Malla-yuddha such a wrestling match against a visiting champion in Singapore. Traditional Indian wrestling first began to decline in the north after the medieval Muslim invasions when influences from Persian wrestling were incorporated into native malla-yuddha. Under Mughal rule, courtly fashion favoured the Persianate pehlwani style. Traditional malla-yuddha remained popular in the south, however, and was particularly common in the Vijayanagara Empire. The 16th-century Jaina classic "Bharatesa Vaibhava" describes wrestlers challenging their opponents with grunts and traditional signs of patting the shoulders. Sculptures at Bhatkal depict wrestling matches, including female wrestlers. As part of his daily routine, the king Krishna Deva
Musti-yuddha Musti-yuddha Musti-Yuddha (Sanskrit and ; ) is the traditional form of boxing originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term literally means "fist combat", from the Sanskrit words "muśti" (fist) and "yuddha" (fight, battle, conflict). While this would originally have been used as a general term for any boxing art, today it usually refers to muki boxing from Varanasi, the only surviving unarmed style. In the Punjab there still exists an armed form of boxing called "loh-musti" in which the fighters wear an iron ring on one hand, although it is no longer used for sparring. Aspiring boxers undergo years of