King George V and Chandra Sham Sher, Prime Minister of Nepal, with a shot tiger, 1911 (c)

Photograph, India, 1911.

Arriving in India for his coronation durbar, the King-Emperor was invited by King Prithvi of Nepal to attend a tiger hunt in the Nepalese terai.

Hunting was a major pastime for both the British political and military elite of the Raj and local royalty. Some of the great 'Shikar' expeditions lasted for weeks and bagged thousands of birds and animals. By the early 20th century excessive hunting of India's big cats had greatly reduced their populations.

From a collection of 69 photographs collected by Press Agencies, India, 1911 (c).