GV 
 
 I-NRLF 
 
 'HYSICAL EDUCATION 
 
 IN INDIA 
 
 ABDUS SALAM 
 
GIFT OF 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION 
 
 IN 
 
 INDIA. 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA 
 
 BY 
 
 ABDUS SALAM, M. A., 
 
 (_, 
 
 of the Provincial Civil Service, 
 
 AUTHOR OF TRANSLATIONS OF URF! AND ZAHUR!, 
 &c., &c. 
 
 Jtsm zdhtr Rtih mdkhfi am t dast 
 
 Jfsm hamchii dstin Jan Juiiuchii dast. MAULANA RUM. 
 
 W. NEWMAN & CO. 
 1895. 
 
DEDICATED, BY KIND PERMISSION, 
 TO THE HON'BLE 
 
 SIR CHARLES ALFRED ELLIOTT, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., 
 
 Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, 
 
 IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF His HONOR'S 
 
 BENEFICENT SOLICITUDE 
 To MELIORATE THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF 
 
 THE YOUTHS IN BENGAL, 
 BY DIFFUSING AMONGST THEM MORE WIDELY THE 
 
 BLESSINGS OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION, 
 AND BY AFFORDING THEM GREATER FACILITIES 
 
 FOR TAKING TO MANLY 
 WESTERN GAMES AND OUTDOOR SPORTS. 
 
 CALCUTTA, 
 
 1895.} 
 
 464220 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 HPHE following pages contain the substance 
 of a Lecture recently delivered at the 
 celebration of the first Anniversary of the 
 Calcutta Mahomedan Sporting Club, held in 
 the Madrasah-hall under the presidency of 
 the Hon'ble Justice AMEER ALI, M.A., C.I.E. 
 
 The subject of physical education of 
 Indian Youths deserves greater attention than 
 it has hitherto received ; and, therefore, at 
 the request of several friends interested in 
 the welfare of Indian young men, I am led to 
 put forward this brochure, as my humble con- 
 tribution towards the subject, with special 
 reference to Mahomedans. If it, in any 
 measure, conduces to a better appreciation 
 of the importance of manly out-door games 
 
11 PREFACE. 
 
 and physical exercises generally, by my young 
 friends, both Hindoo and Mahomedan, I shall 
 feel amply rewarded. 
 
 ABDUS SALAM. 
 
 CALCUTTA, 
 January, 1895. 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 MAN is endowed by nature with certain 
 faculties and powers, and it is the aim of 
 education to bring them out, to develop them, 
 and to improve them These faculties and 
 powers, broadly speaking, are two-fold in 
 character, namely Physical and Mental. To 
 develop them, therefore, education should 
 also be two-fold, that is, physical and mental ; 
 physical education aiming at the maintenance 
 of our physical health by developing our 
 physical powers, and mental education aiming 
 at the preservation of our mental health by 
 developing our mental powers. 
 
 Though the subjects, Body and Mind, of 
 which these two systems of education treat, 
 are distinct, yet they are inseparable, that is, 
 so far as we can conceive human existence in 
 
 i 
 
2 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 this world ; and they are also, according to 
 physiologists, intimately connected. This in- 
 timate connection is beautifully expressed in 
 the following Persian lines of the great mystic 
 poet of the East, Maulana Rum : 
 
 Tan zajdn jdn za tan Masttir nfst 
 Laik has rd did-i-jdn ddstur ntst. 
 
 Physical education, though of less absolute 
 value than mental education, is superior by 
 reason of the liberality of its gifts. The bless- 
 ing of health which it promises to its votaries, 
 is open to all alike to the king and the 
 peasant, the rich and the poor, and the high 
 and the low. Also, when regarded from the 
 stand-point of its relative value, physical edu- 
 cation has pre-eminent importance compared 
 with which the importance of all other sub- 
 jects, even mental education, sinks into in- 
 significance. The reason is simple. The ob- 
 ject of physical education is preservation of 
 health and life, and health and life constitute 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 3 
 
 the bases on which we can raise other super- 
 structures, such as those of intellect, wis- 
 dom, piety, wealth, power, rank and fame, 
 &c. To translate a Persian saying, one bless- 
 ing of health is equal to a hundred blessings. 
 It is the principal element in human happi- 
 ness, and, therefore, it has been well observed, 
 that " a healthy beggar is happier than an ail- 
 ing king." 
 
 Another consideration also shows the im- 
 mense value of physical education. We 
 all value medical science, because it cures 
 diseases and restores health. Now, it is an 
 undeniable fact that moderate and judicious 
 physical exercise, to a great extent, prevents 
 diseases, and preserves health. And, there- 
 fore, it is evident that physical education has 
 an equal claim on our attention ; for preven- 
 tion of disease is better than its cure, preser- 
 vation of health better, easier, and cheaper 
 than its restoration. 
 
4 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 The necessity of physical exercise, in some 
 shape or other, is evident from the fact that 
 every faculty or capacity, mental or physical, 
 with which God has endowed us, requires 
 proper exercise for its full and harmonious 
 development. Life means movement, activity. 
 We must exercise our mental faculties, that 
 our intellect may not rust ; we must cultivate 
 our moral feelings, that they may not suffer 
 in grace and sweetness ; and similarly, we 
 must exercise our arms and muscles, in 
 order that they may not lose their vigour and 
 agility. Physical education aims at the main- 
 tenance of health, by directing itself to the 
 exercise of all the parts of which this wonder- 
 ful mechanism of the human body is consti- 
 tuted. Whilst on this point, 1 am tempted 
 to quote the words of the German philosopher, 
 Schopenhauer : " Without a proper amount 
 of daily exercise, no one can remain healthy ; 
 all the processes of life demand exercise for 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 5 
 
 the due performance of their functions, 
 exercise not only of the parts more imme- 
 diately concerned, but also of the whole body. 
 For, as Aristotle says, * life is movement, it is 
 its very essence. 7 Ceaseless and rapid motion 
 goes on in every part of the organism. The 
 heart, with its complicated double systole and 
 diastole, beats strongly and untiringly ; with 
 twenty-eight beats, it has to drive the whole 
 of the blood through arteries, veins and capil- 
 laries, the lungs pump like a steam-engine 
 without intermission, the intestines are always 
 in peristaltic action, the glands are all cons- 
 tantly absorbing and secreting, even the brain 
 has a double motion of its own, with every 
 beat of the pulse and every breath we draw. 
 When people can get no exercise at all, as is 
 the case with countless numbers who are con- 
 demned to a sedentary life, there is a glaring 
 and fatal disproportion between outward in- 
 activity and inner tumult. For this ceaseless 
 
6 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 internal motion requires some external coun- 
 terpart, and the want of it produces effects like 
 those of emotion, which we are obliged to 
 suppress. Even trees must be shaken by the 
 wind, if they are to thrive." 
 
 In addition to the above, the observations 
 of a most eminent Indian medical authority, 
 Sir J. Fayrer, may be profitably quoted. The 
 following appears in his lecture on preserva- 
 tion of health in India: "The morning is 
 the time for exercise and fresh air, and it is 
 well to devote an hour or so to walking or 
 riding. Exercise is essential to health, and it 
 is a duty to obtain it. The use of the Indian 
 clubs is a good supplement to other exercise ; 
 it develops the chest, and gives vigour to the 
 muscular system. Exercise prevents languor 
 and inactivity, and tends to keep off liver con- 
 gestion and dyspepsia. " From the above two 
 extracts, one can perceive the great necessity 
 of taking some amount of daily physical exer- 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 7 
 
 cise for the preservation of life and health. 
 Of course, the amount and nature of the exer- 
 cise must vary according to the strength and 
 weakness of different constitutions, and the 
 golden rule of avoiding excess should be observ- 
 ed in this, as in all other matters of life. 
 
 The necessity of taking physical exercise 
 has been always recognized in Europe. In 
 the ancient times, we find its most civilized 
 people, the Greeks, priding themselves on their 
 contests of strength and skill, which formed 
 the great features of their four pan-Hellenic 
 festivals, called the Olymic, the Pythean, the 
 Nemean and the Isthmian games. These phy- 
 sical contests, generally in the shape of gym- 
 nastic exercises, such as chariot-racing, boxing 
 and wrestling, which took place for a month, 
 expressed the Greek sentiment that humanity 
 adored Zeus best by the harmonious develop- 
 ment of both mind and body. Public build- 
 ings called gymnasia were erected, and 
 
8 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 gymnastics made a part of Medicine. Nor 
 were the Romans behindhand in their pursuit 
 of physical education. The Romans, like 
 the Greeks, took great interest in their 
 gymnasia, at which the Roman youths 
 practised in wrestling, running, boxing, danc- 
 ing, leaping, riding, swimming, rowing, &c. 
 The gladiatorial contests, which were at 
 once the glory and the shame of the Roman 
 amphitheatres, may also be mentioned 
 amongst the forms of physical exercise cur- 
 rent amongst the ancient Romans. The 
 Romans possessed strong arms and sturdy 
 souls, and triumphed over what they called 
 the 'barbarian 7 races of the world, so long 
 as they delighted in healthy martial and phy- 
 sical exercises, and maintained the rugged 
 simplicity of their character. The exchange 
 of physical and martial exercises for luxury 
 and intemperance, brought about their fall. 
 In this, they, in a manner, anticipated the 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. Q 
 
 tragic issue of the fates of so many Moslem 
 dynasties and empires, in more subsequent 
 days. 
 
 In modern times in Europe, the Swedish 
 system of gymnastics is popularly adopted, 
 besides out-door sports, such as cricket, foot- 
 ball, tennis, badminton, riding, walking, row- 
 ing, swimming, boxing, shooting, hunting, 
 dancing, skating, archery and golf, &c. In the 
 Universities of England and the Continent, 
 the students to this day pride themselves 
 as much on their athletic dexterity, as on their 
 mental acquisitions. They do so rightly, 
 because in a well-planned, scientific manly 
 game, such as cricket or foot-ball or tennis, 
 it is not only our physical powers that are 
 brought into play, but also higher moral qua- 
 lities, such as independence, presence of mind, 
 self-reliance, discipline and self-control are 
 developed. And, therefore, Rousseau's obser- 
 vation seems pithy, namely, " that if you 
 
 2 
 
IO PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA, 
 
 wish to develop the mind of a pupil, develop 
 the power which that mind has to govern, 
 exercise his body, make him healthy and 
 strong, that you may make him prudent and 
 reasonable/' Besides the out-door sports 
 mentioned above, people in Europe receive 
 military training which serves the purpose of 
 physical education in their Military Schools, 
 as well as under the militia laws, and the 
 volunteering system. Sporting leagues also 
 exist in parts of Europe, to influence public 
 opinion in favor of manly games, and to pro- 
 mote generally the cause of physical educa- 
 tion. All these, along with the bracing cli- 
 mate of Europe, combine to keep up the health 
 and physical vigour and manliness of the 
 western races. 
 
 In the East also, in ancient times, physical 
 education and physical manliness occupied the 
 attention of statesmen and citizens, and were 
 the themes of poets, from the days of Goliath. 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. II 
 
 For instance, in Arabia, in the early days 
 of the Islamic period, we find the Arabs prid- 
 ing themselves on their dexterity in the use 
 of the sword, in horsemanship and archery. 
 The tournaments with their laws of chivalry, 
 which softened the ruggedness of European 
 society in the middle ages, and which are des- 
 cribed in rapturous language in the pages of 
 western writers, owed their origin to the Moslem 
 Arabs or Saracens, better known as the Moors, 
 who supplanted the Gothic empire in Spain 
 in the eighth century. In these tournaments, 
 Knights, followed by squires, entered the lists 
 with blunted swords and lances, which they 
 broke in mimic fighting with their peers. In- 
 deed, Moslem youths in the past, not only in 
 Arabia but also in Persia, Syria, Turkey, 
 Afghanistan, Central Asia and India, used to 
 take pride in hand-to-hand combats, in the 
 use of the bow and the gun, in riding and 
 wrestling, in the use of " mudghurs " or dumb - 
 
12 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 bells and lathis or clubs, and in practices with 
 the sword, the lance, and the scimitar. The 
 game of Chaugan, which was the favourite 
 pastime of Akbar on sultry evenings under the 
 shade of his fortress at Agra or Fathepur- 
 Sikri, is the modern polo carried to Europe 
 from India. 
 
 The early Moslem immigrants in India 
 from the North-West from Balkh and 
 Badakhshan, from Ghazni and Samarkand, 
 from Bokhara and Bagdad were not pale 
 Epicures in petticoats, but they were stalwart, 
 ruddy and stern Puritans of the Cromwell 
 type in tight tunic and trousers, and their chief 
 delights in life, next to fighting in the ways 
 of Allah, consisted not in lounging and idle 
 gossipping and hookah-smoking and betel- 
 chewing, but in taking physical exercises in 
 all forms, in hunting and shooting, in riding 
 and walking and swimming. Babar and his 
 comrades were keen sportsmen, and they 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 13 
 
 swam every river that blocked their progress 
 during their thirty years' campaigning. Ak- 
 bar was one of the best equestrians that the 
 world has ever seen, and his Omrahs not 
 only vied with him in riding long distances, 
 but in organising hunting excursions, when- 
 ever they found respite, however short, from 
 the more arduous duties of consolidating the 
 Empire. Though their uniform success and 
 unchallenged paramountcy through three suc- 
 cessive reigns had tended to quench their old 
 martial fire, and to breed soft luxury by the 
 jovial times of Jahangir and Shah Jahan, and 
 though, in consequence, the ' heroic soldiers 
 of the early Empire and their no less heroic 
 wives had given place to a vicious and deli- 
 cate breed of grandees,' yet this growing effe- 
 minacy of the Mussulman race was effectu- 
 ally curbed for a period by Aurangzeb, who 
 himself was a noble -instance of a hardy and 
 energetic man of action, combining in himself 
 
14 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA, 
 
 the austere simplicity of an Indian ascetic, 
 and, who, with the foresight of a statesman, 
 interdicted all the old voluptuous frivolities 
 and effeminate exhibitions which had crept 
 into Court, and encouraged instead, on all 
 State occasions, elephant-fights corresponding 
 to bull-fights in Spain, and other manly athle- 
 tic exhibitions. Thus, despite the ominously 
 increasing looseness of their petticoats and 
 skirts, the Mussulmans in India in Moghul 
 times for a considerable period, managed to 
 keep up their manliness and physical energy, 
 and never ceased to be keen sportsmen. 
 
 The consummate skill and heroism the 
 physical prowess and dexterity in wielding 
 the sword which deservedly earned him the 
 title of the ' Sword of God/ the prodigies 
 of valour and feats of discipline displayed 
 by Khaledbin Walid in hand-to-hand com- 
 bats with Hormuz, the Persian Prince, and 
 with Jarija, and on the battle fields of Walaja, 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 15 
 
 when the Persians under their veteran war- 
 rior Bahman were routed, and of Wacusa, 
 when 40,000 Arabs vanquished 2,40,000 
 Romans all this is treasured up to this 
 day in every Mussulman heart as its past 
 glorious physical and martial heritage, and 
 may be taken as typical of the physical 
 vigour, manliness and discipline which, in a 
 greater or less measure, characterised the 
 Moslem race in the seventh century. The 
 bare mention of the names of Omar, Ali and 
 Hamza, of Hassan and Husain, of Mothana, 
 Caca and Sad the heroes of Cadesiya, of 
 Amr, the conqueror of Egypt, of Tarik, Musa 
 and Abdur Rahman, conquerors of Spain, of 
 Harun-ul Rashid, the Caliph of Bagdad, 
 whose whirling scimitar was ever ready to 
 rescue friends and punish foes, of Mahmud 
 of Ghazni, Mahomed Ghour, Nadir Shah 
 and Ahmad Shah Durani, of Babar, Akbar, 
 Aurangzeb and Hyder, of Timur, Othman 
 
1 6 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 and Mahomed II, conqueror of Constantinople 
 and supplanter of the Empire of the Caesars, 
 of Solyman the Magnificent, the conqueror of 
 Hungary and Greece, who thundered at the 
 gates of Vienna and was the terror of Italy 
 and Germany, is sufficient to kindle patriotic 
 emotions, and to bring home to our minds the 
 physical prowess and intrepedity, the man- 
 liness and vitality, the discipline and presence 
 of mind which distinguished the Mussulman 
 race from the seventh to about the end of 
 the eighteenth century. 
 
 The annual mimic fighting connected with 
 the celebration of the Mohurrum tragedy, 
 answered, to some extent, the purpose of phy- 
 sical training to Mahomedans in India, Persia 
 and Afghanistan, just as the Ram Lila festival 
 answered a similar purpose in respect of the 
 Hindoos. And the very form of the Mussul- 
 man liturgy embodies physical exercise. Thus 
 the most eloquent tribute to the cause of 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 17 
 
 physical education is paid by Islam ! 
 
 In contrast with this brilliant past as re- 
 gards physical vigour and manliness, the 
 lack of physical energy which now more or 
 less characterises the Mahomedans in India 
 stands out in bold but dismal relief. Our 
 one-sided Western education, so far con- 
 trary to the fond dream of Lord Macaulay 
 has acted with us like a bad liver : it 
 is making us assimilate what has to be 
 rejected of the Western import, and reject 
 what has to be assimilated. We are rapidly 
 parting with our own national ways and 
 manners, the sweetness and grace which 
 distinguished our noble sires, without im- 
 bibing those of the West, In the case of a 
 few here and there, there might be visible 
 some surface Western polish, but it is no 
 more than skin-deep ; the result being that 
 whilst the sweet guilelessness and gentle sua- 
 vity of the East is absent, the genuine sturdi- 
 
 3 
 
l8 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 ness and masculine straightforwardness of the 
 West is also wanting. This is not the occa- 
 sion to animadvert on this new and rapidly de- 
 veloping phase of our national character, but 
 in regard to its physical aspect, one is bound 
 to observe that our exclusively Western ideas 
 have not, so far as practice is concerned, made 
 us much wiser. Many of us have ceased to 
 pray five times a day, and have thus wantonly 
 deprived ourselves of the physical exercise 
 which the Mussulman liturgy embodies. Our 
 modern prosaic tendencies have abated our 
 enthusiasm in reference to the annual evolu- 
 tions connected with the celebration of the 
 Mohurrum tragedy, called by Mathew Arnold 
 the ' Great Passion play of the East,' and have 
 thus attenuated another socio-religious incen- 
 tive to our physical training. We despise, 
 more or less, the indigenous physical exercises 
 of the East, such as wrestling, practices with 
 " mudghurs" clubs, "dun," archery, &c., taun- 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. IQ 
 
 ting those who practise them as pahlawans or 
 wrestlers, and at the same time we have 
 failed to take, like other elastic and less 
 conservative races in India, to the manly 
 Western games, such as tennis, foot-ball, 
 cricket, &c. The fact is significant and 
 speaks volumes, that whilst the Hindoos pos- 
 sess not less than half-a-dozen sporting clubs 
 in Calcutta, the Mussulmans here have only 
 one or two, and those also not well-supported. 
 Walking is considered now-a-days amongst us 
 more or less Plebeian, though, be it noted, 
 the great and illustrious Caliph Omar, twelve 
 hundred years ago, in his notable journey 
 from Medina to Jerusalem, to receive the 
 capitulation of the Romans, chose to do a 
 great portion of the journey by walking, 
 giving his place on the camel's back to a 
 slave, and that too, when he commanded the 
 unlimited resources of the Great Caliphate, 
 and was second to no monarch of his dav ! 
 
20 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 Speaking of the Mussulmans in India, and 
 especially in Bengal, their physical deteriora- 
 tion may be briefly, and, at the same time 
 more or less aptly, described by saying, that 
 they would prefer lying down to sitting, sit- 
 ting to standing, standing to walking, and 
 walking to running. It may be a painful 
 digression, but I cannot help remarking that 
 this physical attitude more or less represents 
 our present mental attitude ! What havoc 
 Time has wrought in our national character ! 
 To the student of history, possibly, such 
 things will be ! Possibly, to some extent, this 
 physical deterioration may be accounted for 
 by the laws of nature. With the progress 
 of civilization, with the march of refinement, 
 with the pursuit of arts of peace, there would 
 probably be a corresponding abandonment of 
 martial habits and manly exercises, and a 
 consequent deterioration in the physical vigour 
 and vitality of a race. The sturdy children 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 21 
 
 of the Arabian desert, living on coarse barley- 
 bread and dates, and clad in coarser stuff, 
 possessing all the vigour of a youthful race, 
 knowing no other luxury than riding on their 
 spirited Arab steeds and wielding their sharp 
 swords, would yield to the process of enerva- 
 tion, when coming in touch with the soft vales 
 of Andalusia and Syria and with the splen- 
 dour and riches, luxuries and dissipations of 
 the land of the Chosros or the Byzantines, and 
 would gradually exchange the coarse saddle 
 of the horse-back for the soft divans of the 
 Alhambra. Similarly, the rugged children of 
 the plateau of Central Asia and of the defiles 
 of Afghanistan, fed on coarse bread or camel's 
 flesh, and innocent of all luxuries, except sit- 
 ting on the camel's back or sleeping under the 
 shade of tents, and brandishing their mighty 
 scimitars, would succumb to the siren envi- 
 ronments of the Happy Valley of Cashmere, 
 and exchange their rugged tent-life for the 
 
22 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 cosy cushions of palaces or garden-houses at 
 Delhi, Agra, Lucknow and Moorshedabad. 
 ' The hardy troopers of Balkh had grown soft 
 in the Capua of the Jamna.' Such things 
 cannot be altogether helped in the course of 
 a nation's destiny ! The water of life, like 
 the water of the Ganges or the Brahmaputra, 
 will gradually tend to become diffuse and 
 spend its force and fury, as it will recede 
 from its fountain-head, but all the same that 
 the flow of the current may continue, that its 
 force may not be altogether lost even in the 
 soft deltaic soil of Bengal, human ingenuity, 
 aided by engineering skill, has devised a system 
 of embankments and dams. Similarly, in these 
 piping-days of peace and high intellectual pres- 
 sure and especially in this enervating Indian 
 climate, when more than ever a race is apt to 
 get emasculated, it is absolutely necessary 
 that we should have recourse to physical exer- 
 cise in such shapes as are available, in order 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 23 
 
 to prevent our physical energy and vitality 
 being totally sapped. It is not suggested that 
 we should turn a race of athletes, wrestlers or 
 gladiators, but what is urged is that, in order 
 to keep up our health, vitality and manliness, 
 and to enjoy life, we should take moderate daily 
 physical exercise in the shape of riding, walk- 
 ing, practice with mudghurs, wrestling, shoot- 
 ing, rowing, swimming, gymnastic exercises, or 
 other manly sports, such as cricket, foot-ball, 
 tennis, &c. It was by exercises like these that 
 our fathers, within living memories, used to 
 keep up their health and strength. But the 
 present sledge-hammer system of education 
 seems to have destroyed the last vestiges of our 
 physical vitality. Young men, both Hindoo 
 and Mahomedan, forego now-a-days physical 
 exercise, and sacrifice their health, and, some- 
 times, life for standing high in University 
 examinations. In consequence of this mis- 
 placed intellectual mania, an impression pre- 
 
24 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 
 
 vails that mortality amongst the educated 
 Indian youths is abnormally high. How far 
 this impression is well founded, I am not in 
 a position to vouch, but that such an im- 
 pression should exist is sufficiently significant 
 and portentous. One result, however, of this 
 intellectual mania, is decidedly tangible in the 
 appearance of our University men, who are 
 generally weak in physique and health. This 
 is a defect in the present system of education 
 in this country, which deserves more serious 
 attention at the hands of all friends of Indian 
 progress than it has hitherto received. The 
 present system is of an one-sided character : 
 it aims at the intellectual advancement of 
 the Indian youths, but it pays little heed to 
 the healthy maintenance of those physical 
 powers, on which this intellectual advance- 
 ment must necessarily hinge. It would be not 
 a day too soon, if our educational bodies step- 
 ped forward, and assigned physical educa- 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 25 
 
 tion its proper place in their systems, and 
 better still would it be, if the well-wishers 
 of society, both Hindoo and Mahomedan, 
 spontaneously organised sporting leagues or 
 syndicates of physical culture to influence 
 public opinion everywhere in favor of manly 
 sports and games, and to promote generally 
 the cause of physical education in this coun- 
 try. 
 
 It must, however, be added, and gratefully 
 acknowledged, that something in this direction 
 has been already done by that far-seeing and 
 noble-hearted statesman, Sir George Camp- 
 bell, who introduced gymnasiums in Govern- 
 ment Schools and Colleges some twenty years 
 ago, and also latterly, by His Excellency the 
 late Viceroy Lord Lansdowne, who offered a 
 Cricket Challenge Shield for competition by 
 native elevens from any School or College in 
 Bengal, and by Lord Harris in Bombay, 
 and by His Honor Sir Charles Elliott in 
 
 4 
 
26 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA 
 
 Bengal, ail of whom have given proofs of 
 their great interest in the physical education 
 of Indian youths, by encouraging out-door 
 physical sports. And I understand in Cal- 
 cutta, under the auspices of our present noble- 
 hearted Lieutenant-Governor, it is contem- 
 plated to open a large Sporting Ground in 
 Marcus Square, where students of all Colleges 
 and Schools will be able to meet together for 
 healthy physical recreation. It is hoped that 
 our young men will fully avail themselves of its 
 advantages. Such a sporting ground would 
 not only afford a great impetus to the cause 
 of physical education, but, it is trusted, would 
 in some measure solve the present anxious 
 problem of the growing estrangement between 
 races by promoting better and more friendly 
 relations between the Christian, Hindoo and 
 Mahomedan youths. A Common Sporting 
 Ground, more than any other platform, that 
 is, so far as India is concerned, seems to be a 
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA. 27 
 
 very good nursery, where seeds of union and 
 solidarity between races can be sown, and 
 may, in ripeness of time, be expected to ger- 
 minate, and grow into shady plants. 
 
 I will conclude this with a word to my 
 young Mahomedan friends. The charge is 
 often brought that you Hjave lost the vigour 
 of your intellect ; do not furriish your tra- 
 ducers the pretext to add also that you have 
 lost your physical vigour and manliness ! Let 
 the memories of the physical prowess and 
 manly achievements of your ancient leaders 
 and noble sires, enshrined in the pages of 
 history and depicted in the martial lines of 
 Firdousi, inspire you and thrill you with ambi- 
 tion to maintain your physical vitality and 
 energy, at any rate not to be worsted on 
 sporting grounds ! 
 
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