Mardani khel 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 light armour and highly mobile cavalry units during war. Whether they began as kshatriya or shudra is unclear, but the Maratha's reputation was
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