Buzkhashi

: Buzkhashi - Or Horsemen 3 - Goats and Calves 0



I had the incredible opportunity to attend a buzkashi match yesterday. Buzkhashi is the traditional Afghan game and has been played here for a couple of thousand years, they say. People in our office were invited by a minister with whom we work. We met him at his office and followed his group of SUVs north out of town and maybe 40 minutes further. We were clear of the city and there was a line of hills between us and the city so the air was clear and there was little traffic. We could also see the higher peaks of the Hindu Kush mountains to the north and west, which are spectacular. Because we were VIPs or at least with a VIP, when we got to the field someone opened a gate and we drove right across the field and parked up the hill, by a beautiful house. We then walked down a steep set of stairs through what must be spectacular gardens in the summer, practically shooing the peacocks and turkeys out of our way. The "stadium" was really just a set of concrete bleachers plus a few rows of covered seats for the dignitaries. The "field" was a field of a few acres surrounded by a stone wall with the bleachers on one side. There were two teams of 17 players each. One team wore red padded jackets and round leather hats with fur edges. The hats looked exactly like my mental picture of the kinds of hats worn by Genghiz Khan's soldiers. The other team was called the black team but was pretty much the non-red team, wearing a strange combination of clothes and hats or turbans. The game itself was spectacular. The field had a chalk circle, maybe 15 or 20 feet in diameter near one end, in front of the middle of the stands. Near the other end was a post. To start the game, the body of a goat (decapitated) was dropped and a melee started as riders tried to pick up the goat and get out of the scrum. They pick it up by leaning down from the saddle and picking it up by hand. While they are trying to do that, their rivals are trying the same, shoving their horses against each other, whipping each other's horses and shoving each other with their arms, shoulders and occasionally the butts of their whips. Sooner or later someone comes up with the carcass and tries to break free of the crowd. His opponents try to keep him penned in and also try to pull the carcass away from him. If he breaks free he races to the other end of the field (while leaning way over in the saddle holding the goat by hand or trying to lock it partially under his leg), goes around the post and tries to come back to the original end to drop the carcass in the chalk circle. While he's doing that, the opponents try to use their horses to block him from the circle and to slow him down so they can rip the carcass away from him. I realize this description doesn't do it justice. There are 34 mounted men either in what looks like a rugby scrum or racing at full speed up and down the field, right next to each other, essentially wrestling while they ride or using their horses to push the others in the wrong direction or into the walls. While they are in the scrum, while some are clinging to the saddle with one leg while trying to pick up the carcass, others are getting their horses to rear up and come down on their opponents. I saw at least on occasion where a horse reared up and came down with one forefoot on each side of another rider, with the rearing horse's head right in the face of the other rider.

One of the more brutal parts of the game of course is that it's hard on the goats and calves. In the match we saw, they started with a goat carcass. After a while, it literally started coming apart. When it disintegrated, it had to be replaced. We saw a couple of guys walk a calf to the corner of the field, wrestle it down and cut its throat. A few minutes later there was a new carcass in the game. That was repeated an hour or so later. A couple of the people in our group are real animal lovers, always rescuing dogs and cats in the area, etc. Their faces showed their shock at the procedure and the Afghans noticed and were grimly amused.

I was also fascinated by the biggest VIP, a high politician and former warlord. He looks like central casting's idea of a central Asian villain - very heavily built, hooded eyes, big robe covering the rest of his clothes. When he showed up a big upholstered chair was set out for him and a soldier with a Kalashnikov stood right behind him, with other soldiers scattered all around. The omnipresent green tea with trays of nuts and candies was then served also. Anyway, he was a big fan and evidently owned a few of the horses being used (good Buzkashi horses are very valuable). Later in the game, when he evidently decided that the game wasn't being played hard enough, he would mutter a few words to one of his aides and the announcer (one guy with a bullhorn) would call out (in Dari) $100. That meant that the next rider to score - to get the carcass, ride down the field and back and drop the carcass in the chalk circle - would get $100. This clearly was an incentive and whoever accomplished it would ride over to the stands and the aide would reach down to him and hand him an American hundred dollar bill. $100 is a lot of money in this country and it was repeated a number of times.

Anyway, despite the brutality, it was an incredible spectacle. The riders' costumes were almost all authentic and the horses themselves were beautiful and obviously well cared for. The saddles and saddle blankets were mostly very colorful and well tended also. By the way, at the beginning of the actual match, once the real VIP had showed up, all the riders retreated to the far side of the field and then lined up and galloped across to our side, stopped in front of us and bowed. Except for the bullhorn and the Kalashnikovs, the match could have been happening 500 years ago. I had read about Buzkashi before coming over and vaguely hoped I might see it but doubted I would. This was a spectacular day. Jim