It can safely be said that polo is the Indian Army's gift to the world. It was an Indian Army subaltern who delivered the game from the remote mountains fastness of the north eastern state of Manipur into the foothills of Assam, from where it spread to Calcutta and rest of the globe.
In the Indian Army during the high noon of the British Empire polo was more than just a game - it became an entire way of life. The powers-that-be recognised the potential of the sport in promoting the qualities essential in the making of a good soldier and extended full official support to its development at all stages of military life. Polo in the Indian Army was far removed from its popular association as a sport of the idle rich - it was for too serious a business. Cavalry regiments denoted most of their spare time and energies to polo, demanding in great measure, the frugality of a Spartan lifestyle. The zest for polo was not confined to British officers. Many of the Indian officers and other ranks were devoted to the game and indeed, two of India's polo legends at the turn of the century, General Chanda Singh Dhillon, Sardar Bahadur, OBI, OBE, and Colonel Heera Singh, both of Patiala, started their careers in the Indian Army, in the 16th and 12th Bengal Cavalry, respectively. Ressaidar Ibrahim Khan, of the 2nd Central India Horse was a player the equal of Thakur Dhokal Singh of Jodhpur and Major Shah Mirza Beg of the Hyderabad Lancers. He could play a wonderful game even on a half trained pony and was killed on the Polo ground at Agar shortly after the regiments return from Persia in 1912. The close interaction of officers and men on the polo field fostered strong bonds between them and contributed immensely to the cohesiveness of the regiment as a fighting unit. One of those who recorded the atmosphere of those days was a young English subaltern of the 4th Hussars, newly arrived in India - Lt. Winston Spencer Churchill: "We paid an equal contribution into the pot; and thus freed from mundane cares, devoted ourselves to the serious purpose of life. This was express in one word - Polo. It was upon this, apart from duty, that all our interest was concentrated."."    "...We nipped across to luncheon at half-past one, in the blistering heat and returned to sleep till five o'clock. Now the     station begins to live again. It is the hour of Polo. It is the hour for which we have been living all day long. I was accustomed in those days to play every chukka I could get into. The whole system was elaborately organised for the garrison during the morning; and a smart little peon collected the names of all the officers together with the numbers of Chukkas they wished to play. These were averaged out so as to secure 'the greatest good of the greatest number.' I very rarely played less than eight more often ten or twelve."