Dina Sanichar at the Secundra orphanage
Kipling & Mowgli
In February 1864, several hunters wandered into a jungle cave near Bulandshahr in northern India and found a boy about six years old among wolves. The boy soon ended up at the Secundra orphanage in Agra, where he was named Dina Sanichar (probably because Dina arrived at the orphanage on Saturday - “shanichar” is something like the word “Saturday” in Hindi). Medical records show that Dina, who arrived at the orphanage, walked on all fours and ate raw meat; in addition, the boy could not speak at all and made sounds similar to wolves.
It is known that Dina Sanichar was one of the “jungle children” who were visited at the missionary shelters in Sultanpur and Agra by Rudyard Kipling, a young correspondent for the Lahore Civil and Military Newspaper, who wrote a collection of short stories “The Jungle Book” a few years later.
Kipling later recalled that none of the “wild” children let him get close - the writer could only touch them with the tip of a cane. The distinctive feature of all the “forest children” was bleeding callous growths on the elbows and knees the size of “pudding for two people”, as they moved only on all fours. In addition, Kipling mentioned a complete absence of speech and any glimpses of intelligence: they stained everything with their feces, bit the staffs legs to blood, and constantly masturbated. Kipling quoted an orphanage doctor: “Wild Hindu boys were real idiots, whatever the reason for their idiocy.”
Dina Sanichar lived in the orphanage for 29 years, during which time he never learned to speak, although he eventually began to wear clothes and eat cooked food. Dina died of tuberculosis in 1895 at the age of approximately 35.
The photo shows Dina Sanichar at the Secundra orphanage in Agra, British India, circa 1889-1894.
Previously in Old Photos: The Hobbits and the British, A Hopeless Enterprise.
In February 1864, several hunters wandered into a jungle cave near Bulandshahr in northern India and found a boy about six years old among wolves. The boy soon ended up at the Secundra orphanage in Agra, where he was named Dina Sanichar (probably because Dina arrived at the orphanage on Saturday - “shanichar” is something like the word “Saturday” in Hindi). Medical records show that Dina, who arrived at the orphanage, walked on all fours and ate raw meat; in addition, the boy could not speak at all and made sounds similar to wolves.
It is known that Dina Sanichar was one of the “jungle children” who were visited at the missionary shelters in Sultanpur and Agra by Rudyard Kipling, a young correspondent for the Lahore Civil and Military Newspaper, who wrote a collection of short stories “The Jungle Book” a few years later.
Kipling later recalled that none of the “wild” children let him get close - the writer could only touch them with the tip of a cane. The distinctive feature of all the “forest children” was bleeding callous growths on the elbows and knees the size of “pudding for two people”, as they moved only on all fours. In addition, Kipling mentioned a complete absence of speech and any glimpses of intelligence: they stained everything with their feces, bit the staffs legs to blood, and constantly masturbated. Kipling quoted an orphanage doctor: “Wild Hindu boys were real idiots, whatever the reason for their idiocy.”
Dina Sanichar lived in the orphanage for 29 years, during which time he never learned to speak, although he eventually began to wear clothes and eat cooked food. Dina died of tuberculosis in 1895 at the age of approximately 35.
The photo shows Dina Sanichar at the Secundra orphanage in Agra, British India, circa 1889-1894.
Previously in Old Photos: The Hobbits and the British, A Hopeless Enterprise.
Contributed by OldPik on January 6, 2025
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