Sport, Sovereignty, and Spectacle: Mughal Sports Culture in Historical and English Literary Perspectives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56062/Keywords:
Chaugan (polo), qamargah, shreni, Mughal sports policy, dangal, akhara, medieval India, social impact.Abstract
During the medieval period in India, the Muslims rulers saw sports and huntings as a part of royal life. Traditional games like chaugan (Polo) were encouraged by Mughal emperors, Akbar built chaugan grounds at Fatehpur Sikri and organized them in the Mughal empire. They controlled hunting (particularly the big ring-hunt of the qamargah) and organized large royal hunting parties. The royal patronage was extended to folk sports like wrestling too; wrestlers were called in to the festive occasions to play mall-yuddha (combat). Those activities were linked to military training, social order and also martial skill and royal splendor. The purpose of this study is to look at the main sports (chaugan, hunting, wrestling, archery and chess) and the policies that helped to form them (royal patronage, regulation, taxation and festival organization), and their social impact. The key sources consulted are Abul Fazl's Ain-i-Akbari, Mughal farmans, and the accounts of the travellers of the period, as well as modern scholarship.
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References
A. Primary Sources
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