Field hockey, one of the top sports in the world with an Olympic history and prestigious competitions such the World Cup, Champions Trophy, and FIH Pro League, has its origins dating back to the sixteenth century.
Hockey is one of the oldest games in the world; a primitive version of the sport was played in Egypt over 4,000 years ago. Its origins date back to Scotland in 1527. The game, known as "hokie" back then, had participants using sticks to smash a little ball around.
However, sometime in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British invented the first iteration of field hockey as we know it today. At the time, it was a well-liked classroom game that eventually found its way into the Indian army during the British supremacy in the 1850s.
The first hockey club in India was established in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1855. With the ease of access to huge acreage for playing fields and the simple nature of equipment, hockey slowly gained popularity among children and young adults in India.
National tournaments such as the Aga Khan tournament in Bombay (now Mumbai) and the Beighton Cup in Calcutta helped to further popularize the sport in the following few decades, particularly in the former provinces of Punjab and Bombay.
In 1907 and 1908, there were discussions about starting an Indian hockey association, but nothing came of it. The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) was only formed in 1925, one year after the formation of the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
In 1926, the Indian hockey men's team went on its first international tour to New Zealand, where they played 21 games and won 18. A teenage Dhyan Chand, who would go on to become possibly the greatest hockey player the world has ever seen, made his debut at the event.
After a tumultuous connection with the Olympic Games until 1924 -- hockey was only played in 1908 and 1920 and omitted for the remaining editions -- the presence of a global sports body (FIH) meant that hockey acquired permanent Olympic standing beginning in 1928 in Amsterdam.
The Indian hockey squad would compete in its first Olympics in 1928 thanks to the Indian Hockey Federation's 1927 application and successful FIH membership.
With eight gold medals, it marked the start of a legacy that still stands as a record today.
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