Ancient India

In ancient India, there were a number of civilizations that, because of their locations, developed different forms of recreation. The oldest was in the Indus Valley, which flourished from 3000 until 1500 b.c.e., largely in modern-day Pakistan and northwestern India, where some ideas appear to have originated from Sumer and other Mesopotamian civilizations. Elsewhere on the Indian Subcontinent, there were numbers of different centers of the ancient world, including that on the Ganges, where Asoka (d. 232 b.c.e.) reigned in the city of Patna, which at one time was credited with being one of the largest cities in the ancient world.

In all of these areas, many people were involved in the making of pottery and in fashioning models of the Hindu deities, large numbers of which survive. Some of the smaller figures from the Indus Valley might also have been made as toy soldiers and the like for boys, and from the many seals that have been found by archaeologists and the size of houses, it seems likely that there would have been toys, possibly made from wood or from clay. Indeed, as many of the houses themselves were made from clay, the making of miniature versions of them, which could then be baked in the sun, was not only a common pastime but also a useful one, as many people were involved in building or enlarging their own homes.

There is also evidence of people in Ancient India having pets including songbirds and dogs. Probably because of the dusty location, as well as the heat, many of the cultural activities of the Indus Valley Civilization likely took place around public bath-houses, where many of the games were played. In the Indus Valley, and indeed throughout ancient India, there were many martial arts and also recreational sports that involved a show of strength, such as racing, archery, chariot racing, horse racing, sailing, and in the areas where there were elephants and camels, riding these animals.

While some games tested dexterity and skill, many existed to test strength. One of the celebrated tests of strength can be found early in the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana, which forms a major part of Hindu mythology. It involves the stringing of the famous “Great” or “Wondrous” bow by Rama at the court of King Janaka. It is while hunting a deer that Rama and his brother are drawn deeper and deeper into the woods. In Hindu India, the mythological tales such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata led to much storytelling and also dance and theatrical performances, whereby the stories were elaborated on, and some aspects became morality tales for the young, as did the later tales of the life of the Lord Buddha.

Throughout Indian society, however, the caste system very much restricted activities and hence modes of play. There were also taboos connected with gender. For girls and women, the fashioning of brightly colored textiles was important, with spinning, weaving, sewing, and embroidery all skills that were learned at home, as well as, for those from higher castes, the making of parasols. Boys and men were also involved in some craft work, including woodwork, the making of fly whisks, and also [Page 30]cane balls, which were used in games that children and young men played. While girls learned to skip from a young age to teach them coordination, boys enjoyed playing with rope. Spinning tops and hoops made from cane were used by both genders, but playing with kites was primarily undertaken by boys.

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