Mahout

{{Infobox military unit | unit_name = Mahout | native_name = ''Mahout'' | image = | image_size = | caption = | dates = | date = | country = Historical India <br>Kingdom of Sri Lanka | branch = Cavalry (melee) | size = | garrison = | colors = | equipment = | battles = }} thumb|An image of the elephant keeper in India riding his elephant from ''Tashrih al-aqvam'' (1825).

A '''mahout''' is an elephant rider, trainer, or keeper.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mahout|url=http://www.elephant.se/mahout.php|website=Absolute Elephant Information Encyclopedia|access-date=27 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201202249/http://www.elephant.se/mahout.php|archive-date=1 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Mahouts were used since antiquity for both civilian and military use. Traditionally, mahouts came from ethnic groups with generations of elephant keeping experience, with a mahout retaining his elephant throughout its working life or service years.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Laws|first1=Eric|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XTELEAAAQBAJ&dq=Mahout,+a+Keeper+and+Driver+of+an+Elephant&pg=PR28|title=The Elephant Tourism Business|last2=Scott|first2=Noel|last3=Font|first3=Xavier|last4=Koldowski|first4=John|date=2020-11-23|publisher=CABI|isbn=978-1-78924-586-8|language=en}}</ref>

== Etymology == [[File:A young Elephant and its Mahout.jpg|thumb|A young elephant and his mahout, Kerala, India]]

The word ''mahout'' derives from the Hindi words ''mahaut'' (महौत) and ''mahāvat'' (महावत), and originally from the Sanskrit ''mahāmātra'' (महामात्र).

Another term is ''cornac'' or ''kornak'', which entered many European languages via Portuguese. This word derives ultimately from the Sanskrit term ''karināyaka'', a compound of ''karin'' (elephant) and ''nayaka'' (leader). In Kannada, a person who takes care of elephants is called a ''maavuta,'' and in Telugu the word used is ''mavati''; this word is also derived from Sanskrit. In Tamil, the word used is ''pahan'', which means 'elephant keeper', and in Sinhala {{Transliteration|si|kurawanayaka}} ('stable master'). In Malayalam the word used is ''paappaan''.

In Burma, the profession is called ''u-si''; in Thailand ''kwan-chang'' (ควาญช้าง); and in Vietnam ''quản tượng''.

== Equipment == [[File:Mahout washing his elephant. Temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.jpg|thumb|Mahout washing his elephant. Temple in Kanchipuram]] The most common tools used by mahouts are chains and the ''aṅkuśa'' (goad, also ''ankus''<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Mahout |volume=17 |page=424}}</ref> or ''anlius'') – a sharp metal hook used as guide in the training and handling of the elephant.<ref>Fowler, Mikota, eds. [https://books.google.com/books?id=A3GFYySwY1cC&pg=PA54 ''Biology, Medicine and Surgery of Elephants.''] John Wiley & Sons, 2008, p. 54.</ref>

In India, especially Kerala, mahouts use three types of device to control elephants. The ''thotti'' (hook), which is 3.5 feet in length and about 1 inch thick; the ''valiya kol'' (long pole), which is 10.5 feet in length and about 1 inch in thickness; and the ''cheru kol'' (short pole).<ref>Ajitkumar, Anil, Alex, eds., [http://www.vetcos.com/vetnotes/captive_asian_elephant.pdf ''Healthcare Management of Captive Asian Elephants''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630055446/http://www.vetcos.com/vetnotes/captive_asian_elephant.pdf |date=2015-06-30 }} Kerala Agricultural University, 2009, p. 165</ref>

== Society == Elephants, and therefore also mahouts, have long been integral to politics and the economy throughout Southern and South-eastern Asia. The animals are given away per request of government ministers and sometimes as gifts. In addition to more traditional occupations, today mahouts are employed in many countries by forestry services and the logging industry, as well as in tourism.

== Culture == Elephants can remember tone, melody, and words, allowing them to recognise more than 20 verbal commands.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lim |first=Teckwyn |url=https://www.editions.ird.fr/produit/696/9782709929943/composing-worlds-with-elephants |title=Composing Worlds with Elephants: Interdisciplinary Dialogues |publisher=IRD Éditions |year=2023 |isbn=978-2-7099-2993-6 |editor-last=Lainé |editor-first=De Nicolas |location=Marseille |pages=137–155 |chapter=From the mouth of the mahout: a review of elephant command words |editor-last2=Keil |editor-first2=P. G. |editor-last3=Khatijah Rahmat |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/387795167_From_the_mouth_of_the_mahout_a_review_of_elephant_command_words}}</ref> The Singapore Zoo featured a show called "elephants at work and play" until 2018, where the elephants' caretakers were referred to as "mahouts", and demonstrated how elephants are used as beasts of burden in Southeast Asia. The verbal commands given to the elephants by the mahouts are all in Sinhala, one of the two official languages of Sri Lanka.

A shop display advertising "Mahout" cigarettes features prominently in the background of the "rain dance" sequence of the 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.

George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" discusses the relationship of an elephant to its mahout: "It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one which had gone 'must.' It had been chained up, as tame elephants always are when their attack of 'must' is due, but on the previous night it had broken its chain and escaped. Its mahout, the only person who could manage it when it was in that state, had set out in pursuit, but had taken the wrong direction and was now twelve hours' journey away..."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Orwell |first1=George |editor1-last=Collini |editor1-first=Stefan |title=Selected Essays |date=7 January 2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-880417-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VxUOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 |language=en}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Wiktionary}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20021018234317/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/photogalleries/1016_phajaan3.html National Geographic] *{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20110606111711/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/02/13/stories/2006021308700500.htm The Hindu]}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080513045607/http://www.flonnet.com/fl2408/stories/20070504003711400.htm Frontline] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160201202249/http://www.elephant.se/mahout.php Elephant glossary]

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