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'Polo's Journey.........
From
Moustaches to Clean Shaven
From
Safas to Helmets
From
B&W to Colour
From
Studio Portraits
to Action Photography
But
The Sprit Goes on
Untouched!
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It was in 1933
that the Jaipur team comprising Prince Prithi Singh, playing
at one and handicapped at 7; Rao Raja Abhay Singh, playing
at two and handicapped at 8; Rao Raja Hanut Singh, playing
at three and handicapped at 9; and the Maharaja of Jaipur
playing at back and handicapped at 10, visited England.
They proved invincible, and won every tournament they played.
Their trouncing of the English teams prompted the famous
English cartoonist, The Tout, to sketch a cartoon in which
the Jaipur team was shown mounted on a huge pachyderm, and
the British team scattering away from it. The cartoon was
captioned " A Jaipur Allegory-Look Out, The Elephant's
Coming."
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"The great Sir
Pratap (wrote Maharaja Prem Signh ) who raised the famous
Jodhpur Lancers, had Marwari horses in the regiment along
with the Arabs. Our local horses proved to be most hardy----
they were looked after, especially in the middle class Rajput
families, by the ladies of the house.... the children were
brought up alongside the horses, house.... the children
were brought up alongside the horses, and hence made good
horsemen and horse lovers. The breed degenerated because
it was not properly looked after; its breeding was not done
systematically, and no breeding records were maintained..
but, in spite of all that, I have seen some of our local
horses competing well in polo and pig-sticking. The following
are some examples:
1. Maharajah Rattan
Signhji's Marwari mare, Rang Jarao, was competing with thoroughbred
English, Australian and Arab horses in pig-sticking on equal
terms.
2. Thakur Adian Signhji
of Paal's Lachna carried a rider wieghing well over 15 stone.
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The game reached
South India in 1936 with the entry of the Rajas of Babbli,
Kolanka nad Venkatgiri. Yet another record for India became
the Kolanka Cup, presented by the Raja of Kolanka as the
challenge trophy for the Bangalore limited Handicap tournaments.
The cup in on record as the largest polo trophy in the world,
standing six feet tall and holding four and a half gallons
of champagne.
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