The game of badminton does not have a single inventor; it evolved from older shuttlecock games, especially a game called “poona” played in India and then adapted and formalized by British army officers and English clubs in the late 19th century. The modern version is closely associated with Henry Somerset, the 8th/9th Duke of Beaufort, who introduced the game at his country estate, Badminton House in Gloucestershire, England, around 1873, which is how the sport got its name.