History of Kabaddi

Kabaddi is a popular game played in India, and its subcontinent originated in the early Vedic period. The history of kabaddi goes back a very long way. It is believed that the game of kabaddi originated in Tamil Nadu, India. It was not in the same format as it is played in the present day.  Throughout the world, the game of kabaddi is known in different names. Also, in different parts of the country, it is given different names. In the beginning, kabaddi was conceived as a way for developing physical strength among young men. At the time of its establishment, the game of kabaddi was played so that the self-defense skills got a boost up, and people developed instant responsiveness to any type of physical attack. Playing kabaddi was helped to sharpen the reflexes of all the counterattacks, mostly for those who played in teams.

Kabaddi in Mythology

The game of kabaddi also has its mention in the pages of Hindu mythology. It is believed that Lord Gautam Budhha used to play kabaddi during his free time. This evidence is there present in the Buddhist literature. Kabaddi has its roots in the time of Mahabharata as well. In Mahabharata, it is mentioned that Arjuna, one of the Pandavas, mastered the game of Kabaddi from Lord Krishna. The story was like this Arjuna could break enemy walls effortlessly without being noticed and would return to his land unharmed. He learned all these skills from the game of kabaddi. There is another story in Mahabharata, that tells us about Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, who invaded the Chakravayu a seven-tiered army formation of the Kauravas. The game of Kabaddi has a similar system where a single player is raiding the opposite team on the other side of the mat, which has seven defenders.

What is Kabaddi? How it is played?

The game of kabaddi has its origin in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The game of kabaddi is widely popular in entire South Asia, i.e., India and its subcontinent. Other than Tamil Nadu, this game is very popular in other Indian states like Punjab, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Punjab. The national game of Bangladesh is none other than Kabaddi.

In Kabaddi, two teams compete against one another. Each of the teams occupies one-half of the entire court. Each of the teams takes turns to send their Raider to the opposite team's half. If the Raider manages to touch the team members of the opposing team and return to his/her half side, then the Raider team scores a point for the team.

In this entire process, the Raider will have to hold his/her breath. And if by chance the Raider is prevented from returning to this/her side then the opposing team scores points for their team.

The word kabaddi is derived from a Tami word known as Kai-pidi, which means to hold hands. The game of kabaddi is known by various other names. Like in Tamil Nadu it is known as Chadukudu or Kabaddi. In Telangana and Karnataka, it is known as Kabaddi only whereas in Andhra Pradesh it is known as Chedugudu. Again in Punjab and its adjoining regions, it is known by the name of Kauddi and Kabaddi both. In the Eastern part of India, the game of kabaddi is known as Hu-Tu-Tu.

In Bangladesh, it is known by the name of Hadudu, whereas in the Maldives, the name of kabaddi is Bhavatik. 

History of kabaddi

The modern-day kabaddi is the combination of kabaddi played in several regions with different names.  But the history of kabaddi has its origin from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The game of kabaddi had its first International revelation in the Berlin Olympics in 1936. India was the first country to give the demonstration at the Berlin Olympics. Later in 1938, Kabaddi was introduced into the Indian National Games in the year of 1938.

In the year 1950 the AIKF- All India Kabaddi Federation laid its foundation, and a set of rules were framed and followed thereafter. The All India Kabaddi Federation was later in the year 1972 reconstituted by the name of AKFI- Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India. In that same year, the first national men's tournament was held in Chennai.

Later the game of kabaddi gained its popularity in the year 1979 by Sundar Ram from India. He was the one who toured Japan as a representative of the Asian Amateur Kabaddi Federation. The entire tour lasted for two months. At that time the game of kabaddi got introduced in Japan. In the same year i.e., 1979, the first International match was played between India and Bangladesh. The match was held in India.

In the year 1980, for the first time, the game of kabaddi organized the first-ever Asian Kabaddi Championship. In that championship, India emerged as the winner. The final was between India and Bangladesh. The other teams that participated in the Asian Kabaddi Championship were Japan, Malaysia, and Nepal. In the year 1990, Kabaddi made its first appearance in Asian Games. That year Asian Games were held in Beijing, and seven other teams took part in the kabaddi category. India emerged as the winner and won the Gold medal.

Later in the year, 1984 kabaddi got it to place in the SAF Games- South Asian Federation Games which was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In later years of Asian Games were held in 1994 at Hiroshima, in the year 1998 in Bangkok and the year 2002 at Busan, and the year 2006 at Doha. In all these consecutive years, India won all the five Gold Medals and created a history in the pages of Asian games.

In the year 2004 World Cup of kabaddi was organized for the first time. It was held in Mumbai in India. India again emerged as the champions and was the first one to win the Kabaddi World Cup beating Iran. In 2007 India once again organized the second Kabaddi World Cup and once again India was the Champion.

The game of Kabaddi originated for me. Only later did women start playing the game with equal energy. The first-ever Asian Women Championship was organized in the year 2005. The entire championship was held in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana, in India. India once again grabbed the Gold Medal. The next year in 2006 Women Kabaddi made its place in the South Asian Federation Games which was held in the city of Colombo in Sri Lanka.

In the same year 2006 for the first time, a separate indoor stadium was built for playing Kabaddi competition as well as training. This was one of the remarkable historical events of the Asian Games. That year the Asian Games was held in Doha, Qatar.

The warming up courts, the training courts, and also the main field were made with Korean make puzzle mats. In the main field, there was a giant screen for public viewing, which was displayed the running score and the replays. Two plasma scoreboards of Tissot were used in the main field. There were also information terminals for the entire presentation crew. With these, the media crew and the ceremony crew were also provided.

In the Asian Games held in Doha, Qatar, a wonderful opportunity was provided for showcasing the game of Kabaddi. The Showcasing was mainly for the Australians and the Europeans, and they were present there at the Asian Games in big numbers. A large number of viewers who were from countries like Australia, the USA, the Mediterranean, Western Asia, and European countries were highly impressed with the thrill of the game with very few rules to be followed. 

Each of the countries also showed their desire to introduce the game of Kabaddi in their countries. This opportunity gave the pre-historic game great exposure. This exposure was a step towards the development of kabaddi in the continents of Africa, Europe, the USA, and Australia.

In the year 2007, the game of kabaddi made its place in the Asian Indoor Games. This was the 2nd Asian Indoor Games which was held in Macau. This time India was the one to win the Gold Medal. In 2008 at the 1st Asian Beach Games both Kabaddi for men and Women made their appearance. The event was organized in Bali and the host country was Indonesia. For both Men's events and Women's events, India once again won both the Gold Medals. 

In Conclusion 

Though the history of kabaddi has its roots thousands of years ago now, it has gained popularity all over the world. Earlier the game was considered for self-defense skills and instant responsiveness to any type of physical attack. But now the game can be played by all. The introduction of new mats, change in rules, new techniques have made the game of kabaddi interesting. The game that was once in the pages of Hindu Mythology has now its presence in every corner of the world, and India being the origin country, has kept the glory on.