Silambam Asia where silambam greatly influenced many fighting systems. The Indian community of the Malay Peninsula is known to have practiced silambam as far back as the period of Melaka's founding in the 15th century, and likely much earlier. The soldiers of Kings Puli Thevar, Dheeran Chinnamalai had Silambam army named "thadii pattalam", Veerapandiya Kattabomman and Maruthu Pandiyar (1760–1799) relied mainly on their Silambam prowess in their warfare against the British Army. Indian martial arts suffered a decline after the British colonists banned Silambam along with various other systems. They also introduced modern western military training which favoured fire-arms over traditional
Mardani khel united under Shivaji to create an independent kingdom in the Western Ghats. A Hindu confederacy during a time of intolerant Muslim rule meant that the Marathas were constantly under threat from the Mughals. With limited access to Mughal firearms, they instead capitalized on the local terrain which was unsuitable for the heavy artillery of the invaders. As a result, the Mughals were often forced into hand-to-hand combat, giving the Marathas an advantage despite their comparatively light armour. As with many of India's fighting systems, mardani khel gradually declined in importance during the colonial period when firearms were more widely adopted.