Ajay Kumar at 19:44, 3 July 2023

2023-07-03T19:44:47Z

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{{Short description|Feral boy}}
[[File:Sanichar-cropped.png|thumb|Sanichar as a young man, c. 1889–1894]]
'''Dina Sanichar''' (1860 or 1861–1895) was a [[feral child|feral boy]]. A group of hunters discovered him among [[Indian wolf|wolves]] in a cave in [[Bulandshahr]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[British Raj|India]] in February 1867,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kaul|first=Ikbal|date=1978-10-15|title=During the last century, nearly 50 cases of wolf children reported in India|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/living/story/19781015-during-the-last-century-nearly-50-cases-of-wolf-children-reported-in-india-823091-2014-03-12|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-07|website=India Today|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120103821/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/living/story/19781015-during-the-last-century-nearly-50-cases-of-wolf-children-reported-in-india-823091-2014-03-12 |archive-date=2021-01-20 }}</ref> at the age of around six.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Degregory|first=Lane|date=2008-08-03|title=Feral children through the ages|url=http://www.tampabay.com/projects/girl-in-the-window/feral-children|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-07|website=www.tampabay.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117023911/http://www.tampabay.com/projects/girl-in-the-window/feral-children/ |archive-date=2017-11-17 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Mathur|first=Priyanshi|date=2018-12-10|title=Meet The Real-Life Mowgli – Dina Sanichar Who Was Raised By A Pack Of Wolves|url=https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/human-interest/meet-the-real-life-mowgli-dina-sanichar-who-was-raised-by-a-pack-of-wolves-358296.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-07|website=IndiaTimes|language=en-IN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210162249/https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/human-interest/meet-the-real-life-mowgli-dina-sanichar-who-was-raised-by-a-pack-of-wolves-358296.html |archive-date=2018-12-10 }}</ref><ref name="malson">{{cite book |last=Malson |first=Lucien |date=1972 |title=Wolf children and the problem of human nature |url=https://archive.org/details/wolfchildrenprob00mals |location=New York and London |publisher=Monthly Review Press |page=45 |isbn=9780902308244}}</ref><ref name="ferris20">{{cite book |last=Ferris |first=George C. |date=3 June 1902 |title=Sanichar the Wolf-Boy of India |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lanichar_the_wolf_boy_of_India_.._(IA_lanicharwolfboyo00ferr).pdf |location=New York City |page=20 |isbn=}}</ref>

Sanichar was sent to the Secundra orphanage at [[Agra]] where he lived among other humans for over twenty years. He never learned to speak and remained seriously impaired his entire life.

==Discovery==
Dina Sanichar was discovered in a cave in the [[Bulandshahr district|district of Bulandshahr]] and was brought to [[William Lowe (civil servant)|William Lowe]], the local [[District magistrate|district magistrate and collector]].<ref name=Notes1886>{{cite book |title=Notes and Queries |date=1886 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=178 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pLeLZtG33ZwC&dq=william+henry+lowe+bulandshahr&pg=PA178 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Ha>{{cite book |last1=Ha |first1=James C. |last2=Campion |first2=Tracy L. |title=Dog Behavior: Modern Science and Our Canine Companions |date=2018 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-816746-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gON8DwAAQBAJ&dq=bulandshahr%C2%A0&pg=PA176 |language=en}}</ref> Lowe subsequently sent Sanichar to the Secundra orphanage at [[Agra]].<ref name=Notes1886/><ref>{{cite news |title=Wolf boys |publisher=North British Advertiser & Ladies' Journal |date=5 September 1885 |page=3}}</ref>

At the orphanage<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2013-11-06|title=Legendary wildlife conservators and jungle lore|url=https://www.thestatesman.com/world/legendary-wildlife-conservators-and-jungle-lore-23576.html|access-date=2021-04-07|website=The Statesman|language=en-US}}</ref> he was given the name "Sanichar" because he arrived on a Saturday.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Real story of Mowgli Netflix Movie: Who was Mowgli. The Jungle Book character & how did it inspire Netflix's 2018 Hindi movie Mowgli|url=https://www.gqindia.com/content/true-story-behind-mowgli-netflix-hindi-movie-2018-what-is-the-real-story-of-mowgli-legend-of-the-jungle-who-was-mowgli-jungle-book-character|access-date=2021-04-07|website=GQ India|date=7 December 2018 |language=en-IN}}</ref> When he arrived at the orphanage, he reportedly walked on all fours and ate raw meat.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wyness|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nmkCDgAAQBAJ&dq=dina+sanichar&pg=PT46|title=Childhood, Culture and Society: In a Global Context|date=2018-06-27|publisher=Sage|isbn=978-1-5264-2250-7|language=en}}</ref> While he could not speak, he would make sounds similar to a wolf.<ref name=":0" /> He went on to live among other humans for over twenty years but never learned to speak and remained seriously impaired his entire life.<ref name="malson" /><ref name="zingg">{{cite journal |last1=Zingg |first1=Robert M. |date=1940 |title=Feral man and extreme cases of isolation |journal=The American Journal of Psychology |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=487–517|doi=10.2307/1417630 |jstor=1417630 }}</ref> Sanichar was a heavy smoker.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Malson|first=Lucien|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtZWCgAAQBAJ&dq=dina+sanichar&pg=PA45|title=Wolf Children|date=1972|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-85345-264-5|language=en}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
He died of [[tuberculosis]] in 1895.<ref name=":1" />

Sanichar was possibly the inspiration for the character [[Mowgli]] in ''[[The Jungle Book]]'' by [[Rudyard Kipling]].<ref name=Sorabji1904>{{cite book |last=Sorabji |first=Caroline |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g0A2AQAAMAAJ&dq=lowe&pg=PA38 |title=The Wide World Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly of True Narrative, Travel, Customs, and Sport |date=1904 |publisher=George Newnes |pages=38 |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanichar, Dina}}
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:1860s births]]
[[Category:Feral children]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:Indian people with disabilities]]
[[Category:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in India]]

{{India-bio-stub}}

Dina Sanichar - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 19:44, 3 July 2023