Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo

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Three of the last Asiatic cheetahs recorded from India were shot down in 1947, by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Korea, as seen in this photo submitted by his private secretary to JBNHS.[1]

Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo (1901-1958) was the last ruler of erstwhile Korea State.[2][3][4] He was crowned as the king of Korea in 1925 and continued to rule the state until the state's merger with independent India on 1 January 1948.[5][6] He was a Rajput by caste.[7][8] He had represented the ruling Chief in the second Round Table Conference held in London in 1931.[5]

He is notorious for killing the last three surviving Asiatic cheetahs of India.[9][10] [11]It is believed that he killed as many as 1,710 tigers in the central part of India.[12] His granddaughter, Ambica Singh, defended her grandfather claiming that he never killed big cats for fun but rather hunted only those animals who had turned man-eaters.[13] Nevertheless, while tigers are well-known for occasionally becoming man-eaters, there is no documentation of wild cheetahs ever killing a human, and the number of tigers reported to have become man-eaters in his lifetime is far less than the as many as 1,710 tigers he reportedly killed.[citation needed]

In August 1947, several princely states under the Eastern States Agency attempted to form their own state called the Eastern States Union, led by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Korea. However, major states like Mayurbhanj and Bastar did not join.[14] He died in 1958.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Divyabhanusinh (1999). The End of a Trail: the Cheetah in India. Banyan Books, New Delhi.
  2. ^ Srivastava, Dinesh Kumar; Ramamurthy, V. S. (2 February 2021). Climate Change And Energy Options For A Sustainable Future. World Scientific. p. 24. ISBN 978-981-12-3349-4. In 1948, soon after the Independence, Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koria, Chhattisgarh of Sarguja State[...].
  3. ^ "'The Story of India's Cheetahs': How the cheetah went from being hunter to hunted". Scroll.in. 17 June 2023.
  4. ^ Addison, Henry Robert; Oakes, Charles Henry; Lawson, William John; Sladen, Douglas Brooke Wheelton (1959). Who's who, Volume 111. University of California. p. 1721. KOREA STATE, C.P., India, Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo (Raja), C.S.1. 1946; Ruling Prince of Korea State, E.S.A., India [...].
  5. ^ a b "District Korea". Government of Chhattisgarh.
  6. ^ "Who was Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo, man responsible for killing India's last cheetahs?". Opoyi.com. 2022.
  7. ^ Dilip Patel (20 September 2022). "Will the Kuno Cheetah can die like Gujarat?". All Gujarat News.
  8. ^ Report on the Administration of the Feudatory States of the Central Provinces. 2022.
  9. ^ "कौन थे महाराज रामानुज प्रताप सिंह, जिन्होंने आखिरी भारतीय चीता को गोली मारी थी?". The Lallantop. 17 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Cheetah: Did India's erstwhile nobility cause its wildlife's downfall? Apply nuance, some say". Down to earth. 19 September 2022.
  11. ^ Hayward, Matt W. (3 March 2025). Saving Biodiversity: Threats, Strategies, and Big Ideas. Taylor & Francis. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-040-32248-2. When three were shot by Maharajah Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Surguja State in 1948, only one individual was subsequently observed.
  12. ^ "India's natural history comes alive at Victoria". The Telegraph. 27 April 2017.
  13. ^ a b "Never killed for fun: Granddaughter of king accused of hunting India's last cheetahs". India Today. 17 September 2022.
  14. ^ Srinivasan, Venkataraghavan Subha (25 October 2021). The Origin Story of India's States. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. p. 106. ISBN 978-93-5492-316-6. In August 1947, the members of the Eastern States Agency made a play to form their own state. They joined together to form the Eastern States Union, headed by Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo, the ruler of the princely state of Korea (now also spelled as Koriya). However, two of the biggest states-Mayurbhanj and Bastar-along with some of the smaller states, refused to join.