Detailed Notes
Parbati Barua developed a fascination for elephants at a very young age while accompanying her father, Prakritish Chandra Barua, the last Raja of Gauripur, on forest expeditions. Her father owned about forty elephants in his royal stables and was known for his deep understanding of elephant behavior. Under his guidance, she learned the art of handling elephants and at the age of 14 successfully captured and domesticated her first wild elephant in the Kochugaon forests of Assam.
Over the decades, Parbati Barua has trained more than 500 elephants and became an expert in taming and managing wild elephants using traditional techniques such as Mela Shikar, a method where elephants are captured using ropes instead of tranquilizers. Her knowledge has helped forest departments in several Indian states including Assam, West Bengal, and Kerala to reduce human elephant conflicts.
Her life and work inspired the famous book 'Queen of the Elephants' by Mark Shand and a BBC documentary of the same name. In recognition of her contributions to wildlife conservation, she received the Padma Shri in 2024 and several other honors including the Assam Gaurav award.