Lawn tennis in India can be traced back within the first decade of the establishment of the Wimbledon championships with early local championships being established in places like
Punjab (1885) and
Calcutta (1887). After World War 2 until the start of the open era, the event was often held over Christmas and new year and on a few occasions two events were held in a single year in January and December (sometimes winners are described as winning in a year in which an event started in late December, other times in the year the event finished in early January). The tournament was hosted at different cities around India and was also played on different surfaces, such as grass courts (1910–59, 1964–66, 1969, 1970, 1973), hard courts (1967) and clay courts (1960–61, 1974–79). This tournament was also held in conjunction with the
Northern India Championships for the years 1962 to 1967. In the open era the event became a minor event for Indian players. ==Finals==