The twenty-third edition of Jodhpur Polo Season 2022 will be held between December 6 –31, 2022, at the Maharaja Gaj Singh Sports Foundation Polo ground. The season will be showcasing the best of polo sportsmanship in a series of impressive events including the Army Commander’s Cup and the Indian Air Force Longewala Cup Exhibition Cup.

Jodhpur Polo holds an incredible history, playing a major role in the sport flourishing in the country and promoting Indian heritage at its finest. Astaguru, as custodians of heritage themselves and a proponent of the incredibly diverse and vast history of India, is overjoyed to collaborate with this esteemed institution.

Polo has been indelibly intertwined with Jodhpur for centuries, with the first evidence of the sport being seen in miniature Mughal paintings that are housed at the Mehrangarh Fort Museum. The sport first came to Jodhpur with Col. Stuart Beatson of the Bengal Lancers when he was invited by Maharaja Sir Pratap Singh to train the Jodhpur Lancers in 1889.

In a short period of time, the newly formed team, also known as Rathores, brought home its first trophy, called the Rajputana Challenge Cup. The team led by Sir Pratap included Beatson, Thakur Hari Singh, the great horseman and Thakur Dhonkal Singh, one of the most ardent champions of Polo Jodhpur ever witnessed.

The Jodhpur polo team was also the first Indian team to travel abroad when Sir Pratap, invited to London for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, took the polo team with him. The team went on to win several tournaments internationally including the Ranelagh and Hurlingham clubs, making Jodhpur an important polo centre. The team was later revived in 1993 by Maharaja Gajsingh II who would lend new vigour to the team, seeing them play in England, Europe, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Switzerland, Singapore and other countries.

In March 2000, The Sports Foundation hosted the Delhi team, a team from Kashmir, a Kenya team and two teams from Jodhpur. This occasion was the first important Polo event held in Jodhpur in nearly half a century. In the consecutive year, five teams participated and played the highest order of the game. This reinforced the city as the ‘Mecca’ of Indian Polo. Ever since, players, enthusiasts and patrons have arrived annually from the world over to watch and participate in the exciting matches that take place every season.