From historical records, it was apparent that the passion for polo grew amongst the Persians and in 336 BC, Darius III, Emperor of Persia sent young Alexander the Great a polo mallet and ball, with the message to take up the game and not bother with war. In the 4th Century AD, young King Sapoor II of Persia learned to play the game and in the 16th Century AD a polo ground, 300 yards long and with goal posts 8 years apart, was built in Isfahan, the capital city of Persia.
The
Moguls were largely responsible for taking the game from Persia to
Egypt and Greece and eastwards to India. Tang Dynasty noblemen were
depicted in murals and statues playing a ball game on horseback, evidence
that polo was played in China as early as 8th Century AD. From China,
the game went to Japan. With the decline of the great Eastern empires,
the decline of the game of polo went hand in hand.
In the 1850s British tea planters re-discovered the game called Pulu or "wooden
ball" i Manipur in India. They formed the first polo club and other clubs soon
followed and today the oldest in the world is the Calcutta Club, founded in 1862.
From
India, the British army and naval officers brought the game to Malta
in 1868 and the first polo club in England was founded in Monmouthshire
in 1872 by Caot Francis "Tip" Herbert. From England the game of polo found its way to
Argentina and in 1876 to Australia and USA.
Today, polo is played in some 77 countries around the world and the sport is
recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
"LET OTHER PEOPLE PLAY AT OTHER THINGS - THE KING OF GAMES IS STILL THE GAME OF KINGS." This ancient versa inscribed on a stone tablet next to a polo ground in Gilgit, north of Kashmir, sums up the passion of polo players today.