In India, towards the end of the 19th Century, the Gaekwad of Baroda arranged a fair fight between a Barbary lion called 'Atlas', from the Atlas Mountains between Algeria and Morocco, and a Bengal tiger from the Indian region of Shimla, both big and hungry, before an audience of thousands, instead of between the Asiatic lion of India, and the tiger, as Asiatic lions were believed to be no match for Bengal tigers.
The tiger was more than ten feet long, over four feet at the shoulder, had long teeth and claws, had strong shoulders, and was agile. The lion looked taller at the head than the tiger, and had large legs, mane and paws. Gettysburg Complier commented that "If the tiger was the personification of graceful strength and supple energy, the lion was the embodiment of massive power and adamantine muscle."
The tiger crawled forward, crouched flat and calculated the distance for a spring, and then jumped onto Atlas. Atlas rose up on his hind legs, and crashed with the tiger. The two yelled, snarled and rolled over on the ground. They regained their feet and shook to be free. When they parted from the clinch, Atlas swung his right, clawed, paw on the tiger's head, ripping its ear, and scratching off skin. The tiger rolled off, Atlas went to get the tiger, swiping its paw, but the tiger managed to twist away from the paw-swipe, and escaped. Atlas advanced, but the tiger retreated, then jumped into the air, landing on Atlas' back, though it was twenty feet away. At first, Atlas looked disgusted, but then it forced the tiger to the wall of the arena, before the tiger ran, with its head nearly at the ground, towards Atlas' legs.
Despite a crash, the tiger's head did not shake, and the two cats rose on their hind legs. For at least three minutes, they exchanged right and left paw swipes. Although the tiger's paw-swipes were faster than those of Atlas, out-numbering Atlas' paw-swipes three-to-one, Atlas' paw swipes had more been heavier, inflicting deeper gashes on the tiger's hide. Both cats injured, they retreated from each other, with blood flowing from their flanks. The tiger retreated to the wall, to hug it, whereas Atlas angrily roared and stood his ground, even though blood was dripping from about twenty wounds. After resting for a few moments, the tiger tried to circle Atlas, with Atlas looking worried, as his rushes did not stop the tiger at first. Then, sensing an opportunity, Atlas charged, but the tiger avoided the charge, and jumped onto Atlas' back again.
Their bodies, bloodied and dirtied by the dust, rolled halfway across the arena. Atlas shook himself off the tiger, and delivered right swipes. One of the swipes dealt a blow to the tiger, causing it to stagger and retreat. The tiger sat, studying how effective the previous tussle was. Atlas was mauled, but not yet killed, with two long rips on his back, having deep bites to the shoulder, which bled, and hoarsely panting, with the wind flowing less evidently than those of the tiger.
After observing Atlas for a moment, he tried circling Atlas again. Atlas rushed, facing the tiger's claws. After that, the lion, running out of breath, sank to his knees, whereas the tiger, though looking stronger, had its stripes disappear under fast-flowing blood. The tiger sprang onto Atlas, who was staggering, biting Atlas' nose, and then trying to bite Atlas' throat. However, the mane saved Atlas' neck, so the tiger's bite did not suffocate Atlas. Instead, as they wrestled much, the tiger managed to get hair in its mouth, and the hair interfered with the tiger's respiration, so it had to release its hold on Atlas, allowing Atlas to deliver a massive left uppercut, causing the tiger to stumble to about twenty feet away. Although Atlas now looked formidable on his legs, and brave, he could not catch the tiger, and the tiger darted towards him.
Atlas used his claws, but missed the tiger, and went over with it. The tiger frantically pawed Atlas' body, using both fore and hind paws, for forty seconds. Then Atlas, in its last effort, threw the tiger off, roared, fell down, and died. As a result, the Gaekwad agreed to pay 37,000 rupees, accepted that the tiger was the "King of the Cat Family," and decided to prepare the tiger for a battle with a Sierra Grizzly bear weighing over 1,500.00 lb (680.39 kilograms), to determine which of these was the "King of Carnivorae." The battle was to happen after the tiger recovered from its wounds given to it by Atlas.[2][9]