Mahout

For the machine learning project, see Apache Mahout

The Mughal Emperor Akbar on an Mahout, crossing the Ganges River.

The Mughal Emperor Akbar on an elephant Mahout

A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat. Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the 'family business' when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant's life.

The most common tools used by mahouts are chains and the Aṅkuśa (or ankus, anlius) –a sharp metal hook used in the training and handling of the elephant by stabbing the elephant in the head, and in areas like the mouth and inner ear, where the animal is most sensitive.

Devices used to control elephants in India

Mahout riding elephant-from the Large Clive Album

In India, especially Kerala, mahouts use three types of device to control elephants. The thotti (hook), which is 3.5 feet in length and 3 inches thick; the valiya kol (long pole), which is 10.5 feet in length and 5.5 inches in thickness; and the cheru kol (short pole).

Use of elephants in Thailand

Deeply rooted in Thai culture, elephant training has traditionally been a familial heritage passed down through the generations. Before 1989, most domestic elephants were used for logging business and forest service to haul logs up mountains. This became illegal as widespread destruction of Thailand's forests resulted in worsening monsoons. Unlike the elephant populations of India and Africa, 95% of Thailand's elephants are domesticated working elephants and privately owned. Today most work for mahouts is in the tourist business, since elephant rides are popular among travelers to Thailand.

In Thailand, tame elephants are regarded as a type of livestock and are not covered under Thailand's Conservation Act of 1992. If legally owned, there is minimal protection or welfare for them under Thai law.

The tourist experience of elephants in Thailand usually includes any combination of the following: elephant rides, trekking with elephants, elephant shows, and/or elephants begging on the streets of the big cities. Street begging elephants are used by mahouts who charge tourists to feed them. In some areas of Thailand, this practice became illegal due to the traffic dangers posed, however street begging elephants are still a common sight in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

The Elephant Nature Park in Northern Thailand aims to "provide a sanctuary and rescue centre for elephants". The majority of the elephants at the park were rescued after sustaining life-threatening injuries from phajaan. Most of these elephants have permanent physical and mental injuries, including blindness, broken backs or legs, abscesses, and post traumatic stress.

Similarly, the Elephant Refuge and Education Centre (EREC) run by the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, provides a refuge for elephants who have been rescued after decades of backbreaking work - formerly in the logging industry, but more recently in the tourist industry, working in camps and begging on the streets.

Terminology

Another term for mahout is cornac (as in French, from the Portuguese; kornak in Dutch and Polish, also a rather current last name).^{[citation needed]} In Tamil, the word used is "pahan", which means elephant keeper, and in Sinhalese kurawanayaka ('stable master'). In Malayalam the word use is paappaan.

Mahout with a young elephant at Elephant Nature Park, Thailand

In Burma, the profession is called oozie; in Thailand kwan-chang; and in Vietnam quản tượng.

Miscellaneous

Elephants have been integral to politics and the economy in Africa and Asia. Many elephants are given away on requests of the ministers and politicians of the government, and sometimes as gifts. Elephants traditionally work for the forest service and for the logging business.

In India there has been controversy over elephants attacking mahouts and villagers due to the torture some elephants endure from their mahouts, especially during Kerala festivals. More than 90% of the elephants in Kerala have been illegally obtained.

The Singapore Zoo features a show called "elephants at work and play", where the elephants' caretakers are referred to as "mahouts", and demonstrate how elephants are used as beasts of burden in south-east Asia. The verbal commands given to the elephants by the mahouts are all in Sinhalese, one of the two official languages of Sri Lanka.

In popular culture

A shop display advertising "Mahout" cigarettes features prominently in the background of the "rain dance" sequence of the famous 1952 Gene Kelly film Singin' in the Rain. The word "mahout" also features in the lyrics of the song "Drop the Pilot", by Joan Armatrading.

Literature

In George Orwell's Shooting an Elephant It is said that "It's [The Elephant] Mahout, is the only person who could control it.

See also

• Elephants in Kerala culture
• War elephant, for soldiers in the mahout role, often armed and combatant
• Howdah, a carriage mounted on the back of an elephant
• Elefantasia, for information on mahouts living and working in Laos

References

• National Geographic
• The Hindu
• Frontline
• Elephant glossary
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.