Written by: Hidayat Khan
Posted on: July 01, 2022 | 
| 中文
Splendid Surroundings of the Shandur Polo Festival
Postponed in 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the three-day Shandur Polo Festival 2022 is all set to kick-off on Friday at the world highest polo ground at Shandur, also known as the "roof of the world". The festival is held annually in July, with the biggest attraction being the freestyle mountain polo competition of seven best teams from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Chitral district and various districts of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
Chitral and Gilgit's teams face off at Shandur. (Red is Chitral and Blue is GB)
The festival is a testament to the centuries-old traditions in which the local population takes an active part. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority said that all the preparations have been finalized and the inaugural polo match will be played between Ghizer, Gilgit-Baltistan and Laspur Chitral. Besides polo, different cultural events, food stalls, music concerts, traditional dances and paragliding will also be the part of the event. The final of the event will be played on July 3.
Shandur Polo Festival
The festival attracts thousands of domestic and foreign tourists to the attractive tourist destination. Located at an altitude of 3800 meters above sea level, the Shandur polo ground is considered to be the highest polo ground in the world. It can be dangerous to participate in free style polo because of the lack of oxygen at such a high altitude, not only for players but also for the horses. The polo ground is situated near the breathtakingly beautiful Shandur lake.
A fallen player
Free style polo is entirely different from conventional polo played in Europe and in other parts of the world. Each team has six players in both conventional and free-style polo, but the ground in free-style is comparatively small, which makes the field quite crowded. Each game in free-style lasts for an hour, with a short break after 30-minutes. There are no rules or umpires in free-style polo game and the players rarely wear a helmet, which makes it one of the most dangerous games. It is for this very reason that it has attracted international attention.
Rivals at full gallop
Shandur is located on the border between Gilgit and Chitral, due to which both KPK and Gilgit Baltistan governments lay claim to Shandur. The chief ministers of both GB and KP have invited each other to attend the festival. For the people of Chitral, Shandur valley is their “fairy house”, while the people of Ghizer in Gilgit-Baltistan describe it as their cold haven. For the people of Pakistan, however, it is one of the most serene areas of the country, where they can enjoy the ‘game of kings’ or the ‘king of games’ in cool weather. The Shandur valley connects Laspur region of Upper Chitral with Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan through the Shandur Pass. Shandur is also the meeting point of the Hindu Kush, Pamir and the Karakoram Mountain ranges.
An aerial view of Shandur polo ground
The freestyle polo has been an integral part of Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral’s culture for centuries. The freestyle Polo is also called the "game of kings", as the history of the Indian subcontinent shows that polo was a major sport for the members of the ruling royal families with Central Asian origins. The Mongol ruler Genghis Khan used to train his armies through this sport. Sultan Qutubuddin Aibak of India was also an enthusiast and died while playing polo. Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Akbar also played polo and mentioned the sport in Akbarnama, the official record of his rule. The British explorer G. T. Vigne, who visited Gilgit-Baltistan between 1835-1838, described the game of polo as “hockey on horseback". Baltistan’s ruler Ali Sher Khan Anchan, who built the Shandur polo ground, pioneered the freestyle polo that is now common in Chitral and GB.
Kalasha music at the Festival
The British also played a major role in popularizing polo, and took the game to Britain with some modifications after they indirectly controlled GB in 1877 with the help of Dogras. During the visit of British King George V to India in 1911, a polo tournament was organized in his honor, which was won by the Gilgit-Baltistan's Nagar princely state team. The trophy awarded by George V is still preserved at the Nagar Fort. Before independence in 1947, a British political agent by the name of Col Evelyn Hey Cobb, also took a keen interest in polo and arranged a polo tournament between the Chitral and the Gilgit teams at Shandur. However, the regular polo tournaments in Shandur started in 1989, after which the government also supported the sport and the cultural festival that accompanied it.
Action at the polo match
The teams of Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan prepare their players and horses, and undergo tough training throughout the year. Before the Shandur festival, many tournaments within GB and Chitral are organized to select the best players for the Shandur Polo Festival, which is like a World Cup for polo fans. There have been 30 editions of the Shandur Polo Festival so far, Gilgit has won 16 of them while Chitral succeeded in 14. We will get to know on this July 3, whether Chitral bridges the gap or Gilgit increases its trophy count.
Winners of 2016 Shandur polo festival, Chitral polo team
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