Indian training manuals

Gray · 169322. Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:52 am

Q: The 16th Century Indian Saidnama, The Baroda Manual and the Tonk Manuscript provide instruction for what activity?
F: Nookie.
A: The taming and training of cheetahs for hunting.

It's possible to capture, tame and train cheetahs to use for 'course hunting'. It takes years, and eventually the cheetahs are tame enough to lick butter off your hand - their special treat. They are then fitted out with hoods and capes, and taken out on hunts on horseback, rather like using hawks.

The Egyptians, Indians and Arabian noblemen have been doing this for around 3,000 years. The only cheetahs left in Asia are in a small nature reserve in Iran - about 50 to 100 of them.

Source

MatC · 169325. Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:56 am

Relatedly, Number 41 on the list of essential womanly skills, as set out in the Kama Sutra, is the ability to solve riddles and enigmas and use covert speech. The art of understanding cipher is also much prized.

S: Code breaker by Stephen Pincock and Mark Frary (Random House, 2007)