Prince of Wales Edward came all the way to Gajraula near Meerut in mid-March 1922 to take part in the Kadir Cup, the ‘greatest of all pig-sticking contests’.

What was the Kadir Cup?

‘Kadir’ is an anglicized pronunciation of Khadar. General Sir A. E. Wardrop notes, “The word “ Kadir ” simply means bed of a river. Almost any Indian river may, and does, have its Kadir. From a pig-sticking point of view the two chief Kadirs are those of the Ganges and the Jumna, and it is on these two rivers that the majority of the hunting, both of Tent Clubs and of individuals, in all Northern India and Bengal takes place.”

Sir Lt. Gen. Robert Baden Powell writes, “The Cup given by the Meerut Tent Club is called the “Kadir Cup,” after the Kadir or river-bed country in which it is competed for. The contest first took place after pig in 1874. Previous to that date it had been merely a point to point race over a pig-sticking country, and called the ” Forbes Cup,” in honour of the founder and President of the Club. In 1870 the name of the Cup was changed to the ” Forbes Kadir Cup,” and the competitors had to ride with spears in their hands….. In 1874 the conditions of the cup competition were changed, it became the ” Kadir Cup ” and was run after pig, with the long spear. In addition to the “ Kadir Cup,” the Meerut Tent Club gives another annual cup called the “ Hog-hunter’s Cup.” This is a steeplechase on a made course for bona fide pig-stickers.”

What is Pig-Sticking?

Pig Sticking was a hunting sport quite popular among the European army personnel in India during the 19th century. It is reported that the earlier hunters used to throw spears at boars but later on they started jobbing at them while chasing them on a horse. Mills, ICS, was recorded as the first hunter to introduce ‘jobbing’ instead of throwing a spear from a distance in 1830.

The most prominent event of the traditional pig-sticking was the Kadir Cup pig-sticking tournament held in Meerut, which became the hallmark of colonial-era boar hunting.

Wardrop noted, “A shikari (hunter) writes in about 1870 of using either hand, as convenient, to spear with.” 

In Wardrop’s view, Kadir Cup area, i.e., Meerut, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Mathura region of Ganga and Yamuna Khadar, was a paradise for hunters. He informed, “I once put on a board on the main road from the Kadir camp to the hunting ground the old Persian couplet:

Agar firdos bah rue zamcen ast,

Hameen ast, wa hameen ast, wa hameen ast.

(If there is a paradise on earth, It is this, it is this, it is this,) that all who ran, or fell, might read.

The Kadir Cup was organised each year in the month of March and started on Sunday to conclude on a Wednesday. More than 100 elephants, even more horses would take part in a competition where almost every important Army Officer would compete to win. Several Indian princes also took part but only Indians to win the cup were Maharaja Rana Dholpur (1885), General Gurdut Singh (1895) and Colonel Seeva Singh (1902). 

In 1922, the Kadir Cup was held on 13, 14 and 15 March where the Prince of Wales was himself present. The camp was set between Gajraula and Meerut. The cup was won by Captain Baldwin with his horse ‘Blue Baron’.

A report published in The Sphere said, “Some 150 competitors and spectators, 60 to 80 elephants, horses, all the necessary transport, and perhaps 1,500 to 2,000 servants and coolies have to be arranged for. The meeting lasts three days, and nearly always takes place during the second half of March. It has now been competed for on these lines for more than fifty years. To gain the Cup, a horse must win four heats, and one mistake puts him out of the competition. The meeting is more than a pig-sticking competition. For three and a half days one may hear the news of all the pigs of all the lands, meet old friends and new horses and man — shikari and mahout.”

At the end of the Kadir Cup Competition, the Hog Hunters’ Cup was run. It was a point-to-point race over four and a half miles of fair pig-sticking country.

The Prince of Wales, present on the occasion, said that he would be running in the race with his horse. Powell said, “… before the start for the Hog Hunters’ Cup, to the horror of every one, the Prince suddenly said that he would ride in the race…. It is one like the Grand National, where falls are the rule, and often pretty bad falls at that! On one occasion, out of twenty-two runners, ten fell; one man fractured his skull, and four or five others were carried in. So the dangers of the trappy nature of the ground were explained, as well as the fact that even if he came in first he could not win, since the race was for those who had run in the Kadir Cup Competition.

“Meantime number two and the Prince made their way through the river, and made a great race of it in the struggle up the far bank, with dead-beat horses. But the horsemanship of the Prince and an extra turn of endurance on his part carried him to the front, and he won a ding-dong race by a couple of lengths.

“It was a splendid exhibition of pluck above all things, and of good horsemanship, eye for country and sporting endeavour.”

One of the competitors said, “To have won the Hog Hunters’ Cup, perhaps the most difficult race in the world, was a marvellous feat, and one of which any rider would be more than proud.”

(The views expressed are personal of the author)