God’s own elephant

The curious case of an elephant that travelled all the way from Kerala to Rome

This is the story of a Pope, and his love for an elephant, a Malayali elephant. Yes, you read it right. This story dates back to the early 16th century, 1514-1516 to be precise. If you are wondering how an elephant from our God’s Own Country reached Rome, then read on…

This was the time when Portugal was spreading its wings, trying to establish its control over the world, and monopolising its hold on the spice trade. This was the time when 38-year-old Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici was elected Pope Leo X. This was also the time when people in power ‘gifted’ the Pope valuable items in return for favours that furthered their political motives.

It was precisely in such times that Portuguese King Manuel I thought of gifting the Pope something valuable, something priceless, something extraordinary. After all, he needed the Pope’s blessings for Portuguese expansion, especially when Egypt was proving to be an obstacle to Portuguese dreams. He thought long, he thought hard. He finally came up with the idea of gifting the Pope an elephant.

For, medieval Rome had never seen an elephant. And, where else could he find an elephant other than in India? So, off to Cochin, the ‘order’ for an elephant came. A four-year-old grey white albino elephant was thus procured, and trainers assigned, with specific instructions to feed and look after the animal with utmost care. The elephant was to reach Rome through Lisbon. Thus began the baby elephant’s curious journey to Rome.

As the elephant disembarked the boat at the Port of Hercules and marched towards Rome, a distance of 70 miles, people scrambled to catch a glimpse of an animal they had never seen before.

As American historian Silvio Bedini writes in his book, The Pope’s Elephant, “The caravan that was following behind daily increased in size, supplemented by workers from the towns, peasants from the fields, and gentlemen from their villas. All were curious, avidly seeking a view of the great animals and the strangers speaking a strange language who accompanied it.” The elephant came to be called Annone. Italians probably heard the elephant’s trainers calling it ‘aana’ (an elephant in Malayalam), and mistook it for its name. Annone was later anglicised to Hanno.

On his arrival in Rome and meeting with the Pope, Hanno knelt down and bowed his head in reverence, lifted it back to trumpet thrice, and on his trainer’s bidding, sucked water with his trunk and sprayed it on the assembled crowd, including the Pope.

The Pope was completely bowled over by Hanno’s performance. He fell in love with the animal instantly. So much so that he had Hanno stay in a specially constructed building right next to the Papal palace, on Cortile del Belvedere, so that he could visit the elephant as often as possible. And he did just that, for stress-busting.

This unlikely camaraderie the Pope and the pachyderm shared was ridiculed to no end by the Pope’s critics as the Pope wasn’t a popular figure at that time. But their friendship flourished, and the Pope attended most ceremonial events along with Hanno, not missing any opportunity to show off his pet.

But, as fate would have it, when Hanno turned seven, he fell ill. And the Pope was crestfallen. Doctors pronounced it to be constipation and administered a laxative laced with gold, as was the practice then. Perhaps the dosage was miscalculated. Perhaps the diagnosis was wrong. Hanno breathed his last.

A woebegone Pope ordered a life-size mural of Hanno be painted by none other than the famous artist Raphael himself. Many other monuments were also commissioned to commemorate the endearing elephant, while the Pope himself wrote the first part of the epitaph for his favourite animal. This sure was a memorable friendship between a Pope and a pachyderm.

As recent as in February 1962, when the courtyard of Vatican’s Belvedere was being dug up for air-conditioning works, a large tooth, believed to be that of Hanno, was found. The Pope had his beloved Hanno buried in the courtyard where he had lived. Such was the Pope’s love for his pachyderm. The pachyderm from our God’s Own Country.