Pachabdi Gazi (1924–1997) was a tiger hunter of Bangladesh. He killed 57 tigers, highest in Sundarban.[1] [2]
Gazi was born in 1924 in Shara, Satkhira District, East Bengal, British India. He was born into a hunting family, his father was Meher Gazi, a notable tiger hunter who had killed 50 tigers and from who he inherited a muzzle loading double barrel rifle. His grandfather's brother Ismail Gazi was also a hunter. He killed his first tiger when he was 17 in Paikgachha Upazila, Khulna District. The tiger was known as the terror of Golkhali.[3] He was often employed by the government of Bangladesh to hunt human killing tigers after the government of Bangladesh banned tiger hunting in 1972.[4]
Gazi worked with the rangers of the Forest Department. He was appointed a forest guard as his notoriety increased. He used a number of methods to hunt tigers, including killing them from tree tops. He was viewed by honey collectors and others working in the forest as a saviour for protecting them from tigers. He was awarded Tamgha-i-Khidmat in 1968 by the government of Pakistan. In his career he is estimated to have killed 57-61 tigers including a 12 feet long tiger. His last kill was known as the terror of Talpatti.[5]
Gazi died in 1997. The book Eighteen tides and a tiger by Anjana Basu has a tiger hunter named Pachabdi Gazi after him.[6]