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History of The Polo Estate
 Polo is the oldest team sport known to man. Historians believe the game was
played by nomadic warriors over two millennia ago.
Evidence suggests that, after
initially being used for the training of cavalry, the game was played from as wide a
reach as Constantinople to Japan during the Middle Ages.
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| 600 BC: |
The first recorded Polo tournament; the Turkomans beat the
Persians in a public match. |
| 640 BC – 1300s AD: |
The Persians and the Mogul conquerors of India spread the
game across the eastern world. |
| 1341 – 1347: |
The period during which Emperor Cantacuzenus ruled
Byzantium; he became one of the first recorded casualties
of the sport. |
| 1542 – 1605: |
Reign of India’s Emperor Akbar the Great. An avid Polo
player, his stables are still in place at Agra today. |
| 1850s: |
An Irishman of the British Cavalry 13th Hussars, Captain
John Watson, creates the first set of written rules for
playing Polo. |
| 1859: |
Captain Robert Steward and Major General Joe Sherer hold
the inaugural meeting of the first Polo club, the Silchar Polo
Club. The pair was also responsible for introducing the game
to the West. |
| 1863: |
The Calcutta Polo Club, the oldest active club in the world
today, is founded. |
| 1874: |
The Hurlingham Rules are created. These limited the number
of players to five and included the offside rule. |
 After its arrival on English shores, Polo quickly spread throughout the world’s elite
circles and to this day retains its association with the higher echelons of society.
The Polo lifestyle has been inherited by children for centuries and is therefore
steeped in tradition and history. Family involvement has always been and
will always be at the heart of the game. Evidence of this can be found at Polo
tournaments where it is quite common to have more than two generations of the
same family entering competitions.
South Africa is a shining example of a society steeped in a family-oriented lifestyle.
Hence, the majority of Polo in South Africa has been played in outlying farming
areas where old-worldly values and institutions complement the traditional family
flavour of the game. The Dullstroom Polo Club will prove to be the ideal gateway
into this desirable lifestyle for the residents on the Estate.
Source: www.sportPolo.com/History/default.htm, 15 March 2007. |
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