Buzkashi

Game of Buzkashi in Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan

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Buzkashi is the Afghan national sport. It is also a popular sport among the south Central Asians such as the Uzbeks, Hazaras, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Turkmens and Pashtuns. The Turkic name of the game is Kökbörü; Kök = "blue", börü = "wolf", denoting the grey wolf—the holy symbol of the Turkic people. Other Turkic names of the game are Ulak Tartish, Kuk Pari, Kök Berü, and Ulak Tyrtysh. Kökbörü is the most popular national sport of Kyrgyzstan. In the West, the game (Turkish: Cirit) is also played by Kyrgyz Turks who migrated to Ulupamir village in the Van district of Turkey from the Pamir region. Buzkashi is often compared to polo. Both games are played between people on horseback, both involve propelling an object toward a goal, and both get fairly rough. However, polo is played with a ball, and buzkashi is played with a headless goat carcass. Polo matches are played for fixed periods totaling about an hour; traditional Buzkashi may continue for days, but in its more regulated tournament version also has a limited match time.

In western China, there is not only horse-back Buzkashi, but also yak Buzkashi among Tajiks of Xinjiang.

Rules[link]

Competition is typically fierce. Prior to the establishment of official rules by the Afghan Olympic Federation the sport was mainly conducted based upon rules such as not whipping a fellow rider intentionally or deliberately knocking him off his horse. Riders usually wear heavy clothing and head protection to protect themselves against other players' whips and boots. The boots usually have high heels that lock into the saddle of the horse to help the rider lean on the side of the horse while trying to pick up the calf. Games can last for several days, and the winning team receives a prize, not necessarily money, as a reward for their win. Top players, such as Aziz Ahmad, are often sponsored by wealthy Afgans.^[1]

Rules introduced by Afghan Olympic Federation

1. The ground has a square layout with each side 400 meters long.
2. Each team consists of 10 riders each.
3. Only five riders from each team can play in a half.
4. The total duration of each half is 45 minutes.
5. There is only one 15 minute break between the two halves.
6. The game is supervised by a referee.
7. Based on the referee's decision a rider can be substituted during the game.

A similar game is "kokpar", a traditional Kazakh game played on horseback in which 2 teams of players compete to carry a headless goat carcass into a goal.

Chapandaz[link]

A Buzkashi player is called a Chapandaz. It is mainly believed in Afghanistan that a skillful Chapandaz is usually in his forties. This is based on the fact that the nature of the game requires its player to undergo severe physical practice and observation. Similarly horses used in Buzkashi also undergo severe training and due attention. A player does not necessarily own the horse. Horses are usually owned by landlords and highly rich people wealthy enough to look after and provide for training facilities for such horses. However a master Chapandaz can choose to select any horse and the owner of the horse usually wants his horse to be ridden by a master Chapandaz as a winning horse also brings pride to the owner.

Forms[link]

The game consists of two main forms: Tudabarai and Qarajai. Tudabarai is considered to be the simpler form of the game. In this version, the goal is simply to grab the calf and move in any direction until clear of the other players. In Qarajai, players must carry the carcass around a flag or marker at one end of the field, then throw it into a scoring circle (the "Circle of Justice") at the other end. The riders will carry a whip, often in their teeth, to fend off opposing horses and riders.

Calf or goat[link]

The carcass of a headless goat used in Buzkashi

The calf in a Buzkashi game is normally beheaded and disemboweled and has its limbs cut off at the knees. It is then soaked in cold water for 24 hours before play to toughen it. Occasionally sand is packed into the carcass to give it extra weight. Players may not strap the calf to their bodies or saddles. Though a goat is used when no calf is available, a calf is less likely to disintegrate during the game.

Ban in Afghanistan[link]

Buzkashi is the national sport and a "passion" in Afghanistan where it is often played on Fridays and matches draw thousands of fans. Whitney Azoy notes in his book "Buzkashi: Game and Power in Afghanistan:.... (that) leaders are men who can seize control by means foul and fair and then fight off their rivals. The Buzkashi rider does the same" ^[2] During the rule of the Taliban regime, Buzkashi was banned in Afghanistan, as the Taliban considered the game immoral. But since the Taliban regime was ousted the game is being played again.^[3][4]

Kav Kaz[link]

A mounted version of the game has also been played in the United States. In the 1940s young men in Cleveland, Ohio played a game they called Kav Kaz. The men - five to a team - played on horseback with a sheepskin-covered ball. The Greater Cleveland area had six or seven teams. The game was divided into three chukkers, somewhat like polo. The field was about the size of a football field and had goals at each end: large wooden frameworks standing on tripods, with holes about two feet square. The players carried the ball in their hands, holding it by the long-fleeced sheepskin. A team had to pass the ball three times before throwing it into the goal. If the ball fell to the ground, the player had to reach down from his horse to pick it up. One player recalls, "Others would try to unseat the rider as he leaned over. They would grab you by the shoulder to shove you off. There weren't many rules."^[5]

In popular culture[link]

Buzkashi is portrayed in several books, both fiction and nonfiction. It is shown in Steve Berry's book, The Venetian Betrayal, and is briefly mentioned in the Khaled Hosseini book The Kite Runner. Buzkashi was the subject of a book called Horsemen of Afghanistan by French photojournalists Roland and Sabrina Michaud. Gino Strada has written a book named after the sport (with the spelling Buskashì) in which he tells about his life as surgeon in Kabul in the days after 9-11 strikes. P.J. O'Rourke also mentions the game in discussions about Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Foreign Policy section of Parliament of Whores, and Rory Stewart devotes a few sentences to it in "The Places in Between."

There have been two books written about Buzkashi that were later turned into movies. The game is the core and subject of a novel by French novelist Joseph Kessel titled Les Cavaliers (aka Horsemen) as well as of the 1971 flick The Horseman which is directed by John Frankenheimer and Omar Sharif played the lead role. This film shows Afghanistan and its people the way they were before the wars that wracked the country, particularly their love for the sport of buzkashi.
The game is also a key element in the book Caravans by James Michener and the film of the same name starring Anthony Quinn. A scene from the film featuring the king of Afghanistan watching a game included the real-life king at the time, Mohammed Zahir Shah. The whole sequence of the game being witnessed by the king was filmed on the Kabul Golf Course, where the national championships were played at the time the film was made.

The game also is mentioned in several movies. In Rambo III, directed by Peter MacDonald, released in 1988, John Rambo (played by Sylvester Stallone) was shown in a sequence playing Buzkashi with his mujahideen friends when suddenly they were attacked by Russians. The 1983 Tom Selleck film High Road to China features a spirited game of buzkashi. Buzkashi is described at length in Episode 2, "The Harvest of the Seasons," of the documentary The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski. It is put in the context of the development, by the Mongols, of warfare using the horse and its effect on agricultural settlements. The film includes several scenes from a game in Afghanistan. The opening scenes of the Indian film Khuda Gawah, which was filmed in Afghanistan and India, show actors Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi engaged in the game. The game is also mentioned briefly in John Huston's film The Man Who Would Be King, the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story during advertisements for the fictional ESPN 8 (El Ocho) television channel, and the Bollywood movie Kabul Express. Composer Scott Fields recorded a piece called Buzkashi on the Clean Feed Records guitar compilation "I Never Meta Guitar."

See also[link]

• Pato, a similar horseback Argentine sport
• Horseball, another game played on horseback
• Jugger, another game involving the transport of animal parts
• Yak racing
• Rugby union in Afghanistan

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• G. Whitney Azoy (2003), Buzkash:i Game and Power in Afghanistan, 2nd ed. Waveland Press.
• "Ancient Kyrgyz game may captivate Europe", The Times of Central Asia, 9 November 2006 (www.timesca.com)
• V. Kadyrov, Kyrgyzstan: Traditions of Nomads, Rarity Ltd., Bishkek, 2005 ISBN 9967-424-42-7

External links[link]

Listen to this article (info/dl)

This audio file was created from a revision of the "Buzkashi" article dated 2005-04-17, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)

More spoken articles

• Photo-essay on Buzkashi in Tajikistan
• Afghanistan Buzkashi Pictures
• Afghanistan Online: Afghan National Sport (Buzkashi)
• Afghan Sport: Buzkashi
• The Fierce Afghani Game of Buzkashi
• Buzkashi In Mazar-e-Sharif
• Buzkashi - Afghanistan's Lovable National Sport
• Kok boru video from YouTube (Turkish)
• Kok boru video (Turkish)
• Mark Seager's Buzkashi Documentary
• Afghan Embassy in Australia
• Pictures of buzkashi in Afghan Pamirs

Thomas Richard Dunwoody MBE (born 18 January 1964 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a retired British jockey in National Hunt racing. He was a three-time Champion Jockey, riding 1699 British winners in his career. His father was a leading Point to Point rider. Family all from Ireland and England.

Racing career[link]

His big race victories include the King George VI Chase four times - twice on the legendary grey Desert Orchid in 1989 and 1990 and twice on another grey One Man in 1995 and 1996. He also won the 1986 and 1994 Grand Nationals on West Tip and Miinnehoma respectively, and the 1988 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Charter Party. He received the Lester Award for Jump Jockey of the Year on five occasions.

Charity work[link]

He is Patron or Trustee for the charities; Sparks, Spinal Research and Racing Welfare.

On 18 January 2008, it was reported that he and American explorer Doug Stoup had reached the South Pole following a 48 day trek raising money for charity. Their route followed one which had previously been attempted by Ernest Shackleton and was both the first successful completion of that route on foot as well the first successfully completed new route to the South Pole in ten years.^[1]

Thousand-miles in a Thousand-hours[link]

On 29 May 2009, Richard started a 1000 Mile Challenge for charity and walk the same mile 1000 consecutive times in Newmarket for 1000 consecutive hours with the last mile up the home straight of Newmarket racecourse just before the Bunbury Cup on 10 July 2009.^[2] He successfully completed the challenge raising tens of thousands of pounds for charity.

The challenge undertaken was to emulate Robert Barclay Allardice, of Stonehaven, whose most famous feat was walking 1000 miles in 1000 consecutive hours for a wager of 1000 guineas in 1809, 1 June to 12 July. If the report of the total wagers was accurate, this is equivalent to some £5 million ($US 8 million) in modern terms.

Strictly Come Dancing[link]

On 25 August 2009 it was announced that he would take part in Series 7 of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing partnering Lilia Kopylova. On 26 September 2009 Dunwoody was voted off of Strictly Come Dancing after his first performance.

Personal life[link]

His autobiography is called Obsessed which was published after his retirement - he retired due to the potential danger of long term damage to his neck. In his autobiography Dunwoody reveals that he experienced a messy divorce with his former wife Carol. Richard runs a betting advisory service, Richard Dunwoody Racing Associates Ltd.^[3] and leads riding holidays for adventure travel company Wild Frontiers.^[4] He is also a motivational speaker. ^[5]

Dunwoody is a supporter of the Conservative Party, and at the 2010 general election he backed the party after expressing his concern at the county's financial crisis as well as tighter health and safety regulations.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sunday Times article 20 December, 2009