Kenneth Anderson was a typical British Indian who was born in India (Hyderabad) in 1910, lived in India and finally died in India. There is no doubt that people like Kenneth Anderson loved India. He was a sixth generation British whose ancestors hailed from Scotland. His father was a superintendent at Poona in FCMA and paid the salaries of military personnel. He was an honorary captain.
Kenneth learned about guns from his father and soon he developed a love for wild life. But Kenneth Anderson never went back to his mother country and spent all his life in Bangalore where he
died in 1974. A lot of Englishmen left India in 1947 and even Jim Corbett went away to Kenya, but Kenneth deserves credit as he stayed on In India after freedom and never thought of going back to England and Scotland.Kenneth Anderson will however be remembered as a big game hunter. He loved India and the simple villagers who resided in the south Indian jungles. Very often these villagers fell prey to man-eating leopards and tigers. Kenneth who loved big game hunting took up the onerous task of getting rid of man eaters. Unlike most other hunters, Kenneth usually hunted the big cats alone. His official records are perhaps a shade below those of Jim Corbett but he did manage to shoot 8 man eating leopards and 7 tigers. Unofficially he may have
shot a few more and his tally could be about 35 big cats.Kenneth also had the distinction of shooting a few rogue elephants which is perhaps the most difficult task for a big game hunter.
Kenneth operated in South India where he had a plantation. He used his wild life and hunting experiences to great advantage and wrote some excellent books on hunting and wild life. Kenneth wrote many books which are available of the shelf in most book stalls. His more famous books are 'Nine Man-eaters and One Rogue" (1954), "The Black Panther of Sivanipalli and Other Adventures of the Indian Jungle" (1959) and "Jungles Long Ago".All of them make excellent reading.
Anderson also gives us an excellent description of the Indian jungles and the tribals who inhabit that area. In fact Kenneth loved these tribals and he identified with them. He was one Englishman who integrated with the locals as he was fluent in Tamil and Kannada. His weapon was the.405 Winchester - heavy rifle which he loved.
Kenneth loved to hunt, but in later years he turned to conservation of wild life. But we must salute this Scotsman who made India his home and lived for India without a thought of going back. That is his greatness.
