ONE among the many varieties of parrots is the Hiraman Parrot. This parrot speaks in a sweet tone and at times its voice sounds amazingly human. This variety of parrot, known as the Alexandrine parrot, is found in the Gagron Fort area of Jhalawar district in Rajasthan, and is consequently also known as Gagroni parrot. The historical fort of Gagron is 4 km away fromthe district headquarters of Jhalawar on the confluence of the Ahu and Kalisindh rivers. This fort is the principal dwelling place of the Hiraman parrot.

At 20 inches, this parrot is longer than other types of parrots. It has a red ring on its neck and its wings have attractive red spots. The tail of the deep green Hiraman is nearly one-foot long and its weight is twice as much as that of other varieties. The female, however, has no ring in the neck.

Alauddin Khilji attacked the Gagron Fort around 1300 but his army failed to locate the route to the fort. At that time, these parrots irritated Khilji’s army by imitating Alauddin and his soldiers. This angered Alauddin so much that he ordered that all the trees in the area should be burnt. As a result, thousands of Hiraman parrots were burnt to death. After this, the remaining parrots took shelter in the Gagron Fort. This fort, which was under Bahadur Shah, was later conquered by Humayun. After this victory, everything in the fort was sent to Humayun at Mandsor. The possessions included Bahadur Shah’s pet Hiraman. Jayasi has also said that a Hiraman parrot was the treasured pet of the daughter of King Gandharvasen of Singal Island. Salim Ali also talks about the Hiraman parrot as a rare and unique bird in his book The Indian Birds. It comes in the category of rare wildlife species. Caging birds has almost brought the Hiraman parrot to the verge of extinction. The increasing demand for Hiraman at home and abroad has finished this species in the last decade. Today, even in the region of Gagron, the Hiraman is rarely seen. To escape hunters, these parrots have migrated to the forests of Manohar Thana, Bakani and Shivpuri.

The Hiraman parrot breeds in January and February. However, in the last two years no chicks have hatched in the Gagron region. If this state of affairs continues, the Hiraman parrot will soon become extinct.