Mardani khel its founding - "Bol Sri Chhatrapati Shivaji-Maharaja ki jai" (Cry victory to Emperor Shivaji), a tribute to the founder of the Maratha Empire. Mardani khel Mardani khel is a weapon-based Indian martial art from Maharashtra. It is particularly known for its use of the uniquely Indian patta (sword) and "vita" (corded lance). The early history of mardani khel as a distinct system is difficult to trace prior to the 1600s, but it is said to owe its development to the particular geographic conditions of Maharashtra. A hilly region characterized by valleys and caves, the inhabitants became expert horsemen who favoured
Musti-yuddha was said to be an excellent horseman, charioteer, elephant rider, swordsman and boxer. 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." 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