Mardani Khel is a weapon-based traditional martial art that is inherited by Marathas in Maharashtra.
There are a wide variety of items used here such as Lathi-Kathi(bamboo stick), Talwar(curved sword), Dhala(round metal shield), Katyar(dagger), Bhala(javelin), Veeta(a corded javelin), and a Dand Patta(knuckle guarded straight sword), etc.
Nowadays, as with the case of Paika Akhada in Orissa, it tends to be mainly for youth sports and demonstration performances during festivals. But there is something must not be despised when its history is unveiled.
Performed by Shivkarin Mardani Khel Akhara / Kolhapur
It is said that Maratha who claims themselves Kshatriya, appeared as an ethnic group in Midwestern India around the 13th century.
The current western region of Maharashtra province, where they were based, has a rugged terrain by the Western Ghats. By living in it and practicing to ride horses in daily life, the foundation of a highly mobile light cavalry and guerrilla tactics were formed within them.
Its fame of military forces gradually spread, they became a mercenary under the rule of the Muslim invading dynasty since the 16th century, empowered little by little.
In the middle of the 17th century, Chhatrapati Shivaji emerged from among such mercenary generals, and the Marathas rapidly expanded their power and became the Champion of the Deccan Plateau.
Shivaji then established the kingdom of Maratha, challenged the battle against the Muslim Invasion Dynasty, including the Mughal Empire, under the banner of Hindu's reconstruction, expanded its territory rapidly.
It is probably by this Shivaji era, the foundation of the present Mardani Khel was formed and then developed along with the history of the Maratha Empire.
After the death of Shivaji, the kingdom of Maratha continued to be pushed by the Mughal Empire but it revived the power when Emperor Aurangzeb died, and at the beginning of the 18th century, the Maratha Confederacy was formed, by bringing Hindu forces around the Kingdom together.
In 1720, when Baji Rao I, who is believed to be Shivaji's return, took over the throne of Maratha, the Confederacy started to expand their power rapidly all over North India, and eventually invaded the city of Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire.
The Marata Confederacy's territories extended for a while to a large area from the vast area of North India to East India alongside the Bay of Bengal and reached the great scale as an Empire.
If you look at that, you will be able to know their fighting ability, means "martial arts", must have reached its highest peak all over India at that time.
However, the climax of the Empire did not last for a long time, and as a result of a major defeat of the third Panipat battle against Afghan Muslim Allied Forces in 1761, the leadership of the Confederacy was declined, and it was separated in pieces to each power of individual rulers.
After that, under the power of prime minister Madhav Rao with much effort, the Confederacy barely kept its body, but down into confusion after his death.
The British East India company tried to take advantage upon their internal dispute, then the first Maratha war broke out. This time Maratha barely fought off British.
But the internal conflict continued after that, and the Confederacy was defeated by British in the Second Maratha War (1803-1805) and was forced to surrender many territories. Then in the subsequent Third Maratha War (1817-1818), it was defeated perfectly and dismantled at all.
The Confederate Party, which controls the Marathas, was dismantled by the United Kingdom, but each Raja was barely allowed to survive as a kingdom. But that was only a humiliating life extension under full British rule.
Then, in response to the Sepoy Mutiny that broke out in 1857 at Meerut, many former Maratha forces were reunified, and several notable warriors such as Nana Sahib of Kanpur and his martial master Tantia Tope, Lakshmi Bai the Queen of Jhansi, etc. won fame for their bravery.
Eventually, this massive rebellion was suppressed. Maratha's practical martial arts were thoroughly repressed by the British colonial government after that and the use of weapons was banned and the dreadful martial tradition would have survived just as a Khel (game, sport).
There must be various causes for the loss of Maratha. The internal discord was, of course, fatal, but another reason is that because of the traditional Samurai spirit, they possess much respects toward the sword rather than the gun, their tactics in line with the firearms are lower than the British Army, they said.
The pride of Maratha, Mardani Khel
After India's independence, the traditional martial arts were rapidly reviewed as the pride of the Maratha in Maharashtra, and the present format of “Mardani Khel” was put in place by the efforts of those concerned.
Currently, there are several schools(Talim) of Mardani Khel throughout the state of Maharashtra, such as Kolhapur, which is one of the centers of the Kingdom of Maratha, and it is highly popular among Marathi as the martial arts of the local hero Shivaji.
The Queen of Jhanshi Lakshmi Bai, who made a name for herself in the 1957 Indian Rebellion, has since become a symbol of the independence movement of India and a heroine symbolizing Maratha's heroism. Therefore, many Maratha girls are initiating to Mardani Khel and learning the tradition.
In addition, there is a famous sentimental episode, that during the battle of Gwalior Fort the Queen of Jhansi Lakshmi Bai fought a sword on horseback while carrying her little baby, and died in honor at last.
Having heard the story, all Indian people cried and strongly swore again to realize its independent in the near future.
Following this episode, a female Mardani Khel player carries a baby on her back and demonstrates wielding a sword like Lakshmi Bai in the occasion of a local festival. It is said that all Marathi audience can't watch the scene without tears.
The return of Lakshmi Bai
The stick rotating skill has been handed down to a very high level in Mardani Khel as same as Kerala, Tamil, Orissa, West Bengal, etc. I was very happy to see it as a mania of the technique.
Guru-Ji plays double stick rotating very fluidly
Lady warrior is the highlight of Mardani Khel
During the on-site research in 2010, the members of Shivkalin Mardani Khel Khandoba Talim Akhara showed me great performance in full cooperation.
Thank you very much to the descendants of the brave Maratha Warriors !
There are a wide variety of items used here such as Lathi-Kathi(bamboo stick), Talwar(curved sword), Dhala(round metal shield), Katyar(dagger), Bhala(javelin), Veeta(a corded javelin), and a Dand Patta(knuckle guarded straight sword), etc.
The master of Mardani Khel holding Dand-Patta and Dhala
Nowadays, as with the case of Paika Akhada in Orissa, it tends to be mainly for youth sports and demonstration performances during festivals. But there is something must not be despised when its history is unveiled.
Performed by Shivkarin Mardani Khel Akhara / Kolhapur
It is said that Maratha who claims themselves Kshatriya, appeared as an ethnic group in Midwestern India around the 13th century.
The current western region of Maharashtra province, where they were based, has a rugged terrain by the Western Ghats. By living in it and practicing to ride horses in daily life, the foundation of a highly mobile light cavalry and guerrilla tactics were formed within them.
Its fame of military forces gradually spread, they became a mercenary under the rule of the Muslim invading dynasty since the 16th century, empowered little by little.
In the middle of the 17th century, Chhatrapati Shivaji emerged from among such mercenary generals, and the Marathas rapidly expanded their power and became the Champion of the Deccan Plateau.
Shivaji then established the kingdom of Maratha, challenged the battle against the Muslim Invasion Dynasty, including the Mughal Empire, under the banner of Hindu's reconstruction, expanded its territory rapidly.
It is probably by this Shivaji era, the foundation of the present Mardani Khel was formed and then developed along with the history of the Maratha Empire.
After the death of Shivaji, the kingdom of Maratha continued to be pushed by the Mughal Empire but it revived the power when Emperor Aurangzeb died, and at the beginning of the 18th century, the Maratha Confederacy was formed, by bringing Hindu forces around the Kingdom together.
In 1720, when Baji Rao I, who is believed to be Shivaji's return, took over the throne of Maratha, the Confederacy started to expand their power rapidly all over North India, and eventually invaded the city of Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire.
The largest territory of the Maratha Empire (yellow part) 1760, wiki
The Marata Confederacy's territories extended for a while to a large area from the vast area of North India to East India alongside the Bay of Bengal and reached the great scale as an Empire.
If you look at that, you will be able to know their fighting ability, means "martial arts", must have reached its highest peak all over India at that time.
However, the climax of the Empire did not last for a long time, and as a result of a major defeat of the third Panipat battle against Afghan Muslim Allied Forces in 1761, the leadership of the Confederacy was declined, and it was separated in pieces to each power of individual rulers.
After that, under the power of prime minister Madhav Rao with much effort, the Confederacy barely kept its body, but down into confusion after his death.
The British East India company tried to take advantage upon their internal dispute, then the first Maratha war broke out. This time Maratha barely fought off British.
But the internal conflict continued after that, and the Confederacy was defeated by British in the Second Maratha War (1803-1805) and was forced to surrender many territories. Then in the subsequent Third Maratha War (1817-1818), it was defeated perfectly and dismantled at all.
The Confederate Party, which controls the Marathas, was dismantled by the United Kingdom, but each Raja was barely allowed to survive as a kingdom. But that was only a humiliating life extension under full British rule.
Then, in response to the Sepoy Mutiny that broke out in 1857 at Meerut, many former Maratha forces were reunified, and several notable warriors such as Nana Sahib of Kanpur and his martial master Tantia Tope, Lakshmi Bai the Queen of Jhansi, etc. won fame for their bravery.
Eventually, this massive rebellion was suppressed. Maratha's practical martial arts were thoroughly repressed by the British colonial government after that and the use of weapons was banned and the dreadful martial tradition would have survived just as a Khel (game, sport).
There must be various causes for the loss of Maratha. The internal discord was, of course, fatal, but another reason is that because of the traditional Samurai spirit, they possess much respects toward the sword rather than the gun, their tactics in line with the firearms are lower than the British Army, they said.
The pride of Maratha, Mardani Khel
After India's independence, the traditional martial arts were rapidly reviewed as the pride of the Maratha in Maharashtra, and the present format of “Mardani Khel” was put in place by the efforts of those concerned.
Currently, there are several schools(Talim) of Mardani Khel throughout the state of Maharashtra, such as Kolhapur, which is one of the centers of the Kingdom of Maratha, and it is highly popular among Marathi as the martial arts of the local hero Shivaji.
The Queen of Jhanshi Lakshmi Bai, who made a name for herself in the 1957 Indian Rebellion, has since become a symbol of the independence movement of India and a heroine symbolizing Maratha's heroism. Therefore, many Maratha girls are initiating to Mardani Khel and learning the tradition.
In addition, there is a famous sentimental episode, that during the battle of Gwalior Fort the Queen of Jhansi Lakshmi Bai fought a sword on horseback while carrying her little baby, and died in honor at last.
Having heard the story, all Indian people cried and strongly swore again to realize its independent in the near future.
Following this episode, a female Mardani Khel player carries a baby on her back and demonstrates wielding a sword like Lakshmi Bai in the occasion of a local festival. It is said that all Marathi audience can't watch the scene without tears.
The return of Lakshmi Bai
The stick rotating skill has been handed down to a very high level in Mardani Khel as same as Kerala, Tamil, Orissa, West Bengal, etc. I was very happy to see it as a mania of the technique.
Guru-Ji plays double stick rotating very fluidly
Lady warrior is the highlight of Mardani Khel
During the on-site research in 2010, the members of Shivkalin Mardani Khel Khandoba Talim Akhara showed me great performance in full cooperation.
Thank you very much to the descendants of the brave Maratha Warriors !
The members of Mardani Khel Khandoba Talim / Kolhapur
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