Sardar Bahadur General Sardar Chanda Singh Dhillon of Sursinghwala, was born into Dhillon Jat family of Sursinghwala Village , Amritsar, Punjab.He was grew up among horses since his family was known for breeding quality horses. Chanda Singh to enlist with the 16th Bengal Lancers at Jullundur in 1882, when he was 18. Chanda Singh immediately set about at what he was best at, training ponies for British officers. His affinity with horses made him take to polo and his progress saw him in the regimental team soon as “back”, a position.
he was to keep for life. H.H Maharaja Rajindra Singh of Patiala, who was forming a polo team during this period, saw the potential of the young man and inducted him into the Patiala Tigers. It was then that the heydays of Patiala Tigers started with Jaswant Singh (later Major), Joginder Singh (later Colonel) and Captain Thakar Singh forming its core along with Chanda Singh Dhillon.
The legendary player continued to play till the age of 58 and it was the final match of his career, the Polo Championship of India, played in Delhi in 1920 which led to the downfall of polo in Patiala. The Patiala team which was leading by one goal in the last chukker against Jodhpur, lost by a solitary goal with Rao Raja Hanut Singh scoring twice after some Patiala players received injuries. This game saw the breaking of polo sticks by Patiala players.Chanda Singh’s exploits saw him virtually conquering the world on the polo field. As a colonel, he was ‘sighted’ by Jean de Madre, a polo enthusiast. The Comte requested the then Maharaja to loan him Chanda Singh for his team. Chanda sailed to Europe in 1909 and the Comte’s team won the Polo Championships of England at Ranelagh and Rochampton.
After these tournaments, Chanda Singh went on to Spain at the request of King Alphonso and played as a member of the King’s team in the Spanish Polo Championship of 1909 held at Madrid. The King’s team won the championship for the first time. King Alphonso also promised him a noble rank if he would bring his family to Madrid but Col Chanda Singh refused saying he was in the service of the Maharaja of Patiala and had come to Europe only due to the latter’s patronage. During this European sojourn, the polo player even went to Paris to win the French Polo Championship at Velliere and later in England where his team defeated the visiting American side to wrest the Westchester Cup.