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Mayhem at Mahaman

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป

Bamera was the last of the direct descendant of Charger and Sita (first generation); an injury inflicted on him, by an archrival, had him moved to an enclosure (where he breath his last a few years ago). His son, perhaps the last of his kind, then rose to prominence and dominated for half a decade before a challenge that almost ended his reign.

Bandhavgarh has been at the forefront of tiger dominance which resulted in brutal conflicts. The high seat of power at Chakradhara, the most fertile territory, was the most contested for; Chakradhara also being one of the cradles of Bandhavgarh tigers, but the bloodiest of the battles have been fought in and around the Mahaman area - the region's history of savage internecine warfare.

These tigers were like the Spartans - bred for battles. And they dominated the park the way Spartans dominated Greece remaining undefeated in pitched battles for over 150 years.

By 1990s, Charger became the supreme ruler, defeating Banka (aka Barkha) who probably died towards the end of 1992, close to Mahaman area, after a long strife with Charger.

A constant strife with his sons B1 and B2 incapacitated Charger, the once indomitable tiger that built and ruled the empire of Bandhavgarh for over a decade. He was found in a starving and bruised condition in a ditch close to Mahaman / Mardari village. He was shifted to an enclosure where he later breath his last.

The tiger population flourished, and more conflicts were on the cards. But the task was cut out for the newer tigers, mostly all tracing their lineage to Sita because the sons of Charger inherited one trait from him โ€“ dominance. Though they could not sustain their sovereignty for a continued time, they maintained exceptional dominance over the period they reigned.

B1 was probably poached, which made B2 the supreme ruler. This time around, another seemingly unrelated tiger, Bokha was becoming dominant, and would challenge B2 on many occasions, though B2 was unyielding. And that was only the beginning of the battle for supremacy, though both would hardly cross the otherโ€™s path.

It was not until the arrival of Bamera, son of B2 that the conflict got heated up. The ascension to the throne for Bamera was also heralded by the arrival of not one but two nemeses โ€“ Jobhi, son of Bokha and Bheem, a tiger of unknown origin.

Right from the days of Bokha (when Bamera was young) and the growing younger-tiger-populace, Bamera was battle hardened. Like the King Leonidas of Sparta who never gave up, Bamera was at the top of his game, commanding a huge territory like his predecessors and successfully thwarting off every attempt at coup to overthrow him.

If there ever is an unwritten rule, every empire falls. Sparta fell too, and so did the rule of Bamera. The first of the battles that led to his downfall was the fight with Jobhi. A resilient Jobhi injured Bamera in the paws, not before Bamera blinded him in one eye. Not much later, Bamera was passing through the Mahaman area when he came across a furious Bheem, who just had an encounter with another tiger. Much akin to the battle of Leuctra where Thebans destroyed the Spartans' immense dominance over the Greek peninsula, a ruthless fight ensued between the two, and Bheem injured Bamera in his paws, while Bamera bit Bheem in the shoulder.

Subsequently Bamera was moved to a zoo for treatment where he breath his last.

Not long before was a new tiger seen in the area; he was later recognized as the son of Bamera, who was supposed to have been killed much earlier. The empire only began to decline and has not been destroyed yet.

Following the ways of his father, Mr. X, amassed a huge territory. One of his earliest fights was with the Mahaman tiger, son of Jobhi. Mr. X defeated Mahaman and pushed him further away. Following the death of his mate, Mr.X in quest of a new mate ousted a dominant tiger, killed the cubs of a dominant tigress, and was responsible indirectly for the deaths of a few more cubs. His opposition and perhaps the only tiger to defeat him was his fatherโ€™s arch-nemesis, Bheem.

In a fight that happened close to Mahaman area, Bheem injured Mr. X so badly that he was shifted to an enclosure for treatment and was released into the wild later. With Bheem ageing and Mr.X not wholly confident, this could mean the end of the rule for both the warriors and could be the end of the mayhem at Mahaman, a bloodshed tracing to the Chargerโ€™ times.

Mr. X is probably, the last of his kind, with a direct lineage from Charger on the paternal side, and from Banka (the father of Hardia female, the great-grand mother of Mr. X) on the maternal side (though the matriarch remained the same โ€“ Sita).