Sport, historically, evolved as a substitute for war. Chariots used in war would be used for racing as sport. In ancient Greece, the Olympics games were closely associated with the development of the state and warfare between states. In the sporting arena, gladiators – either prisoners of war or criminalised slaves – fought to the death in front of spectators. Early sport was controlled war in a public place: permissible violence, staged within a certain demarcated boundary, unfolded under the gaze of the state, king or some form of authority.
The linkages between war and combative sport in the Subcontinent are strong. In India, when ultra-nationalist and revisionist historians celebrate 'ancient' sport such as kushti, malla-yuddha or pehlwani – forms of combat wrestling in which the mythological Bhima and Duryodhana participate – they are primarily referring to martial arts. Even in the southern part of the Subcontinent, kalarippayattu (prevalent in parts of present-day Kerala and Karnataka) and varma adi (in present-day Tamil Nadu) are martial-art forms that double up as medical practices, since they emphasise understanding of the 'vital spots', and also pass for sport. Kabaddi, a popular sport in the Punjab that also finds mention in ancient Tamil culture as sadugudu, is another combative team game that entails a great deal of group physical contact.
When sport thus is a display of controlled physical aggression, the question of who has a right to perform becomes crucial. In traditional caste society, participation in all martial sports would necessarily have been limited to the martial. Kshatriyas; in some cases, arms-bearing Brahmins also participated. The oppressed castes, especially the Dalits, are not expected to participate in sport. In the hierarchical social order, every caste group has a certain predefined role to perform, and the very participation of Dalits in the sporting arena could threaten that order, with the prospect of defeat at the hands of the 'subaltern'.
The mythological story of Ekalvya, the Adivasi archer who is denied by the Brahmin guru Dronacharya a chance to even compete with the less-talented Kshatriya-disciple Arjuna, encapsulates the issues of boundaries and transgressions that animate caste society. Karna, half-brother of the Pandavas in the epic Mahabharat, is deemed low-born, but poses a threat with his very talent at archery. Ekalvya, Karna, Arjuna and Dronacharya may be mythological characters, but they continue to be the reference points when caste codes are written by the modern sport establishments. The Indian state awards for the country's best players are named after Arjuna, and after Dronacharya for the best coaches – a Kshatriya-Brahmin combination notorious for its unsporting attitude, duplicity and deception.