Gymkhana () ( ur, جِمخانہ, sd, جمخانه, hi, जिमख़ाना, as, জিমখানা, bn, জিমখানা) is a British Raj term which originally referred to a place of assembly. The meaning then altered to denote a place where skill-based contests were held. "Gymkhana" is an

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

expression, which is derived from the Persian word "'' Jamat-khana''". Most gymkhanas have a Gymkhana Club associated with them, a term coined during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

for gentlemen's club. More generally, gymkhana refers to a social and sporting club in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

, and in other Asian countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, and Singapore, as well as in East Africa.

Etymology

The first element of ''Gymkhana'' comes from ''gend'' meaning ''ball'' in Hindi/Hindustani/Khariboli. This element is distinct from the English word '' gym'', short for ''gymnasium'' and ''

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

'' which has Greek and Latin roots. The second element, ''khānā'' has a Persian origin, meaning a home or a compartment. In Persian, (خانه) is a term for ''dwelling, house''.From ''Loghat'nāmeh-ye'' Dehkhoda, Third Edition (

Tehran University Press University of Tehran Press (UTP) (Persian: ) is a publishing house and a department of the University of Tehran in Iran founded in 1957. It is the largest university press in the Middle East. The press has published more than 5,000 titles in Pers ...

, 2006), quoted from ''Borhān-e Ghāte' '' by Mohammad Moin. The court language of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the ...

was Persian.

References

External links

*{{Wikisource-inline, list= **{{Cite NIE, wstitle=Gymkhana, year=1905, short=x , noicon=x **{{Cite EB1911, wstitle=Gymkhana, short=x , noicon=x Urdu-language words and phrases Hindi words and phrases Bengali words and phrases Sports venues Equestrian festivals

Etymology

See also

References

External links