of 50,000 strong. It was believed that these local Marwari horses would only leave a battlefield under one of three conditions – victory, death, or carrying a wounded master to safety. The horses were trained to be extremely responsive in battlefield conditions, and were practised in complex riding maneuvers. When the British took over India it was essential that this ability was removed from the natives. Further, they enacted Criminal Tribes Act to prevent the established warriors from training and breeding these horses. They also passed laws preventing the native Gentry and Noblemen land owning rights, removing their ability to maintain or train cavalry. It was only 300 years later, during the First World War, Marwar lancers under Sir Pratap Singh assisted the British. The horses thrived through centuries of political turmoil, until the arrival of the British decimated the breed in the first half of the 20th century. The British officers denigrated these local breeds as too undersized and hot tempered, importing shiploads of cheap Australian Whalers, thoroughbreds and polo ponies. They reduced the reputation of the Marwari to the point where even the genetically recessive trait of the breeds inward-turning ears were mocked as the "mark of a native horse". In reality the horses were cheap, hardy and extremely responsive in battlefield conditions, they were also well practised in complex riding maneuvers so an underlying threat to the British military. Consequently, thousands of Marwari were shot, sold off for cheap labor, castrated or indiscriminately cross bred. Over time, instead of keeping Marwari horses, the local gentry bought expensive thoroughbreds or Australian mounts that were high maintenance and unsuited to battle training or the environment. Having surrendered their very raison d’etre, the regions former kings and nobles lost a fundamental part of their soul and left their heritage and traditions behind. In recent years popularity of Tent Pegging and horse dance has generated revival of the breed and sport in Jhelum as well as further afield in America and the UK. Despite the military refusing to acknowledge or embrace the breeds qualities, A few horses have held out at small local farms with some dedicated trainers and eventers reintroducing the essentially qualities that make this breed proficient in the battlefields and a joy to own and ride. Besides tent pegging there is the sport of Bull racing or dhand melas. There is an established circuit of these melas that