Buzkashi

About Buzkashi

Buzkashi, Kok-boru or Oglak Tartis (Persian: بزکشی bozkæšī, Tajik: бузкашӣ buzkašī: "goat grabbing") (Uzbek, Tatar: kökbörü, kök "blue" + börü "wolf", Kazakh: көкпар, Kyrgyz: улак-тартыш, Turkmen: owlakgapdy; Chinese: 叼羊) is a traditional Central Asian team sport played on horseback. The steppes' people were skilled riders who could grab a goat or calf from the ground while riding a horse at full gallop. The goal of a player is to grab the carcass of a headless goat or calf and then get it clear of the other players and pitch it across a goal line or into a target circle or vat.

The game is known as Buzkashi in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and among Persian-speaking populations of Central Asia, while in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, the game is referred to as Kok-boru or Ulak Tartysh.

Even though it is known as a popular Afghan sport, Buzkashi began as a sport of the steppes. It is a popular sport among the south Central Asians such as the Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, 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 is also played by Kyrgyz Turks who migrated to Ulupamir village in the Van district of Turkey from the Pamir region.