Buzkashi The National Sport

A game played nowhere else in the world but in Afghanistan has got to be a little different - and Buzkashi is more than a little different.

To start with the game is played between two teams of mounted horsemen with 10 players to a team in a stadium the size of a football field. Secondly, the central object is not a leather ball, but a headless calf that weighs about 150 pounds and has been soaked in water all night to make the hide tough.

The origins of the game are perhaps lost in history, but some believe it was invented as a defense against the hordes of Genghis Khan who were very adept at sweeping down on an Afghan village on horseback and grabbing precious sheep and goats and other pillage at a full gallop. Other historians claim that the game was played originally with the body of a dead prisoner of war.

The rules are very simple. A headless calf is placed in the starting circle at one of the field. The horsemen try to pick up the carcass, ride to the other end of the field, circle a flag pole, return to the starting end, dropping the carcass in a circle designated for each team.

For circling the first flag they get one point. For dropping the calf in the circle they score two points.

The game is played in the northern provinces where the field may be miles long with a river in the middle. The number of players is not limited. Hundreds participate and no rules restrict the action of the players.

The Afghan Olympic committee has refined the sport a bit, limiting the players to 10 per team, outlawing knives and weapons other than small whips, and holding the competition in a stadiums in Kunduz and Kabul. They have also made it against the rules to intentionally hit another player with a whip. It is up to the referee to decide if it is intentional or not. Our experience shows them to interpret this rule very liberally.

The man above has the carcass under his leg, his whip in his mouth he races toward the goal line. He won't get far as the players on the other team will try to force him to drop the heavy calf carcass. Opposing players use their whips on each other as well as on the horses. After each goal the carcass is replaced with a fresh one.

Buzkashi is held in Kabul in late October and we were fortunate to be able to attend on two successive days. Foreigners are charged $10 to be admitted to a special grandstand which is carpeted and has comfortable wooden chairs. Afghans pay 20 to 50 afts (40 cents to $1.10) to sit in plain concrete stands.

The game began with little fanfare. The calf is wheeled out in a wheelbarrow and dumped in the starting circle. The horsemen parade out and are introduced one by one in the native language and then in English.

The horses used for Buzkashi are especially trained. The players called Chapandaz, usually own and train their own horses. The good Buzkashi horse never tramples on a fallen rider and should swerve away from collisions without being instructed.

The horses push and shove their way to the center of the pack in order for the rider to bend down and pick up the calf. When the rider reaches down the horse stands perfectly still, waiting for the action to begin.

Grabbing the calf from the ground is understandably hard since 19 other riders are trying to do the same thing. The mass of horses and riders is called a melee. When a rider grabs the calf, his teammates try to lead the horse and rider out of the melee and toward the flag. The opponents try to grab it from him.

Seldom does the rider go more than 50 yards before dropping the calf and the melee starts all over again. Once a rider has circled the flag, both teams can try to grab the calf and drop it in their own circle.

This did not appear to be a cruel or dangerous sport. The calf is already dead before the game begins. No rider or horse was hurt during the four games we watched. The spectators watched quietly cheering when points were scored. At intermission, some of the men in the audience came down on the field and spread their rugs for prayer. This seemed to be mostly for show and they were escorted back into the stands so the game could resume.