The boy on left is about to strike the gilli with the danda, while the one on right is fielding.

Gilli-Danda (Devanagari: गिल्ली डण्डा, Tamil: கிட்டி-புல், Urdu: گلی ڈنڈا) is an amateur sport played in the rural areas and small towns all over India and Pakistan especially in Tamil Nadu, Punjab, as well as Cambodia.

Gilli Danda known by various other names: it is called Tipcat in English, Dandi-Biyo (डण्डी बियो) in Nepali, alak-doulak (الک دولک) in Persian, dānggűli in Bengali & Assamese, chinni-dandu in Kannada, kuttiyum kolum in Malayalam, viti-dandu विट्टी दांडू in Marathi, kitti-pul (கிட்டி-புல்) in Tamil, Gooti-Billa or Karra-Billa or Billam-Godu in Telugu, Gulli-Danda in Punjabi, Geeti Danna (گیٹی ڈنا) in (Saraiki, Iti-Dakar (اٽي ڏڪر) in Sindhi, Lappa-Duggi (لپا ڈگی ) in Pashto and Kon ko in khmer, the Cambodian language.

Origin[link]

"Gilli Danda" origins in India date back to the "Maurya Dynasty" or even before that. This game is an extremely famous local game played all over the sub continent and even in South Asia. Gilli Danda is also believed to be the origin of many such European and American games like Cricket, Baseball & Softball. This is due to the uncanny similarities of this game to the current version of Cricket or Baseball.

Origin of Cricket: It is believed that Europeans or travelers from South East Asia who travelled Hindustan during or before the Maurya age could have been inspired by the game and would have extended the format to Cricket when back home. Also remember that Maurya Dynasty is the same age wherein Alexander the Great tried to establish his supremacy in India but faced a bitter defeat and retreated back. During this age it was also believed that foreigners from far away lands came to India for business and cultural learning. Due to the continuous inflow of such foreigners into Hindustan, it is also suspected that some brought back the format of 'Gilli Danda' to England - or it somehow reached England and was then evolved into Cricket. - So while it is believed that Cricket is the national game of England or its origins were from England- it also indicates that the origins might have been the subcontinent (India) for someone to be inspired and extend the rules of the game to build into what we today known as "Cricket".

Origin of Baseball: Baseball was invented in America and was inspired from Cricket in many ways. This can be claimed as America was very well an English colony before the Americans fought for their Independence. It is believed that Americans post their Independence wanted to continue with the English life style while not have to replicate anything what the English left behind. Thus Cricket was evolved into Baseball. America has always been to have been opposite to the English lifestyle- Right Hand Drive Roads, Lifts which have the Ground Floor button on the Top and the Top Floor button at the bottom - English which has a different accent and dialects/ pronunciations, etc.

Equipment[link]

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Rules[link]

"Gilli Danda" is played with 2 pieces of equipment- "Gilli" meaning a small Oval shaped wooden structure. This is believed to have evolved into the Cork, Season ball or Softball for Cricket and Baseball. In this game a player balances the Gilli on a stone in an inclined manner (somewhat like a See-Saw) with one end of the Gilli rested or touching the ground while the other end is in the air. Player uses the second part of the equipment called "Danda" which in English is the stick- this is believed to have been evolved in to the Cricket or Baseball Bat. With the Danda, the player hits the Gilli at the end which is in the air- to flip it in the air and then strike the Gilli as far as possible. The player is made to stand in a small circle with the Danda and the Gilli. The objective is to strike the Gilli while in mid air as far as possible. The player is required to run and touch a particular section as decided until the Gilli is retrieved back.- This particular format is believed to have later evolved into Runs/ Home Runs.

Scoring and outs[link]

There are many regional variations to scoring.

The gilli becomes airborne after it is struck. If a fielder from the opposing team catches the gilli, the striker is out. If the gilli lands on the ground, the fielder closest to the gilli has one chance to hit the danda (which has to be placed on top of the hole used) with a throw (similar to a run out in cricket). If the fielder is successful, the striker is out; if not, the striker scores one score and gets another opportunity to strike. The team (or individual) with the most points wins the game. If the striker fails to hit gilli in three tries, the striker is out (similar to a strikeout in baseball).While the Gilli has been struck the opponent player/players need to retrieve the Gilli back to the Circle or in best case catch the Gilli in mid air without it hitting the ground- this was believed to have later evolved into a Catch Out in Cricket and Baseball.

Teams[link]

There is no official maximum number of players or teams. Gilli-danda can be played where each individual plays for themselves, or between two teams.

Variations[link]

As an amateur youth sport, gilli-danda has many variations. A common variation is where the striker is allowed to hit the gilli twice, once initially, and then while the gilli is in the air.

In some versions, the points a striker scores is dependent on the distance the gilli falls from the striking point. The distance is measured in terms of the length of the danda, or in some cases the length of the gilli. Scoring also depends on how many times the gilli was hit in the air in one strike. If it travels a certain distance with two mid-air strikes, the total point is doubled.

In Nepal, Dandi biyo is played in similar fashion.

Similar games[link]

• In the Philippines, a game known as syatong is similar to gilli-danda.
• In Italy a similar game known as "Lippa", "Lipe", "Tirolo", or "S-cianco" is shown in the movie Watch Out We Are Mad.^[1][2][3]
• In the United States, a similar game is called pee-wee.^[4]

In popular culture[link]

The Bollywood movie Lagaan mentions the traditional sport of gilli-danda as similar to cricket.

Premchand, the famous Hindi literary figure, wrote a short story named "Gilli-danda" in which he compares old simple times and emotions to modern values and also hints at caste inequalities in India.^[5]

See also[link]

• Backyard Cricket

References[link]

External links[link]

• How to Play Gilli-Danda
• Gilli-Danda Guidelines
• Watch Gilli-danda being played
• Watch a Gilli-danda tournament
• Lippa (Italian)
• S-cianco (Italian)