The home side trailed 18-13 against the three-time second place finishes before their superiority eventually told in the second half.

They had initially struggled to match the fluency they had shown against Thailand in their semi-final, failing to overpower a strong Iranian defence.

But gradually the sport's dominant team fought back, winning eight out of the first 10 points after the interval to edge ahead, 21-20.

Raider Ajay Thakur then led a ruthless performance in the latter stages as they pressed home their lead for a comfortable winning scoreline.

It followed India's victories at the last two editions of the World Cup in 2004 and 2007.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar were among those to congratulate the team on social media.

No bronze medal match took place, meaning Thailand shared bronze with fellow semi-finallists South Korea.

Kabaddi, a full-contact sport in which "raiders" attempt to tag one or more members of the opposing team without exhaling a breath, has been a full Asian Games sport since the 1990 edition in Beijing.

India have won all seven editions, beating Iran 27-25 in the final at Incheon 2014.

It also featured at last month's Asian Beach Games in Danang.

The International Kabaddi Federation have applied for membership of SportAccord, but have not yet been successful.

Twelve countries participated in the World Championships.

Australia, Bangladesh, England, Japan, Kenya, Poland, Argentina and United States were also present.

Pakistan was ultimately not allowed to participate due to ongoing political tension with India.