page_title: Sport in India
section_title: Polo
hierarchical_section_title: Sport in India / Non-olympic sports / Polo
caption_attribution_description: English: First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (center) poses with the Maharaja and Maharani of Jaipur following a polo match for the Sirmoor Cup in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. L-R: (Playing for Cavalry polo team) H.S. “Billy” Sodhi, Kishen Singh, and Govind Singh; Mrs. Kennedy; the Maharani of Jaipur and Member of Indian Parliament, Gayatri Devi; (playing for Rajasthan polo team) the Maharaja of Jaipur Sawai Man Singh II and his son Maharajkumar Bhawani Singh; unidentified.
context_page_description: Sport in India refers to the large variety of games played in India, ranging from tribal games to more mainstream sports such as cricket, badminton and football. India's diversity of culture, people and tribe as well as its colonial legacy is reflected in the wide variety of sporting disciplines in the country.
  Cricket is the most popular sport in India, the country having hosted and won multiple Cricket World Cups. Field hockey is the most successful sport for India at the Olympics; the Indian men's team has won eight Olympic gold medals. Kabaddi is the most popular indigenous sport in the country. Other popular sports in India are badminton, football, shooting, wrestling, boxing, tennis, squash, weightlifting, gymnastics, athletics, table tennis, basketball, volleyball and cycling. Popular indigenous sports include chess, kho-kho, kite-fighting, leg cricket, polo, snooker and gillidanda.
  India has hosted and co-hosted several international sporting events, most notably the 1987, 1996 and 2011 Cricket World Cups, the 1951 and 1982 Asian Games, the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
context_section_description: India is considered the cradle of modern polo. Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in the 15th century, firmly established its popularity. The period between the decline of the Mughal dynasty and the upsurgence of the British Imperial rule, polo almost vanished from mainland India. Fortunately, the game survived in a few remote mountainous enclaves of the subcontinent, notably Gilgit, Chitral, Ladakh, and Manipur.
  In India, the popularity of polo has waned and risen many times. However, it has never lost its regal status. In the last few decades, the emergence of privately owned teams has ensured a renaissance in Indian polo. Today, polo is not just restricted to the royalty and the Indian Army.
caption: Jaqueline Kennedy posing for a photograph during an annual Polo match in Rajasthan, known as the Sirmoor Cup.
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