In the 1870s, a new element was introduced into the polo world, which was to have a profound impact upon the subsequent development and spread of the game. This was the advent of the Indian princes upon the Indian polo scene. Armed with their hereditary equestrian skills and with the enormous resources at their disposal, the Maharajas took the polo world by storm. In an exceedingly short period of time they achieved a standard of  excellence in polo that has yet to rivaled anywhere in the world. It was their love for the sport, and also in no small measure for its glory, that brought Indian polo into the world arena. The heyday of Indian polo, which lasted from the nineties of the last century till the outbreak of the second world war, saw unmatched performances by the teams of the princely Indian states.

Some of these superlative teams were those of Patiala, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Hyderabad, Kishangarh, Alwar, Bhopal, Kashmir and Bikaner. These princely teams contributed immensely to the scientific and tactical development of the game. The advancement in the game was evidenced by the play of Jodhpur under Sir Pertab Singh, and the Patiala team up to about the year 1894. The Patiala team developed to the highest degree the system of giving a clear run through to the back. They owed their superlative performance in large measure to the outstanding genius of Hira Singh, who was considered to be head and shoulders above all other players at that time.

Alwar was the first team to come to the fore. Organised by Captain R.L. Ricketts of Hodsons Horse , the team was never beaten in a tournament in its short 21/2 years existence. Amongst other competitions it won the Indian Championships in the season of 1900-01, 1901-1902 and the Delhi Durbar tournament (which absorbed the Championship) in 1902-3. It's overall goal  record was equally impressive. In the first class tournaments alone, the team scored 79 for, with 14 against , in 9 matches.

The only other teams who emulated the new tactics during that period were the Poona Horse, winners of the Indian Army Tournament at the Delhi Durbar
1902-03 and the team of "Indian Pilgrims" who won the Indian Championship in 1905-06. Other teams who stood out in India in the period before the First World War broke out were the 10th Hussars under Lt. Col. John Vaughan, and the Maharaja of Kishangarhs' team. Another team which blazed its way across the Indian firmament and which had an exceptionally long lease of brilliance, was the famous Golconda team of Hyderabad. Under the influence of the redoubtable Major Shah Mirza Beg, whose capacity for pure ball-control has probably never been equaled, this team based its tactics on a development of the dribbling methods of early polo. They had a long list of successes and exacted a terrible toll off opponents over whom they established ascendancy.

During the World War One period of 1914-18, polo was at a standstill. Sadly many a good polo players were never again to be seen on the polo grounds, having fallen on different fields, in France, Belgium, and Mesopotamia.

After the end of the war, the leading teams in India were the Jodhpur and Patiala teams, the Central India Horse under Captain A. H. Williams, the 21st PAVO Cavalry under Captain Dening, the 15th Lancers under Major A. J. Atkinson. The period culminated in the Jaipur team, which won the Indian Championship in 1932-33 and followed up this success by beating with consummate ease all the best teams in England in 1933. From then uptill the outbreak of the Second World War, Jaipur, under His Highness Sawai Man Singh, dominated polo in India and Europe. Indeed, Jaipur established an unbeaten record of winning every open tournament in England and the Indian Championship every year from 1930 to 1938. A famous cartoon in Punch depicted the Jaipur team led by Maharaja Man Singh, mounted on an elephant, scattering English players left and right.

A major landmark event of Indian polo was the clash of the titans; Patiala and Jodhpur, in 1922. The game marked the eclipse of the famous Patiala team, for in 1924 it ceased to exist, and the ascendancy of the star of Jodhpur, which reigned supreme and unmatched for the next decade. The epic match is described in detail by the doyen of Indian polo the late Rao Raja Hanut Singh.

The Epic Match
A major landmark event of Indian Polo was the clash of the titans; Patiala and Jodhpur in 1922. The game marked the eclipse of the famous Patiala team, for in 1924 it ceased to exist, and the ascendancy of the star of Jodhpur, which reigned supreme and unmatched for the next three decades. The epic match is described in detail by the doyen of Indian polo, the late Rao Raja Hanut Singh:
      "Imagine the scene in Delhi – a crowd of 1,50,000 people around the polo field , among them the future king of England, the  Viceroy, some 50 Maharajas and princes, dozens of generals and high government officials and all the ladies dressed as if they were going to be received a court. Such an atmosphere naturally added to our determination to win. My father had set his heart on his game and we had a string of 150 ponies from which to chose. Patiala had even greater resources, including a style polo that I can only describe as a chess game, a wonderful control of the ball from all corners of the field. We knew the only way to beat them was the game of speed, always playing the ball to an imaginary line straight down the centre of the field from one game to another. That is the way we played, but Patiala was still leading 4-nil in the third chukker. I finally scored just before the interval, and after the interval we caught fire, drawing even with Patiala and in the final minute of the match, passing them.

The roars from the crowd were so deafening that none of us heard the final bugle and we knew the game was over only when thousands of spectators began pouring into the field. As my No. 1 Prithvi Singh rode past the V.I.P. pavilion, he swung his stick round and round his head and threw it high in the air. Dignitaries from the pavilion rushed out into the field to try to capture the stick as a souvenir. It was a scene I will never forget, but what I remember most was the reaction of my father, who died later that year. I think Sir H. Perry Robinson, writing in 'The Times' of London, described the end of the game better than I can; 'Halfway through the chukker Jodhpur scored and drew even at five-all. Three more minutes to go, and through those minutes men, important major generals and personages in high political office stood up in the grandstand waving their hats and shouting themselves hoarse, and women screamed.

Only one figure it seems sat motionless. In front of the stands sat Sir Pratap Singh, regent of Jodhpur and grand polo player. He is I believe 78 years old and sits on his horse still beautifully. And all India knows that the Jodhpur team is the very apple of his eye, his darling and his pride, and he had coaxed and nursed it for this fight. Through all this game he sat immovable, not a muscle not an eyelid or finger moving. Not even in the last demonica minute when Jodhpur scored it's sixth goal and won. He was a figure carved out of wood. Then as the horn sounded, people from all sides broke, cheering and tumultuous, to congratulate him, the Prince among the first. And as the old man stood up, tears poured down his cheeks".                                        

An analysis of the gradual evolution of polo as a tactical game up to this period will show that improvements in the game mainly were in the form of development of what already existed. This was achieved primarily by an increased attention to details and extending the game to its natural conclusion, specially as the keen edge of competition, spurred on by Regimental or National honour was increasingly applied to the sport. Teams came to the top as leaders arose who had the necessary skills in the game to guide and shape the lines of play as well as the capacity for leadership to enforce their view on others. However, the lessons taught by one team were soon forgotten, having to be re-learnt to a great extent by the next due to a failure by the players in general, to grasp the essentials. Only on two occasions did tactical ideas give evidence of creative talent. The first was when Watson started the four-a-side 'line-ahead' arrangement with full use of back-handers. The second was the intensive pace and eye-training system adopted by the Alwar team at the turn of the century. The Alwar players never equaled the variety of stroke of the Golconda team, or even of their American counterparts, but were fully their equals in the sustained aggressiveness of their tactics and probably their superiors in the degree of pace to which they attained in their game.