Amanda Knapp
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. The name badminton is derived from the place where the sport was first played in England, Badminton House, the country estate of the Duke of Beaufort. The sport evolved from a game called Poona or Poonah, played by British officers in India, which itself was a descendant of a children's game called battledore and shuttlecock.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Original name | Poona, Poonah, or Poonai |
| Origin | Pune, India |
| Derived from | Battledore and shuttlecock |
| First played in England | Badminton House, the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort |
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What You'll Learn
The game's origins in India
The game of badminton was first played in India, where it was initially called "Poona" or "Poonah", named after the Indian city of Pune. It is descended from a children's game called battledore and shuttlecock, which has been played for at least 2,000 years in various countries, including ancient China and other Asian countries. This game involved two people using small rackets called battledores, made of parchment or plastic, or rows of nylon stretched across wooden frames, to hit a shuttlecock made of cork and feathers.
Between 1860 and 1870, British army officers who were stationed in India played Poona and brought it back to Europe. The game was first played in England at Badminton House, the country estate of the 9th Duke of Beaufort, Henry Somerset, in Gloucestershire, in the 1870s. The game was popularised at the Duke's estate, ultimately adopting the name of the location. One story claims that the game was invented by children at Badminton House in 1863, who used a shuttlecock instead of a ball so as not to damage pictures hung in the house. Another story claims that the game was brought to Badminton House by British officers who had played it in India.
Poona involved a court with boundary lines and a net, and was played in a best-of-three format, with each game played to 34 points. Players changed positions when either team reached 9, 18, or 27 points. The game was played with five players on each team, with only five players active at any point in the game. Poona contributed the concept of competition, as well as the use of a net and boundaries, to the development of badminton.
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The city of Pune
The beloved sport of badminton has its roots in the Indian city of Pune, where it was played by British army officers stationed in the city in the 1860s. The officers adapted an indigenous version of the game that had been played in India for centuries, adding a net and naming it "Poona" or "Poonah" after the local name for the city.
The game was likely a marriage between Royal Tennis and a children's shuttlecock game such as "Tamfool", "battledore and shuttlecock", "Jeu de Volant", or "featherball". It is also believed that the roots of these shuttlecock games can be traced back to ancient China and other Asian countries.
The sport was so popular among the colonial officers that the Christian clergy of the time saw it as a threat to Sunday church attendance. A February 1877 report in the Times of India quotes the Bishop of Madras expressing concern about "Sunday badminton".
In the years that followed, retiring British officers took the game back to Britain, where it caught on in the West. In 1873, guests of the Duke of Beaufort played the game at his country estate, "Badminton House" in Gloucestershire, England, and loved it. John Lorain Baldwin, a sportsman and writer of sports rules, is credited with standardising the rules of the game and christening it "Badminton" after the estate.
The game was initially played under the "Pune rules" until 1887 when revised regulations were drawn up by J.H.E. Hart of the Bath Badminton Club. The Badminton Association of England (BAE) published these rules in 1893 and officially launched the sport.
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The game 'Poona'
The game of badminton was initially called "Poona" or "Poonah", named after the city of Pune in India. The game dates back to the 18th century and is a descendant of a children's game called battledore and shuttlecock, with roots in ancient China and other Asian countries.
Poona was played with small rackets called battledores, made of parchment or plastic, or rows of nylon stretched across wooden frames. The shuttlecocks were made of cork with trimmed feathers on top. The game was played with two people, who would try to keep a rally going for as long as possible without dropping the shuttlecock.
Between 1860 and 1870, British army officers stationed in India played Poona and brought it back to Europe. It is said that the game was first played in England at Badminton House, the country estate of the 9th Duke of Beaufort, Henry Somerset, around 1873. The sport evolved from Poona, which was popularised at the Duke's estate, ultimately adopting the name of the location.
Poona is played outdoors with two teams of five players each, for a total of ten players. The court is 12 meters wide by 24 meters long, with boundary lines and a net. Players use the same rackets as in badminton, and the game is played with a woollen ball that weighs between 27 and 30 grams and has a diameter between 5 and 5.5 cm. Matches are played in a best-of-three format, with each game won by the team that reaches 34 points first.
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The English estate, Badminton House
The name of the sport badminton is derived from the name of an English country estate, Badminton House, located in the Gloucestershire countryside. Badminton House is the private home of the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort.
The sport was first played on the estate in the 1870s, though there are differing accounts of how this came to be. One story claims that the game was invented by children in Badminton House in 1863. According to this version of events, the children used an elastic shuttlecock instead of a ball to avoid damaging the pictures hung in the house. Another account claims that British officers who had played a version of the game called Poona in India introduced it to Badminton House.
Poona, also known as battledore and shuttlecock, is a descendant of a children's game that has been played for at least 2,000 years in various parts of the world, including ancient China and other Asian countries. In the 1860s and 1870s, British army officers stationed in India played Poona and brought it back to Europe. The game involves two people using small rackets, called battledores, made of parchment, plastic, or rows of nylon stretched across wooden frames. The shuttlecocks are made of cork with trimmed feathers on top.
When the game was introduced to Badminton House, it was popularised by the Duke of Beaufort and became known by the name of the estate. Thus, the sport of badminton got its name from the English estate of Badminton House, where it was first played in England and gained prominence.
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The children's game, Battledore and Shuttlecock
The name 'badminton' initially came from the city of Pune in India, where the game was called 'Poona'. This version of the game was descended from a children's game called battledore and shuttlecock, which involved two people using small rackets called battledores, made of parchment or plastic, or rows of gut or nylon stretched across wooden frames. The shuttlecocks were made of cork with trimmed feathers around the top.
The game of battledore and shuttlecock is thought to have originated in Ancient Greece around 2,000 years ago, and from there it spread to the East, becoming popular in China, Japan, India, and Siam. It was played by peasants in medieval England and by the late 16th century, it had become a popular children's game. In the 17th century, it became an upper-class pastime in many European countries. The game was played without a net, with players hitting the shuttlecock back and forth, trying not to let it touch the ground.
The game is depicted in ancient drawings found in Greece, and it was also played in Glasgow, Scotland in 1850, and in Japan in 1890 and 1910. It was mentioned in an 1841 comment in the Hobart Town Advertiser, and there is a painting from 1893 depicting the game. In 1830, the Somerset family held the record for the number of hits, with 2,117.
The game was taken from India to England, where it was first played at the Badminton country estate of the 9th Duke of Beaufort, Henry Somerset, around 1873. The name 'badminton' thus comes from Badminton House, the Duke of Beaufort's residence in Gloucestershire. The first rules of the game were written in Poona, India, by the British in 1873, and they were not dissimilar to the modern game.
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Frequently asked questions
Badminton is named after Badminton House, the estate where the game was first played in England.
There are a few different stories about how the game came to be played at the house. One story claims that the game was invented by children in the house in 1863. Another story, which the Oxford English Dictionary calls unsubstantiated, says that an elastic shuttlecock was used in place of a ball so that children wouldn't damage pictures hung in the house.
The game was originally called "Poona" or "Poonah", named after the city of Pune in India.
Poona is a descendant of a children's game called "battledore and shuttlecock", which involves players using small rackets to hit a shuttlecock made of cork and feathers. The roots of this game have been reported to go back to ancient China and other Asian countries.
