So, word is that you have to be the inheritor of gazillions or at least have a title to play the sport of the kings, Polo. Truth be told, it nearly is.
Originally Pulu
Polo is the oldest team sport known to man. The origin is said to be in Persia and it was nomadic warriors who possibly first played this sport over 20 centuries ago. The warriors played it more like a mini war with close to hundred players on each side. Polo became the national Iranian sport and was exclusively played by the elite. Men as well as women played this sport and Persian literature lends rich and vivid renderings of polo matches in that era. The first ever polo match was in 600 B.C. where the Persians suffered a defeat by the Turkomans. With Mughal conquests, polo moved from west Asia to India and China. It was a sport used for training cavalry and played from Constantinople to Japan in the Middle Ages. The name is said to come from the Tibetan word ‘pulu’ meaning ball then anglicized to Polo.
From Manipuris to the Mughals
India is the cradle of modern polo as we know it. Babar, the first Mughal emperor in India and a great polo player brought the game with him to India and ascertained its popularity. In the time between the decline of the Mughal dynasty and the emergence of the British Imperial reign, polo disappeared from the Indian mainland. Luckily, the sport stayed alive in the mountainous regions of Manipur, Ladakh, Gilgit and Chitral in the then Indian subcontinent. In fact, the English Guiness Book of World Records, Manipur is said to be the birthplace of polo or the ‘home of polo’. The traditional Manipuri sport called Sagol Kangjei, Kanjai-bazee or Pulu is the godfather of modern polo. Right from the beginning, polo was a favoured sport amongst the elite Indian kings and emperors. It grew to become a game that encouraged equestrian and military skills as well as test of skill for princes and warriors. Some of the greatest warriors of the world like Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great and Darius were known to play polo in India.
Modernistic Polo
During the British rule, the well-known British Captain Robert Stewart and a few British officers along with some tea planters brought what was known as ‘English Polo’ to India. The British set up the first polo club called Borjalenga in Silchar, Assam in 1834.The modified version began in 1863 in Calcutta along with the Calcutta Polo Club.Polo is not called the sport of the kings for nothing. The maharajas and the Rajput princes took instantaneous delight in this sport. Rajasthan’s princely kingdoms adopted the game and made it their trademark sport, given their natural penchant for riding. Special stable were set up for polo ponies and players were the rulers themselves and members of the royal families. In fact, the women in the zenanas were encouraged to play polo and proved to be pros at it. Their armies too played the sport. The British officers then popularized this sport in England and thereafter, in other parts of the world such as Western Europe and Argentina.
The Royal Rules
Polo, interestingly, is a ball game played with a stick, while riding a horse. The sport is played with two teams each having four players on four horses. The polo ground is a full size 300 yards long and 200 to 160 yards in width if the field has side boards, usually 6 feet high. On each side of the polo ground, there are high, collapsible goalposts that are 8 yards apart. The purpose is to score as many goals by aiming the ball through the goal. A game of polo has short spans of play known as chukkas, also called chukkers or chuckers. This term is said to come from the Hindi word – chakkar – meaning circle or wheel. According to the rules laid down by a specific tournament or league, a game could have 4, 6 or 8 chukkas with 6 chukkas being the most common. Each chukka is generally 7 minutes long and in between chukkas, players change horses. The game kicks off with the two teams of four standing in line facing the umpire in the middle of the polo ground. Two mounted umpires are on field and a referee stands in the sidelines. To begin the game, the umpire bowls the ball between the two teams into the field. In outdoor polo, the teams get to change goals at the end of the field after each chukka or score, so as to reduce any advantages the wind may bring.
On Indian soil, the popularity of this sport has waxed and waned although it has always maintained its blue-blood lineage. It is no more restricted just to the royals and the Indian Army. The influx of privately owned teams has brought about the rebirth of this regal sport. Corporate sponsorships have also boosted the pulse of this sport in India. Fast and furious, aggressive albeit skillful, old fashioned camaraderie with good sportsmanship, polo is known to have at its heart the bond between rider and horse.