Shikargah (Hindi: शिकारगाह śikārgāh), from Persian shikārgāh meaning shikār hunting + gāh ground, is often described as a hunting ground where 'qamargah' or encircling of game occurs, an overtone of war exercise performed within a controlled arena of flora and fauna to create easier shooting and camping for hunting party.
The Mughals, who already had a hunting tradition in Central Asia, brought the practice to India upon their conquest of the subcontinent. On such occasions unresolved matters of courts were settled which included conspiration and preparation for mutinying, raising of invasion forces.[1]
The British continued to entertain their dignitaries with elaborate tiger hunts famously known as "hunting party" at these Shikargah. Jim Corbett National Park established in 1932 was first Shikargah turned into a national park during British India, only 40,000 tigers were left during India's independence in 1947, the first-ever all-India tiger census conducted in 1972 revealed the existence of only 1,827 tigers. Realizing the gravity of dwindling number of seven major big cats of the world — tigers, lions, leopards, snow leopards, pumas, jaguars and cheetahs, Indian Govt enacted Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and raised 29 tiger reserves, among which five important tiger reserves are Corbett, Rajaji, Pilibhit, Dudhwa and Valmiki.[2] Today India boasts 104 national parks, 551 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 131 Marine Protected Areas, 18 Biosphere Reserves, 88 Conservation Reserves (55 Tiger Reserves)[3] [4] and 127 Community Reserves, covering a total of 1,65,088.57 sq km. In total, there are 870 Protected Areas which make 5.06% of the geographical area of the country where 3,167 big cats are estimated ranking India with topmost share of 75% worldwide in 2022.[5] [6]
Terrorizing wild beasts were often tamed by Mughals who considered themselves as protectors of people, sources record over seventy shikargahs situated in mountainous forests, deserts, Indo-Gangetic floodplains, rocky outcrops, and coastlands.[7]