History of archery association of India (AAI) goes back to 1973 when it actually came into existence. Modern Olympic Archery or FITA came to India in the year 1970. Prior to that, the game has been chosen as part of the Olympic discipline in Munich, West Germany in 1972. The game came to India with an aim to encourage, promote and control the Sports of Archery in India and to provide ancillary amenities and services for training. From the time of its inception, Archery Association of India has been associated with improvement of ancient game in India.
Under FITA, the first National meet was organized in the year 1973 at Delhi, where around 50 archers participated. The bows and arrows, made of bamboo in the Indian state of West Bengal and Meghalaya, were used. The archers from Bengal were technically sound. The game was taken seriously by India under sincere dedication by Prof.Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the then Chief Executive Councilor of Delhi.
Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra along with Secretary General Shri Gopesh Mehra, introduced Archery in Asia and Asian Archery Federation was formed in Bangkok during the Asian Games in 1978. The first President post was given to Shri Malhotra and Shri P.N. Mukherjee as first Secretary General. India in 1980 organized its first Asian meet. Ever since the first Asian game, archery has improved by leaps and bounds until mid 80s. And with new and sophisticated techniques modern archery has come of age. The Indian archers, in recent times, have also received recognition and accolades. And many young and talented archers are coming up the ranks. Archers like Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Lalrem Sanga Changte, Smt Krishna Ghatak, Limba Ram, Shyam Lal have brought pride and laurels for India. These archers played well in the Olympic Games at Barcelona (1992) where Limba Ram won ranking among top six archers of the world.
Archery Association of India is affiliated with the Indian Olympic Association, International Archery Federation and Asian Archery Federation having its 27 State Archery Associations and 06 other Para-Military Forces and other voluntary or unpaid organizations. It is famous and well-known in the States like West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, Haryana, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Kerala, Nagaland, Maharashtra, and New Delhi etc. Now, the game of Archery has been included in the curriculums of various colleges and universities and is now competed at Inter-University and Inter-School Competitions and Railway Sports Control Board, All India Police Sports Board, Indo-Tibetan Border Security Force has recently included Archery as one of the disciplines. Other Para-military forces viz. CRPF and CISF are also advised to adopt Modern Archery as their main Sports discipline and to set up Modern training facilities at their respective Centers.
As per the rules and guidelines if government of India, archery is among the six priorities sport event selected for promotion in the country. Archery has over the years become famous and now spectators enjoy watching the game. Mass media has also been helpful regarding the same. The success story of Indian archery started in the year 1987, during the 5th Asian Championship organized at Kolkata where Indian Men`s Team, won Bronze Medal in Men`s Team event that comprised Limba Ram, Shyamlal and Rajat Haldar. Ever since the Indian archery team have won many championships both at national and international events.
