South Asia has many traditional games and sports. Two of them,

kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

and

kho-kho Kho kho or kho-kho is a traditional Indian sport that dates back to ancient India. It is the second most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connec ...

, are played at the

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

, with kabaddi also featuring at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

. Many of these games are played across the entire

subcontinent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

under different names and with some rule variations, while some of these games may be played only in certain countries or regions.

History

Some traditional South Asian games, such as

, and

atya-patya Atya patya or atya-patya is a traditional Indian tag sport played by two sides of nine players. It is more popular in rural areas of India. It is more commonly played in Maharashtra, a western Indian state. Atya patya is described as a "game o ...

, are believed to be thousands of years old, dating back to

ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...

. Many South Asian games likely reflect characteristics of traditional life in South Asia; for example, the Bengali

hopscotch Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a ch ...

game of ekka-dokka (related to Stapoo and

Chindro Chindro (also known as Stapoo or Kidi Kada) is a popular Traditional games of India, rural game of Indian Sub-Continent. The game is played with a stone that tossed and slid on a marked off playing court. It is similar to hopscotch. Description ...

) may reflect the concepts of land division and ownership of property in ancient times. After the

British colonisation The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

of South Asia which peaked in the 1800s and afterwards,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and European sports such as

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

began to be followed to a greater extent, to the detriment of the traditional games. The modern advent of urbanisation,

globalisation Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

(which attracted people towards more globally popular games), and technology (which gave people digital forms of entertainment such as the Internet, television, and

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

) have further diminished the traditional South Asian sports. Additional reasons include religious extremism in some areas, which has restricted people from playing certain games, and lack of governmental support. However, some professional leagues are now being started for certain traditional sports, such as the Pro Kabaddi League and

Ultimate Kho Kho Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) is an Indian franchise-based Kho kho league started in 2022. The inaugural season, consisting of 6 teams, took place from 14 August to 4 September 2022, with Odisha Juggernauts winning the season after beating Telugu Yod ...

, which are beginning to revive interest in these sports and even globalise them.

Traditional games

Gillidanda

Gillidanda Gilli Danda (also spelled Gulli-Danda) also known as Viti Dandu, Kitti-Pul and by other variations, is a sport Traditional games of India, originating from the Indian subcontinent, played in the rural areas and small towns all over South Asia ...

or gulli danda is a game where players attempt to hit a stick as far as possible to score points. It has similarities to the popular South Asian sport of

, as well as to traditional games around the world, such as

tipcat Tip-cat (also called cat, cat and dog, one-a-cat, pussy, or piggy) is a pastime which consists of tapping a short billet of wood (usually no more than ) with a larger stick (similar to a baseball bat or broom handle); the shorter piece is tapered ...

Chindro

or Cheendro (related to ekka dokka in Bangladesh) is a game similar to

. Players attempt to move a rock through a series of boxes while hopping on one foot.Folk Games Dying in Pashtun Belt: A Combination of Religious Extremism Confining Girls to Their Homes and Urbanisation Providing New Options
/ref>

Gutte

Gutte (similar to Meergati and Bilghotti in Pakistan) involves players throwing up and then grabbing stones on the ground, while ensuring none of the stones falls from the air to the ground.

Dark room

Dark room is the same as

hide-and-seek Hide-and-seek (sometimes known as hide-and-go-seek) is a popular children's game in which at least two players (usually at least three) conceal themselves in a set environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one chose ...

, except that it is played in an entirely dark room.

Donkey Donkey

Donkey Donkey (similar to the Pakistani ''Beech ki Billi'') is a game in which two players attempt to throw a ball to each other, while a player in the middle tries to catch it.

Maram pitti

Maram Pitti Maram Pitti also known as Picchi Banti (పిచ్చి బంతి) in Telugu, is an Indian version of dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sport in which players on two teams try to throw balls and hit opponents, while avoiding being hit themsel ...

(similar to Pakistan's Maran Kuttai) is similar to

dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sport in which players on two teams try to throw balls and hit opponents, while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them with thrown balls, cat ...

Ball games

Seven stones

In the game of

seven stones ''Seven stones'' (also known by various other names) is a traditional game from the Indian subcontinent involving a ball and a pile of flat stones, generally played between two teams in a large outdoor area. History Seven Stones, one of the ...

(known by several other names in various regions), one team throws a ball at a pile of stones and then attempts to rebuild the pile, while the other team tries to eliminate the first team's players by throwing the ball at them.

Variations of tag

Kabaddi

, an offensive player tries to enter the other team's half of the field, tag as many of their players as possible, and then return without being tackled to score points.

Kho-kho

Kho-kho Kho kho or kho-kho is a traditional Indian sport that dates back to ancient India. It is the second most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connec ...

is a team sport that involves the offensive's teams players facing various restrictions while attempting to tag their opponents.

Freeze tag

Freeze tag Tag (also called touch and go AG'', tig, it, tiggy, tips, tick, tip) is a playground game involving two or more players chasing other players in an attempt to "tag" and mark them out of play, usually by touching with a hand. There are many vari ...

(also known as Baraf Paani in India and Pakistan, and as Borof Paani in Bangladesh) involves players becoming "frozen" in place when tagged by an opponent, but becoming unfrozen when tagged by a teammate.

Atya-patya

(related to Dariabandha in Bangladesh), players attempt to advance up and down the field without being tagged by opponents.

Langdi

Langdi Langdi was a script commonly used by traders used to write Haryanvi, Punjabi, or Saraiki in the Indian subcontinent . Bookkeepers, known as munīm ( hi, मुनीम, ur, ), would also keep records in this script. Some scholars have claime ...

(also known as Langri Paala in Pakistan), players attempt to tag opponents while hopping on one foot. Blind man's buff India

Aankh micholi

Aankh micholi (similar to Bangladesh's

Kanamachi Kanamachi ( bn, কানামাছি, Kanamachhi, Blind fly, also spelt ''Kanamasi'' or ''Khanamasi'') is a traditional game popular in Bangladesh and in the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Odisha and Tripura. It is played mainly by child ...

) is a form of blindfolded tag.

Kokla chappaki

This game (similar to Rumal Chor and

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

's Rumal Churi) is similar to

duck, duck, goose Duck, Duck, Goose (also called Duck, Duck, Gray Duck or Daisy in the Dell or Quail, Quail, Quarry sometimes in New Jersey and New England) is a traditional children's game often first learned in preschool or kindergarten. The game may be later a ...