William Blane was a hunter who came to India twice during the 1780’s. He participated in the hunting expeditions of Nawab Vizier Asif-ul-Dowlah of Lucknow. After returning to England, he wrote an account of his expeditions under the title of An Account of the Hunting Excursions of Asoph ul Doulah. It was published from London in 1788. Interestingly, contemporary sources confirm that the famous Urdu poet Mir Taqi Mir was also part of the hunting expedition in which William Blane was present. Mir also penned down two “Shikar Nama” in the form of Mathnavi afterwards. 

This article first presents a brief introduction of William Blane, then introduces his Account and contains the translation of above said document. A comparison of this account with Shikar Nama of Mir Taqi Mir also has been done in the introductory part of this article.