Traffic in Trainers 260
13 Conclusions 265
History Wide 265
History Deep 273
Notes 279
Abbreviations and Primary Sources 329
Bibliography and Modern Scholarship 353
Index 395
Acknowledgments 405
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