Sports and Games born in India

[Guest guest]

Many people may not be aware that many popular games and sports seem to have

originated in India. The following website offers some interesting

information in this regard:

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http://www.crystalinks.com/indiasports.html

Ancient India - Sports & Games

Games like, Chess, Snakes and Ladders, Playing Cards, Polo, the martial arts

of Judo and Karate had originated in India and it was from here that these

games were transmitted to foreign countries, where they were further

developed.

Kalaripayat from Kerala was transmitted to China by a sage named Boddhidharma

in the 5th century The Chinese called him Po-ti-tama He taught this art in a

temple This temple is today known as the Shaolin temple Thus Judo, Karate,

Kung Fu and other similar marshal arts which are today identified with the

far-east actually originated from India.

At times the changes made in the original nature of the Indian sport-forms

were so many and so fundamental that the game lost all similarity with its

original form in India.

Some Indian games were not transmitted abroad and remained confined to India.

For instance we have Kabbadi, Kho-Kho, AtyaPatya, Malkhamb, Gulli-danda,

etc., which are being played today exclusively in India. In this chapter we

shall look into how the games like Chess and Ludo (Snakes and Ladders), the

martial art of Karate, and Playing cards had existed in India for the past

2000 years and how in some cases the indigenous form of the game became

totally extinct erasing the fact that- the game had ever been played in

India....

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CHESS

Chess originated in ancient India and was known as Chatur-Anga - Meaning 4

bodied, as it was played by 4 players. From this name we have its current

name Shatranj.

One such instance is in the Mahabharata when Pandavas and Kauravas play this

game. Yudhistira the eldest of the Pandavas places his bets on his kingdom,

his wife Draupadi and all other material possessions. And by a malevolent

trick he loses to the Kauravas everything that he had placed his bets on.

Consequently to humiliate the Pandavas, Dushasana one of the evil Kaurava

brothers takes hold of Draupadi whom Yudhisthira has lost to the Kauravas,

and tries to disrobe her in front of the assembled court. The Pandavas though

powerful are helpless as they have lost Draupadi and according to the rules

of the game they have no claim on her anymore........

The Encyclopedia Britannica further says that Wander Linde, in his exhaustive

work, Geschichte and Litteraturdes Schachspiels (1874), has much to say of

the origin-theories, nearly all of which he treats as so many myths. He

agrees with those who consider that the Persians received the game from the

Hindus.

The outcome of his studies appears to be that chess certainly existed in

Hindustan in the 8th century, and that probably that country is the land of

its birth. He inclines to the idea that the game originated among the

Buddhists, whose religion was prevalent in India from the 3rd to the 9th

century. According to their ideas, war and slaying of one's own fellow-men,

for any purpose whatever, is criminal, and the punishment of the warrior in

the next world will be much worse than that of the simple murderer, hence

chess was invented as a substitute for war. " ......

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PLAYING CARDS

Surprising though the popular game of cards originated in ancient India and

was known as Krida-patram in ancient India.

The game of playing cards was also one of the favourite pastimes of Indians

in ancient times. This game was patronised especially by the royalty and

nobility. This game was known in ancient times as Kridapatram, in the middle

ages, it was known as Ganjifa. In medieval India Ganjifa cards were played in

practically all royal courts. This game is recorded to have been played in

Rajputana, Kashyapa Meru (Kashmir), Utkala (Orissa) the Deccan and even in

Nepal. The Mughals also patronised this game, but the Mughal card-sets differ

from those of the ancient Indian royal courts.

Some scholars are of the opinion that this game was in fact introduced into

India by the Mughals. But according to Abul Fazal author of the Ain-e-Akbari,

the game of cards was of Indian origin and that it was a very popular pastime

in the Indian (Hindu) courts when the Muslims came into India. According to

Abul Fazal's description of the game, the following cards were used. The

first was Ashvapati which means 'lord of horses'. The Ashvapati which was the

highest card in, the pack represented the picture of the king on horseback.

The second highest card represented a General (Senapati) on horseback. After

this card come ten other with pictures of horses from one to ten......

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MARTIAL ARTS

Ancient India claims to have been the origin of Judo and Karate.

Something similar to karate was called Kalaripayate.

This art from seems to have travelled from India to the countries of the

far-east alongwith the Buddhist religion. Buddhists monks who travelled

barefoot and unarmed to spread the gospel of Buddha seem to have accepted

this art with alterations suitable to the philosophy of nonviolence. Such a

technique of defence would have been necessary for them as they travelled

individually or in small groups in foreign lands during which they were

exposed to dangers from bandits and fanatics from other religions. Buddhist

monks seem to have tempered the originally violent character of this art. The

violent and exterminative nature of Kalaripayate is evient from the daggers

and knives that are used. Unlike Kalaripayate, Judo and Karate do not allow

the use of lethal weapons.

The aim of a Karate practitioner is mainly to disarm and disable his opponent

without mortally wounding him. This can be looked upon as a reflection of the

Buddhist attitude towards life. Further both Judo and Karate are deeply

interwoven with meditation unlike other martial arts like boxing, wrestling,

fencing, etc. The concentration aspect in Judo and Karate perhaps stems from

this. Both Judo and Karate are sought to be kept as arts to be used for just

purposes for pro tection of the weak, etc.,

The oath that every student of these disciplines has to take is evidence of

this. A teacher of Judo or Karate traditionally commands deep respect of

students and a lesson always starts with a bow of the students to the

teacher. The teacher here is not looked upon only as a coach as in western

martial arts like boxing and fencing. This relationship between a teacher and

student in Judo and Karate could have its roots in the Guru-Shishya tradition

of India.

Thus it is quite possible that these martial art forms originated in southern

India and were transmitted to China, Korea and Japan by Buddhist monks. But

it has to be conceded that they were neglected in India where like Buddhism

they atrophied and today the world considers them to be a legacy bequeated by

the countries of the far East.....

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Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining/