Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s3.t1.17

c7.s3.t1.17

² Compare Encyclopaedia Britannica (1929 Edition), XVIII, 175, for the modern game. ‘Polo is played with four players on each side, on exactly the same principles as hockey or association football. A match lasts about one hour, divided into periods of play; during the intervals ponies are changed...’ So there are two forwards and two backs. But during the course of the game as the players pass the ball to one another these places are being constantly changed. The modern game is a most elastic one, but there should always be one player in each place (i.e. at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 or half-back and No. 4 or back). Compare the account of Amir Khusrau in his Kulliyat, folios 777-8, where he describes the two opposing teams of four players, the intervals of play and the scoring with the ball which determined the issue of the game. He describes the movement of the team of Sultan Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah (including the Sultan) as a man ‘sitting in a crescent’. It may be added incidentally that the account of the introduction and historical development of Polo in India as given in the Encyclopaedia Britannica is incorrect.