Here Is The Interesting Story Behind The Very Popular ‘Patiala Peg’

This article is in collaboration with Devansh Kaushal

We all have listened and grooved on the superhit track “Patiala Peg”, and also we have come across this term so many times. 

But for you really know what is the story behind the popular “Patiala Peg”? We guess no! But don’t worry, because we are going to narrate you the complete story with proper facts.

Patiala Peg is a named drink of whisky in which the quantity of whiskey is decided on the basis of height between the top of the index and base of the last little fingers parallel to each other, against the side of standard 26.5OZ glass bott. The peg also represents the royalty of people living in North India and it is an attempt to signify a sign of “power and masculinity”.The rough size of Patiala Peg is 120ml or four small and two large drinks in familiar terms. The picture given below represents the size of Patiala Peg.

The personality who introduced Patiala Peg is one of the most famous kings of Punjab who is especially known for his lavish and luxurious life. Maharaja Bhupinder Singh is the personage who introduced the  Patiala Peg. Bhupinder Singh is also the exultant owner of the Patiala necklace and known for his connections with the most powerful leaders in the world like Adolf Hitler (Read Hitler’s Connection Here). It is said that he had 365 women (queens as well as concubines) in his palace. He is also the founder of the State bank of Patiala and he enjoyed a King life-size.

Let us now know about the origin of the Patiala peg. It’s from a dramatic non-fiction story of Maharaja’s polo team. Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala had a Polo team, which was undefeated during his reign. Part of his army consisted of legendary warriors of Punjab. Their favorite pastime was skull pegging. The skulls of their enemies buried halfway into the ground, they lifted the skulls by pegging them with their spears as they rode their horses, rider, and horse inebriated with ‘bhang’. The civilized version of the game came to be known as ‘Tent Pegging’. It was a fearsome Maharaja’s generous reward for a fine performance and dire retribution for the loser that made the Patiala team world tent-pegging champions. It was in the Patiala tradition to invite the ‘Viceroys Pride’, for a friendly engagement in the Maharajas territory.

The ‘Viceroys Pride’, all Irish men, impressive in their march, were the entireties that would drink till the night’s end and were still capable and aloof to walk accurately.

When the ‘Viceroys Pride’ entered Patiala for a friendly match, the hometown team felt worried and feared that if they lost the tournament, it would be their skull on which their Maharaja would peg his pike. So a plot was planned.
 
On the evening ere the rendezvous, the ‘Viceroys Pride ‘ was cherished to the pouring of a double standard of whiskey in every peg, later designated as the “Patiala Peg”. In the daylight, they ran into the friendly match of the tent, their heads were heavy and groggy. While they were drinking, the pegs used for tent pegging were replaced with smaller ones for the ‘Viceroys Pride’ and the larger ones for the home team. The main motive of the plot was to defeat the match.

Incensed by the loss, the political agent of the viceroy went up to the maharaja to complain. The maharaja replied ” Yess, in Patiala our pegs are larger.

This was the whole incident that introduced and gave birth to the one and only Patiala Peg.

Thanks for showing interest in the whole narrative inscribed by Devansh Kaushal and You can also hit the Website and Instagram by clicking on the respective links. 

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