The All India Regimental Polo Tournament was held annually usually at Meerut. It was a highly prestigious event amongst the Indian regiments and its winners were lauded accordingly. The photograph above actually shows the team of the 4th Hussars who were beaten by the Durham Light Infantry on their way to becoming the eventual winners. If you look carefully you can see that the player in the back right is a very young Winston Churchill! The author may not have fully realised that he had witnessed the future war leader moulding his character on the polo fields of Meerut.
Of course the sport of polo made its own fashion contribution to our history. In a short period of time the uniforms had moved from shirt and tie to the distinctive polo shirts. The picture immediately below shows the 1888 winners as the 17th Lancers looking very formal. The bottom picture shows the more informal 'polo shirt' that became ubiquitous in the twentieth century.
