History
The bal-chatri originated in East India as a trap developed and used by falconers to catch suitable birds of prey to train for use in hunting. It consisted of a small, conical, cane cage, containing live lure birds to attract raptors, and covered with attached horsehair nooses to entangle their feet. The term bal-chatri has been mistranslated as “boy’s umbrella”, or “small umbrella”, after their shape but is correctly translated to "hair umbrella" and refers to the nooses made of horse-hair anchored to the umbrella-like frame. Bal-chatris continue to be used by falconers, but are also used in ornithological research projects which require the capture of raptors for banding and other procedures, such as blood sampling.
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