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THE ART OF TRAINING PIGEONS IN THE EAST. 

 (Continued from p. 174.) 



[In our last number we transcribed the curious remarks on this subject, 

 written by the Sheikh Abul Fazl, the minister and friend of Akbar the 

 Great, in 1590, illustrating the mode of keeping Pigeons in Persia at that 

 date. We now give a translation of the hitherto unpublished commentary 

 on this treatise by Alla-oodeen, of Loharoo, one of the best authorities on 

 the subject in India, and written by him at the request of Sir Charles 

 Aitchesou, Lieut.-Governor of the Punjab.] 



Kabutar-bazi, or, as it is also called, 'Ishqbazi, signifies the 

 art of playing or gaming with Pigeons, which comprises also 

 their training, breeding, witnessing their play or feats of strength, 

 making them lay their eggs and bring up their young ones, 

 and making them fly in the air for amusement. Urana and 

 Larana are two different things. The one means simply their 

 soaring high in the air ; the other implies their mingling together 

 in the air, and not fighting or wrestling, as it would literally seem 

 to denote. When the birds are taught to fly away and return at 

 command, it is called Kabutar-bazi. If they simply take a few 

 turns in the air (which in Hindi is termed Tawa Kama), and 

 neither meet nor mingle with their kind, it is simply Kabutar-bazi; 

 but if they do so with any other set of Pigeons belonging to some 

 other Kabutar-baz in the neighbourhood, it is called Larai. They 

 are also taught to leave their Tah (or keeper's place), and sally 

 forth in a straight line to a certain distance, as their keeper may 

 desire, returning with a rush when called ; and this is called the 

 flying or sallying (lumbi) of the Pigeons. If they encounter 

 other Pigeons in the air, and do not mingle with them, but, in 

 order to avoid them, rise a little higher, it is called Bhagna. Any 

 number of Pigeons flying together is called Sath, and the most 

 excellent flight consists in their sallying forth as near to the 

 ground as possible, nay even so low that their wings almost touch 

 the surface of the earth, while in their return from the goal they 

 must rise high in the air, so as to render the sight admirable. In 

 rushing out they should rise in a group, and, when called, come 

 back direct in a straight line, fluttering all the way in the air. 

 This stately evolution is called Keza atchafar hai. Both their 

 egress and ingress should be as graceful as those of a Talycr, 

 especially when rushing in to the Tah for grain. 



