5 sports which you did not know originated in India

#4 Polo

Polo players from Manipur in India in 1885

It is said that India set the base for modern polo. Mughal emperor Babur had popularised the sport during the 15th century, and later Britishers played their part in globalising the sport. Polo was played initially only in Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir while a different version of the sport which involved elephants was played in the subcontinent of southern Asia.

Elephants were a symbol of the strength of the ancient monarchs in India and naturally, elephant polo was the "King of Sports." Cheitharol Kumbaba gives an account in The Royal Chronicle of Manipur of a Polo game being played among the friends of Ngonda Lairen Pakhangba, who had ascended the throne of Manipur in 33 AD.

The British colonists came to know about the magnificent game in the 19th century. In 1869 the game was first introduced in Great Britain and the first international match was played between the United States of America and England in 1886.

The popularity of the sport in India has risen and fallen over the years, but it never lost its regal status. The sport has been resurrected in the country through the emergence of privately owned teams in the past few years.