Sagol Kangjei: a game played sitting on ponies holding with a hockey stick of having a long slender embedded with a mallet at one end, is one of the richest heritage games of Manipur. It was popularly played as a pastime game or side by side as a martial drill of the Manipuris particularly during those days of state formation. Surely, those unknown patriarchs never knew that the game of Sagol Kangjei which has been modified by the Britishers under the nomenclature of Polo is going to be a precious gift to the world. Its uniqueness lies where prefect coordination is the absolute need between two exclusive species, the human being and the animal i.e. ponies, where both require the inherent characteristics of strength, sturdiness and dexterity.
It is believed that Sagol Kangjei, the traditional polo of Manipur was first introduced during the time of King Kangba who reigned in Manipur by making his capital at Kangmong village, about 16 kms from Imphal towards Tiddim Road much before the emergence of Christian era. Meitei mythologies often narrate that the ancestors of the Meiteis and certain Sylvan deities such as Marjing, Thanging, Wangbren, Koubru, Nogpok Ningthou, Ekop Ningthou etc. representing different principalities played Sagol Kangjei regularly. Elements of Sagol Kangjei are found often webbed into certain ritual fabrics of Meitei culture.
Regular play of Sagol Kangjei is believed to have started since the reign of Nongda Lairen Pakhangba in 33 A.D. on the first Saturday of the month of Lamta (March) as a part of ceremony of formal introduction of his queen Laisana to the Sylvan deities and local chiefs.
T.C. Hodson, a British scholar and the author of the popular book the Meitheis refers that polo was played during the reign of King Khangemba (1597-1652). The Encyclopaedia Britannica records that the English game of polo was introduced from Manipur where it forms a great national past.
Manipur existed as an independent kingdom for centuries until the British defeated them in 1891. However, Anglo-Manipur relations were firmly established in the aftermath of the First Anglo-Burmese War 1819-24 which also resulted in the annexation of Assam to the British Indian Empire. A British Political Agent was stationed at Imphal, the capital of Manipur, from 1835.
British officers certainly saw Sagol Kangjei (polo) being played regularly at Mapal Kangjeibung (polo ground) in Imphal because it was adjacent to both the Royal palace and the Political Agency. Sagol literally means a horse in Manipuri language, while Kangjei stands for a game played with sticks.
The Polo Association
Inception of a first organized Body to foster "Sagol Kangjei" the National Game of Manipur, is claimed to have taken place in May 1948, when the Manipuri State Polo Committee was formed under the Presidentship of Maharaj Kumar, Capt. P.B. Singh, the brother of His Highness Maharaj Bodhchandra Singh. This Committee, as constituted under the resolution of the Manipur State Council, was also entrusted the job of laying down a fresh Polo rules. Thereafter, an Adhoc Committee was formed on 28th December 1955, and re-organised the Committee under a new nomenclature THE ALL MANIPUR POLO CLUB (now called Association), with Shri P.C. Mathew I.C.S. the then Chief Commissioner of Manipur as the Chairmam and Shri Maibam Iboton Singh as the Secretary, while many prominent officers of the State Government and distinguished citizens of the state were the Executive members of the Committee. With all these legacies, the All Manipur Polo Association is the Apex body of all the local Polo Clubs of Manipur. It has been nurturing all the Polo activities of Manipur under the patronages of His Excellency - The Governor of Manipur as the Patron-in-Chief and the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Manipur as the Patron. Earlier, His Royal Highness, Prince Charles (now Emperor) was the Royal Patron of the Association.
Although glimpses of Manipur history reminds us the first instance of Manipuri forefathers who played exhibition matches of Sagol Kangjei as demonstration to the outside World specially at Silchar in 1859 and then at Kolkata in 1863 etc.
Another big venture of the All Manipur Polo Association was to send a big contingent which includes boy and girl players to Kolkata in the second half of December 1995, in order to play exhibition matches of Pana Sagol Kangjei for boys and IPA style for girls during the Kolkota Polo Season. This time, 18 cogin tested ponies were ferried to and fro by 4 trucks.
Once again, in 1997, the All Manipur Polo Association send another Manipuri Polo team to Leh in order to participate in the Ladakh International Polo Tournament 1997, which was held during 1-15 September 1997. A few notable mega exhibition matches were the traditional Sagol Kangjei by the Manipuri boys and polo for the girls played at Joypur ground, Delhi in 2015. Some other memorable experiences of recent times were that the Association took polo players to Silchar in 1996 to display exhibition matches before a large crowd of Silchar city and then to the Heilakandi town, Assam. It was another opportunity that the All Manipur Polo Association could participate the Namami Barak Festival at Silchar, during 18-20 November 2017 with an exhibition match of polo on invitation.
It may be recalled that the Association, under the aegis of the Directorate of Youth Affairs and Sports Department, Govt. of Manipur, organised a Pana Polo exhibition match at Imphal Polo ground on 2nd August 1995, in honour of Mr. Ephrain Dowek, the Ambassador of Israel, when he visited Imphal. In order to refresh our memory of the exhibition match of the Traditional Manipuri Polo at Silchar in 1859, our Association, after more than one and half century ventured a few exhibition matches of polo in different parts of Barak valley of Assam in 2005.
As a regular feature, the Association has always been carrying out regular Polo Tournaments at the state and local levels. Polo is a game of the common people in Manipur patronised by the Royal families. It is played as a pastime or in the form of competition in a number of polo grounds normally maintained by the local people in the Meiteis villages. Young and old villagers enjoy this spectacular game during different festivals or occasions.
A new chapter of AMPA has been opened in the history of Manipuri Polo that a Statehood Day International Women's Polo Tournament began in January (17-21), 2016, at Mapal Kangjeibung - the oldest polo field in the world under the aegis of the Government of Manipur as a regular feature. Besides, another anecdote is that the Association has also started organizing a regular traditional Sagol Kangjei tournament under the nomenclature of the Chief Minister's Sagol Kangjei Championship and its first was opened (18-27 Nov 2022) during the Sangai Festival of Manipur. This event has been so significant that the tournament took place at the very old Manung Kangjeibung, Kangla a sacred place, for the first time after centuries.
LONG LIVE ALL MANIPUR POLO ASSOCIATION
