Mardani Khel (Maratha Martial Art)
An armed martial art of Maharashtra that Wikipedia links to the Marathas, known for the patta sword and vita spear on a cord. The press says it is practised in local talims.
Quick Facts
IndiaCharacter & Origin
Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
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Catalogs & Databases for Mardani Khel (Maratha Martial Art)
About Mardani Khel (Maratha Martial Art)
Mardani khel is, according to Wikipedia, an armed martial art of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a little-described art with few sources. Most of what we know comes from Wikipedia, the press and teachers of the art. We have found neither a scholarly source nor a federation, and Green in his book Martial Arts of the World does not mention mardani khel. We have not found a founder or a year of origin.
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Wikipedia writes that the art began to assert itself in the early 17th century, when the Deccan sultanates relied on the guerrilla tactics of Maratha units led by Shahji, and that it is known for the patta sword and the vita spear tied to the hand by a cord. According to the website 30 Stades, the teacher Pranay Shelar places its rise in the time of Shivaji, which he however dates to the 16th century. According to the same website, the teacher Lakhan Jadhav says the art declined under British rule and that after the Arms Act of 1878 teachers in the talims turned it into a folk entertainment with wooden weapons. According to the daily Lokmat Times, the Maharashtra government declared the dandpatta sword a state weapon in 2024, so that the weapon of Shivaji and his soldiers stays in the country's memory. According to the press, mardani khel is taught in Pune, Kolhapur and Mumbai. It did not reach the Khelo India Youth Games 2021, into which the Ministry of Sport in 2020 included gatka, kalaripayattu, thang-ta and mallakhamb.
History
According to Wikipedia, mardani khel began to establish itself in the early 17th century, when the Deccan sultanates relied on the guerrilla tactics of Maratha units under Shahji. According to Wikipedia, the Marathas, with limited access to Mughal firearms, used local terrain unsuitable for heavy artillery, so the Mughals were often forced to fight man to man. According to Wikipedia, Shivaji's weapon of choice was a four-foot sword called Bhawani. According to 30 Stades, the teacher Pranay Shelar says mardani khel established itself under Chhatrapati Shivaji, and places this in the 16th century. In his book Martial Arts of the World, Green does not include mardani khel, but in the chronology he describes Shivaji's meeting with the Bijapur commander Afzal Khan at Pratapgarh fort, which ended in a scuffle in which Shivaji killed Khan. According to 30 Stades, the teacher Lakhan Jadhav claims the art declined under British rule and that after the weapons act of 1878, when the British confiscated weapons, teachers in the talims turned it into folk entertainment with wooden weapons and blunt blades.
How it differs
Teacher Pranay Shelar says, according to 30 Stades, that mardani khel, kalaripayattu from Kerala, gatka from Punjab and silambam from Tamil Nadu are similar in movements and in weapons such as sticks, swords and shields. Wikipedia lists the sword patta and the spear vita on a cord as typical weapons of mardani khel.
Technique
Wikipedia describes mardani khel as an armed art known mainly for the patta sword and the vita spear, which is tied to the hand by a cord. Wikipedia describes the patta as a sword with a hollow hilt that serves as a hand guard. The newspaper Free Press Journal writes that the dandpatta is a double-edged sword, often up to four feet long, with a glove that serves as a hand guard. According to Punekar News, the vita can be thrown and pulled back, and the art includes fourteen weapon techniques, with weapons such as swords, sticks and the vita. Wikipedia counts among the Maratha weapons, among others, the talwar, bhala, barcha, lathi, dhala, kurhad, danushya, katyara and bagh naka.
Training
According to 30 Stades, training begins with strength and flexibility exercises such as surya namaskar, push-ups and sit-ups. Next come movements with the lathi stick, then the bhala spear, dandpatta sword, bow and other weapons, and finally fari-gadga, defense and attack with a leather shield and stick, and throwing the vita. According to the same article, weapons are made to the practitioner's height and weight. According to a press release quoting the teacher Vijay Aiwale, most forms involve several opponents, and in some, two fighters cover each other's backs.
Today
According to the daily Lokmat Times, in 2024 the government of Maharashtra declared the dandpatta sword its state weapon. The government decision the paper cites links this to the 350th anniversary of the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji, so that the weapon used by Shivaji, Sambhaji and their soldiers would stay in the memory of Maharashtra. According to the agency PTI, the sports ministry included gatka, kalaripayattu, thang-ta and mallakhamb in the Khelo India Youth Games 2021, and mardani khel was not among them. According to 30 Stades, mardani khel was on the verge of extinction fifteen to twenty years ago and was revived by hundreds of small talims, mainly in rural Maharashtra, with growing interest from girls and women. The daily Free Press Journal reports that it is taught in Pune, Kolhapur and Mumbai, and in 2024 it described a state competition in Nigdi near Pune with more than 125 participants in twelve groups. We have not found a verified federation.
Did you know
According to the daily Free Press Journal, Shivaji's bodyguard Jiva Mahala reportedly used a dandpatta at the meeting with Afzal Khan to cut off the hand of the attacker Sayyad Banda. According to 30 Stades, teacher Pranay Shelar says the tiger claws wagh nakh and the dagger bichhuwa, with which Shivaji is said to have killed Afzal Khan, are still used in mardani khel. An ANI press release explains the name as meaning the art took the form of a game, in Marathi khel, to survive the age of rifles and British laws.
Frequently asked questions
What is patta?
Wikipedia describes it as a sword with a hollow hilt that serves as a hand guard. According to the newspaper Lokmat Times, the Maharashtra government declared the dandpatta sword a state weapon in 2024.
Is mardani khel part of the Khelo India games?
According to the news agency PTI, the sports ministry included gatka, kalaripayattu, thang-ta and mallakhamb in the Khelo India Youth Games 2021. Mardani khel was not among them.
Where is mardani khel practiced?
According to 30 Stades, mainly in small talims in rural Maharashtra. The newspaper Free Press Journal reports teaching in Pune, Kolhapur and Mumbai.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.