Musti-yuddha

Various types of boxing existed in ancient India. The earliest references to musti-yuddha come from classical Vedic epics such as the Ramayana and Rig Veda. The Mahabharata describes two combatants boxing with clenched fists and fighting with kicks, finger strikes, knee strikes and headbutts.[4] Duels (niyuddham) were often fought to the death. During the period of the Western Satraps, the ruler Rudradaman - in addition to being well-versed in "the great sciences" which included Indian classical music, Sanskrit grammar, and logic - was said to be an excellent horseman, charioteer, elephant rider, swordsman and boxer.[5] The Gurbilas Shemi, an 18th-century Sikh text, gives numerous references to musti-yuddha.

The French General Allard commented on the boxing practiced by the early 19th-century Lahore army that "Duelling is not known in the army of Ranjit Singh. The soldiers settle their disputes with their fists; a brutal, and equally un-Christian, method of adjusting differences."[6] The particular form of boxing he referred to was loh-musti, practiced primarily in the northwest.

The British colonial introduction of western boxing in the 1890s caused a decline in native musti-yuddha, until only muki boxing survived in Varanasi. A city considered holy to Hindus, Varanasi has a tradition of annual boxing festivals dating back more than 300 years. Injuries were frequent and often severe. The colonial government once attempted to ban musti-yuddha from its last refuge, but the one-on-one matches were revived by a European police commissioner. The most famous post-independence fighters include Narayanguru Balambhat Deodhar and Lakshmanguru Balambhat Deodhar, both of whom were said to have been able to defeat 12 men at once. Musti-yuddha has become increasingly rare over time and by the 1960s was already being pushed further underground. Illegal matches are still held in Kolkata today and are frequented by gamblers.

• Malla-yuddha
• Vajra-mushti