Buzkashi
[5] Buzkashi began among the nomadic Asian tribes who came from farther north and east spreading westward from China and Mongolia between the 10th and 15th centuries in a centuries-long series of migrations that ended only in the 1930s.
[6][7] Games similar to buzkashi are played today by several Central Asian ethnic groups such as the Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Turkmens, Kazakhs, Uyghurs, Tajiks, Wakhis and Pashtuns.
In the West, the game is also played by Kyrgyz who migrated to Ulupamir village in the Van district of Turkey from the Pamir region.
[8] 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.
[citation needed] During the first reign of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, buzkashi was banned as they considered the game immoral.
High temperatures often prevent matches from taking place outside of this period, though isolated games might be found in some cooler mountain areas.
Although the sport is dying, it is still played by the Wakhi people of Hunza[16] in Gilgit Baltistan and by the Pashtuns including Afghan refugees in parts of Balochistan.
"[18] Mounted team-based potato races, a popular pastime in early 20th-century America, bore some resemblance to buzkashi, although on a much smaller and tamer scale.
The most common iteration is a free-form game, often played in a mountain valley or other natural arena, in which each player competes individually to seize the buz and carry it to a goal.
Tajik buzkashi games typically consist of many short matches, with a prize being awarded to each player who successfully scores a point.
Buzkashi was the subject of a book called Horsemen of Afghanistan by French photojournalists Roland and Sabrina Michaud.
Gino Strada wrote 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 the 9-11 strikes.
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.
The film was directed by John Frankenheimer with Omar Sharif in the lead role, and U.S. actor and accomplished horseman Jack Palance as his father, a legendary retired chapandaz.
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.
[citation needed] The game is also a key element in the book Caravans by James Michener and the film of the same name (1978) starring Anthony Quinn.
[citation needed] In Ken Follett's book, Lie Down with Lions (1986), the game is mentioned being played, but instead of a goat, a live Russian soldier is used.
In The Kite Runner (2003) by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist, Amir returns to Afghanistan from the United States several years later, when the Taliban has taken over the government.
He attends a game of Buzkashi, in which the audience was forced by the Taliban authorities circling the stadium to remain silent during the match.
La Passe du Diable, a French 1956 film by Jacques Dupont and Pierre Schoendoerfer, concerns Buzkashi players.
[25] Venerated Buzkashi (ulak tartysh in Kyrgyz) player, 82 year old veteran school teacher Khamid Boronov stars in 2016 feature documentary film Letters from the Pamirs by Janyl Jusupjan.
