Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India

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Columbia University Press, Oct 27, 2015 - History - 368 pages

Reaching as far back as ancient times, Ronojoy Sen pairs a novel history of India's engagement with sport and a probing analysis of its cultural and political development under monarchy and colonialism, and as an independent nation. Some sports that originated in India have fallen out of favor, while others, such as cricket, have been adopted and made wholly India's own. Sen's innovative project casts sport less as a natural expression of human competition than as an instructive practice reflecting a unique play with power, morality, aesthetics, identity, and money.

Sen follows the transformation of sport from an elite, kingly pastime to a national obsession tied to colonialism, nationalism, and free market liberalization. He pays special attention to two modern phenomena: the dominance of cricket in the Indian consciousness and the chronic failure of a billion-strong nation to compete successfully in international sporting competitions, such as the Olympics. Innovatively incorporating examples from popular media and other unconventional sources, Sen not only captures the political nature of sport in India but also reveals the patterns of patronage, clientage, and institutionalization that have bound this diverse nation together for centuries.

 

Contents

Introduction
1
Sport in Ancient and Medieval India
11
The Early British Impact on Recreation
31
Teachers Missionaries and Administrators
58
Indian Princes and Sports
74
The 1911 IFA Shield and Football in Calcutta
94
Sport Communalism and Nationalism
113
Indias Hockey Triumphs
137
Tales of Wrestlers and Boxers
165
The First Two Decades of Independence
186
State Club Office and Regiment 19471970
225
The Religion Called Cricket
249
12 Life Beyond Cricket
287
Notes
317
Index
361
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About the author (2015)

Ronojoy Sen is senior research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies and Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. He has worked for over a decade with leading Indian newspapers, most recently as an editor for The Times of India. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago and read history at Presidency College, Calcutta. He is also the author of Articles of Faith: Religion, Secularism, and the Indian Supreme Court.

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