“The beginnings of the game of polo (Persian tschougān) can be found in Iran, Afghanistan, Kashmir and northern Pakistan (Persia) around 600 BC. Over time, the game became more and more popular and eventually became a national sport. In the 16th and 17th centuries, for example, the central square of the former Persian capital Isfahan was regularly used as a playing field. Here the Shah watched the game from the balcony of the Ali-Qapu palace. There is evidence from earlier times that the game enjoyed great popularity among both sexes and was also played together, for example at the Sassanid court. Reports on this sport can already be found in scenes from Persian mythology, e.g. in the epic Schahnameh. In Afghanistan there is a sport that is remotely related to polo, the buzkashi. In the course of Islamic expansion, the game spread to Arabia and, under the Mogul emperors, to India.” (from: Wikipedia)

The joint play of polo by men and women in the Sassanid period is also addressed in the fairy tale Siawosch und Homa“Siawosch and Homa”. Akefeh Monch-Zadeh tells that her grandmother learned to ride and handle weapons in her youth and made fun of her grandchildren when they did target practice with their father’s weapons and showed them how to aim properly. s de su padre y les enseñó a apuntar correctamente.