Means of entertainment
There were many means of entertainment available in medieval India. The means of sports and entertainment were different for the rich and the poor. Similarly, the means of entertainment of cities and villages were different. Poor people often used to play games like kabaddi, wrestling, gilli danda, ball etc.
Whereas members of royal families, wealthy people and middle-class people preferred to play chaupad, ganjifa and playing cards and chess. The game of barber was started by the Muslims in India. The game of Pachisi was an ancient Indian game promoted by Akbar.
Chaupar:Chaupar was an ancient Indian game which is still known by the names of Pachisi, Chausar and Chaupar etc. Like today in medieval times also it was played by 16 pieces which were in 4 parts of different colours. Usually this game was played by four players, who were divided into two teams of two members each. Each player had four pieces.
Each player used to roll the dice and move his pieces on the squares of the square according to the points on the dice. The game of Chaupar was very popular among the royal families from Mahabharata to the time of the Mughal emperors.
Akbar made some changes in the rules of Chaupar 'Chandra-Mandal' made the game. In this the number of players was 16 and the number of pieces was reduced to 64 to distribute them equally. Aurangzeb's daughter Zebunnisa used to spend most of her time playing Chaupad with her friends.
Cards:Cards was an ancient Indian game. Medieval card games had 144 cards. There used to be 12 groups of 12-12 cards, in which the emperor and his vizier were allies. The names of these groups were in Sanskrit language till the time of Akbar. Akbar changed the names of the last seven of these and the fifth one 'Dhanpati' Named group.
This game was very popular among the Mughals. There was only one picture on all the cards. On one of the cards there was a picture of Krishna killing Shakatasur. Circular playing cards were prevalent in Rajasthan. Like the card game, the game of Ganjife was also played.
Chess:Chess is also an old game of India, which at that time was equally popular from the royal families to the common people. In this, a square figure was made on a square post, in which 8-8 squares i.e. total 64 squares were made in eight rows, these squares were painted with black and white colors.
There was a player sitting on two sides of this square, one of whom had 16 pieces of white color and the other player had 16 pieces of black. These pieces represented an army consisting of elephants, horses, camels and on foot, that is, the Chaturangini army.
At the center of each army was the emperor and the vizier. Akbar loved this game very much. International chess matches were also held. A courtier of Jahangir 'Khankhana' He faced Shah Safi of Persia, in which after three days of play 'Khankhana' was defeated.
The game of Pachisi:Pachisi was an ancient Hindu game that Akbar especially liked. It can be called a large sized chaupad. In the royal palaces of Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, the quadrilaterals of this game are still made on marble stones. The game of two pieces, three pieces and twelve pieces was prevalent in both urban and rural areas.
In a two piece game, two pieces were placed face to face in the square and moves were made to hit each other's pieces. Similarly, the game of three pieces was played with three pieces and nine pieces with nine pieces.
Other games of pieces:Among other games of pieces, Mughal-Pathan, Lam-Turk, Bhag-Chal, Bhag-Chakkar, twenty-six pieces and sheep-goat games were more prevalent.
Outdoor games:In the games played outside the house, the rich people used to play games like Chaugan, animal hunting, animal fighting etc. The favorite sport of the royal families was Chaugan which is now known as Polo. It was probably the Muslims who had introduced this game in India. Rajputs also used to play this game with great fervor.
In this game there were two teams of five members each. Two Chaugan-Khiladi Mir Sharif and Mir Ghiyasuddiya were more famous during Akbar's time. 'Ghofri' in Mughal inscriptions There is also mention of the game which was similar to the game of hockey. It was played with ball and stick in rural areas. Wrestling and boxing were also the main means of entertainment during the Mughal period. Akbar kept Persian and Turani boxers in his court.
Horse riding was also a means of entertainment among the upper class nobles. For this special types of Arabian horses were imported from Yemen, Oman etc. Rajputs and Gujaratis used to be the main competitors in horse riding. Archery, fencing, ball throwing, javelin throwing etc. also had public interest and competitions used to be held for this. Common people used to play sports like wrestling and boxing, animal race etc.
Playing hunting:Among kings, kings and aristocrats, playing hunting was considered a great means of entertainment in which the kings and nobles as well as ordinary people took part. Lions were hunted only by emperors, princes and kings. Elephants could not be hunted without the permission of the emperor or the king. Rajput warriors often hunted lions, tigers and wild boar.
Akbar introduced the Turkish method of hunting in India which is called 'Kamgha hunting' Used to say In this, wild animals were taken in a circle with drums and shouts of human beings and then the emperor and the Begum used to hunt those animals. Bird hunting was the favorite sport of both the rich and the poor. Fishing was also the main means of entertainment in medieval times. A special type of net was used for fishing, which was called Safra or Whirlpool.
Battles of rams, bulls and buffaloes etc. also held a prominent place in the games of that period. The poor people entertained with small animal fights. Bulbul, quail and chicken were also fought. Pigeon flying was also a widely practiced pastime.
Juggling, magic, theatrics, puppetry, mushairas, dance-music events, acrobatics and theatrical performances were also popular forms of entertainment in medieval society. The Hindu public used to stage various episodes of Ramayana. 'Parshwanath character' in Rajasthan And 'Raja Harishchandra Charitra' Evidence of staging is also found. The artists of Gujarat used to perform plays and sports-tamashes in different parts of the country.
Festivals, Festivals and Fairs in Medieval Society
Hindus and Muslims celebrated different festivals. These festivals were celebrated all over the country at one time, but there were local variations in the manner of celebrating them. There were decorations of lamps, fireworks and display of gold and silver and jewels on Diwali.
Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan used to celebrate some Hindu festivals like Holi, Deepawali and Rakhi etc. But Aurangzeb stopped celebrating many Hindu and Persian festivals in his court. Hindu festivals were spread throughout the year and occurred in almost every month, they were celebrated according to the dates of Vikram calendar.
Festivals of Hindus
The first month of the year used to start from the Shukla Paksha of Chaitra month. In its Shukla Paksha, Chaitri Navratri was organized from Pratipada to Navami. Chaitra Shukla Pratipada was celebrated as Gudi Padwa, Chaitrichandra (Chetichand). On the eighth day of Shukla Paksha, Durga Ashtami and Navami, the birthday of Lord Rama, was celebrated as the festival of Ram Navami.
Hanuman Jayanti i.e. the birthday of Hanumanji was celebrated on Chaitra-Purnima. Vat Savitri was celebrated on the full moon of Shukla Paksha of Jyeshtha month, in which the wife used to fast with the wish of her husband's long life. It had more importance in Maharashtra. The full moon of the month of Ashadh was celebrated as Guru-Purnima. This day is the birthday of Lord Ved Vyas. On this day people used to worship their Guru and give him Dakshina etc.
Raksha-bandhan was celebrated on the full moon of Shravan month, on this day sisters used to visit their brothers' house and tie rakhi on their wrists and wished for their protection. Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna, was celebrated on the Ashtami of Bhadrapada month. They used to fast during the day with fasting or fruit food and during the half-night, they used to distribute jaggery-coriander offerings by offering Arghya to the moon. Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated on the Chaturthi of Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapada.
Shardiya Navratri was organized in the first nine days of Shukla Paksha of Ashwin (Karthik) month. Dussehra i.e. Vijayadashami was celebrated on the tenth day. This day was celebrated as the day of killing of Ravana by Lord Rama. Dhanteras was celebrated on Trayodashi of Krishna Paksha of Kartik month, Roop Chaudas on Chaturdashi and Deepawali on Amavasya.
This day was considered to be the day of Lord Rama's return to Ayodhya and lamps were lit in every village, town, locality, streets and houses to welcome him. Goddess Lakshmi was worshiped in the night and some people considered it good to play games. The day after Diwali was Yama Dwitiya which was celebrated as Bhai Dooj. On this day the brother used to go to his sister's house and get her vaccinated.
Govardhan was organized on this day. Akbar also took part in Govardhan Puja. Many cows were brought before the emperor after being bathed and decorated with ornaments. The emperor used to worship him. Jahangir has also mentioned this festival. Diyas were also lit on the full moon day of Kartik month. Tripuri Poornima was organized on this day.
Makar Sankranti was celebrated all over the country in the month of Magha when the Sun entered Capricorn. On this day, after bathing in the rivers, donations were given to the poor and Brahmins and gifts were given to elders. Pongal was organized in Tamil Nadu on this day.
Saraswatiji's birthday was celebrated as Vasant Panchami on the fifth day of Shukla Paksha of Magha month. On this day yellow clothes were worn and yellow dishes were prepared. Mahashivratri used to be organized on Trayodashi of Shukla Paksha of Magha month. On this day Lord Shiva was worshiped by staying fast for the whole day and the whole night.
Falgun month was the last month of the year. Holi was celebrated as the biggest festival in this. Holika Dahan was done on the full moon day of Falgun month. On this day Holika, sister of Hiranyakashipu, was burnt and Prahlad was protected. In the fire of Holi, new paddy was cooked and eaten. The next day the Rang was played which was called Dhulandi.
Apart from these, many small festivals like Karva Chauth, Sakat Chauth, Sheetla Saptami, Bad Amavas, Hariyali Amavas etc. were celebrated. Fasting was observed on every Ekadashi and Pradosh was observed on the next day.
Some specific festivals were also celebrated in some provinces. Onam in Kerala, Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath in Odisha, Vishu, Chhath Puja in Bihar, Lohri and Vaisakhi in Punjab, Kali Puja in Bengal were such special festivals.
All these festivals of Hindus were celebrated from very ancient times and even in the present time, these festivals hold a special place in social life. The solar eclipses and lunar eclipses that come throughout the year also appeared like a festival due to charity and bathing. Abul Fazl mentions Rama-Navami and Krishna-Janmashtami as important Hindu festivals.