Somemartial arts were practiced during this time period, such askalaripayattu.[10] Severalvariations of tag were played at the time, with kho-kho having been mentioned in the fourth century BCE,[11] andatya-patya around 300 CE; some of them were used for military training purposes.[12][13] The board gamechaturanga formed the foundation of the modern game ofchess, and was also used as strategic training for war;[14][15] it travelled towards Europe and China under Persian and then Arab influence.[16]
An 1875 painting ofrugby being played by Europeans inKolkata (then known as Calcutta).
British colonisation of South Asia introduced several British sports into the subcontinent, such ascricket,football, andhockey,[17][18] causing a decline for the local sports,[19] though some of the local sports began to be standardised during this period inMaharashtra.[20][18][21] The economic struggles prevailing at the time limited people's overall ability to participate in sport.[22]
Field hockey was popular for several decades after the colonial era. After India's victory in the1983 Cricket World Cup, cricket started to grow in the subcontinent while hockey declined,[26][27] with the 1975 switch from grass to astroturf fields often cited as making hockey too expensive.[28] The introduction ofTwenty20 cricket, a format that greatly reduced the playing duration, as well as the advent of theIndian Premier League, which made cricket a strong economic force in the region, further grew the popularity of the sport.[29] Cricket also grew inAfghanistan with the return of refugees who had learned the sport in Pakistan.[30]
The poverty of South Asia has continued to be a defining factor in limiting the success of sport in the region; until the 1970s, for example, cricket and football were not prevalent because of the expensiveness of buying balls.[31]
Various traditional sports have had professional leagues started for them in the 21st century (largely propelled by theeconomic liberalisation of the 1990s that took place in India that increased investing into sports),[34] such as thePro Kabaddi League, which has significantly grown kabaddi,[35] as well asUltimate Kho Kho and thePro Panja League forarm wrestling.[36][37] Kabaddi in particular has begun to spread globally,[38] with non-South Asian countries becoming successful at the sport.[39][40] The growth of these traditional sports has been aided by changes to their appearance and rule sets, such as a shift from playing on mud surfaces to matted surfaces.[41][42][43] Some national and sub-national initiatives have also been undertaken to promote sports, such asKhelo India and theChhattisgarhiya Olympics.[44][45]
^Mujumdar, Dattatraya Chintaman, ed. (1950).Encyclopedia of Indian Physical Culture: A Comprehensive Survey of the Physical Education in India, Profusely Illustrating Various Activities of Physical Culture, Games, Exercises, Etc., as Handed Over to Us from Our Fore-fathers and Practised in India. Good Companions. p. 22.OCLC14652803.
^Arts, Global; Cultures; read, Design 2 min."South Asian games".National Museums Scotland. Retrieved2024-05-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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