According to the local "romantic" history of the breed it was brought to northern India by Alexander the Great and his army,
about 300 B.C. We might realize that the actual history of the breed is slightly different and more realistic.
According to many other stories about the origin of several dog breeds, the army of Alexander the Great brought with him dogs
when they returned to Europe, dogs that later became the ancestor to several modern European breeds. As we can see traditional
history of the Cypro Kukur/Kumaon Mastiff is the total opposit, and in the opposit direction, than the common believed "migration"
of the early Molosser breeds. There are not any proof for Alexander the Great introducing these dogs to India, but let me also
remind you that the so called proof presented by various sources about "their" breed being introduced to Europe by Alexander
the Great is not well researched and mostly based on fairytales and wishful thinking.
Cypro Kukur puppies in Italy.
The Cypro Kukur is the guardian dog of the Kumaon tribe, hence their other name; Kumaon Mastiff. The name Cypro Kukur is
based on the Sanskrit word for dog, Kukur, and the name Cypro refers to the believed origin of these dogs being Cyprus.
The people of the Kumaon hills, known as the Kumaonese, lives at the foothill of the Himalayan mountains,
in the Kumaon district of the Uttaranchal region. The people still lives in a predominantly patriarchal society,
which recognizes the superiority of men over women, and their society would be described by western standard as "old fashioned"
and primitive.
The Kumaon Mastiff has much in common with the Indian/Sindh Mastiff, and we can assume that despite the local legend about
the origin these two breeds has much of the same ancestors.
The number of Cypro Kukur/Kumaon Mastiffs is very low, and it is hard to locate any specimen of this breed at all in their
original area. Reports have been given that maybe as few as 15-20 pure dogs may be left in the Kumaon district.
Some specimen of this bred have been imported to Europe, especially to Italy and Finland, and it is most likely that Europe
now has a larger population of the Cypro Kukur than India.
