Yes, polo was a popular aristocratic activity and festival event in the Mughal era. Babur, the dynasty’s founder, established the Persian variant of polo known as chaugan in his court. His grandson Akbar further popularized the game, building a polo ground at a village near his capital city, Fatehpur Sikri, and holding regular tournaments. Akbar also invented a version of polo that was played at night, using a wooden ball set alight so that it could be seen in the dark. Mughal historian and Akbar’s chronicler, Abul Fazl, described the emperor as an enthusiastic and skilled polo player in the Ain-i-Akbari (“The Institutes of Akbar”), a document that recorded various aspects of Akbar’s reign, including administration, revenue policy, and geography. The sport was also popular during the reigns of Mughal emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Polo also spread to vassals of the Mughals, such as the Rajputs, and neighboring kingdoms, including the Deccan sultanate of Ahmadnagar.
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