History of Kho-Kho in India goes back a long way; it was a recognized sport in the ancient times even earlier to the epic Mahabharata. The game was mainly popular among the Marathi speaking people. This game, for many years, was played in an informal ways. The current adaptation of the game was actually an adaptation about the time of World War I in 1914.

Transformation of Kho Kho Game
In order to make the game popular, the Deccan Gymkhana club of Pune tried to formalize the game. The Deccan Gymkhana of Pune was so named and opened by the great Indian leaders Lokmanya Tilak and Bhai Narorkar, who formulated the first ever rules and regulations of Kho Kho that marked the transformation of this game. But initially, there were neither any dimension to the playground nor the poles which demarcate the central line, and the factor was also missing.

The game soon helped to capture the imagination of experts and they did not waste much time to realize that the game demanded high degree of quick reflexes, agile movement, good nerve reflexes and tremendous stamina, that all amount to a supreme athlete. The year 1919 saw the game of Kho Kho delimit an elliptical field with 44 yards long midline and 17 yards width of ellipse.

Introduction of Kho Kho in Inter School Sports Organization
Year 1923-24 saw the foundation of Inter School Sports Organization and Kho Kho was introduced to promote at the grass roots and consequently popularize the sports. The initiative was taken by Deccan Gymkhana and Hind Vijay Gymkhana. To develop the expertise and skill in Kho Kho, the games of Langdi and Atya-Patya were the supporting factors; the latter needs special mention which was well-known because of its scuffle skills of defending.

New Code in Kho Kho
Akhil Maharashtra Sharirik Shikshan Mandal (Physical Education Institute) was set up in the year 1928 when Dr. Abasahib Natu of Pune, Shri. Mahabal Guruji of Nasik, Shri Karmarkar Vaidya of Miraj and Dr. Mirajkar of Mumbai spared no efforts to negotiate with Kho-Kho experts and formulated new rules and regulations of the game which differed just a little from the existing rules of the Federation today. Hind Vijay Gymkhana, Baroda and Deccan Gymkhana, Pune had their own codes of rules which were in variance with each other. The experts from around sixty Gymkhanas, in 1933, came together and evolved a joint code of rules under the banner of Akhil Maharashtra Sharirik Shikshan Mandal which was circulated all over the country with a few suggestions and alterations. A "new code" was taken on in 1935.

Kho-Kho Championships
First All India Kho-Kho Championship was arranged at Vijay Wada in 1959 - 60 under Kho-Kho Federation of India. The championship was won by the erstwhile Mumbai province under the leadership of Rajabhau Jeste who was a champion player, expert commentator and a redoubtable coach. 1960-61 featured Women`s Championships for the first time.

In the year 1982, the game was included as part of Indian Olympic Association and few years later in 1989 the game included as a `demonstration` in `Asian Games` Festival. Some new reforms in the game were taken place that has been incorporated by the Asian Federation. The year 1998 saw the first ever International Championship organized in the Indian city of Kolkata.