Parbati Barua is the first female mahout

Mahout

A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat. Usually, a mahout starts as a boy in the 'family business' when he is assigned an elephant early in its life and they would be attached to each other throughout the elephant's life.The most...

 in recent recorded history, and a citizen of India.Born to Late Prakritish Chandra Barua of the Royal Family Of Gauripur

Royal family

A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...

 . She came to the limelight after the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 created the documentary "Queen of the Elephants

Queen of the Elephants

Queen of the Elephants is a book authored by the conservationist and travel writer Mark Shand and the corresponding BBC documentary Queen of the Elephants, based on the life of the first female mahout in recent times—Parbati Barua of Kaziranga...

" based on her life, along with the companion book by Mark Shand

Mark Shand

Mark Roland Shand , is a British travel writer and conservationist.Shand is the son of Bruce Shand MC and his wife the Hon Rosalind Maud Cubitt, daughter of the 3rd Baron Ashcombe and the former Sonia Keppel. His elder sister is HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. He was educated at Milton Abbey School...

. She resides in Guwahati

Guwahati

Guwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...

 and is the Chief Elephant Warden of the state of Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. She is also Member, Asian Elephant Specialist Group, IUCN.