When you think about polo, what do you think about? Pretentious wankers in jodhpurs? Giant-sized croquet mallets? The most bland, reserved crowds ever? Overall, polo as we know it is reserved almost exclusively for the wealthy elites of the United Kingdom and the northeastern United States and as well in its native Iran. However, instead of wooden balls and ridiculous get-ups, there fortunately exists a far superior form of polo that has become famous as the national sport of Afghanistan: the wild, unpredictable game of buzkashi.

Buzkashi has been around for well over a thousand years, and is believed to have originated from the nomadic Mongol riders as they migrated across central Asia headed westward towards the Middle East; the name is a Persian word that translates to “goat dragging”. There are a wide number of ethnic variants of the game that exist, but it is played in a variety of forms in Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, eastern Turkey, and the Uyghur region of western China. The key unifying factors involve horses, riders, and the carcass of an animal that serves as the game ball.

In Afghanistan, there are two main types of buzkashi: Tudabarai and Qarajai. The main difference between the two is that Qarajai has a defined goal area, whereas Tudabarai sees points awarded merely for carrying the carcass past defending players to the edge of the area. The most rigorous set of rules are found for games played only at the Kabul grounds, as defined by the Afghan Olympic Federation:

• Buzkashi is played with two teams of 10 riders each (“chapandaz”, believed to be from the Persian word for raider) on a square playing field with each side 400 metres in length.
• Riders typically do not own their horses (just like in thoroughbred racing) but it is an honour for a skilled rider to ride an owner’s horse, as well as an honour for owners to have skilled riders choose his horses.
• Both horses and riders train extensively for the games, as the level of riding, and the conditioning required for lasting the entire match, is extremely difficult and demanding.
• Only 5 riders from each team can play in a half.
• Each half lasts 45 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission.
• A referee is also presented, and mounted on horseback as well.
• Riders carry whips, which are usually held in the teeth, as they want hands free to be able to lean to the side of the saddle for balance and also to retrieve the carcass. Apparently you’re not allowed to intentionally whip the other riders or knock them off their horses, though.
• Riders typically wear helmets and boots to protect from fellow players’ whips, and the boots are specially designed to help lock into saddle stirrups to allow them to lean further without falling off.
• Players look to score goals by carrying the carcass around a flag or marker and then throwing it into “the Circle of Justice” (this is a fucking amazing name for a goal area).
• The carcass in question is typically a calf – the head is cut off and the limbs are chopped at the knees, and it is then soaked in water overnight. Sometimes the body is stuffed with sand to keep the entire thing together. Calves hold together best, but when calves are not available, goat carcasses are also used.
• The winning team receives a prize at the end – typically not money, but it’s a great source of pride to win. Wealthy Afghans also sponsor riders and horses on an individual basis and repeated victories increase this sponsorship in a large way.

I’ll say this: the above is the most civilized version of the game. The other various iterations of the game, including those outside of Afghanistan, are even crazier. There are a lot of individual versions of it where every rider competes for himself in trying to score points, and some versions allow for defending players to be far, far more aggressive towards attacking players and will allow them to intentionally whip them wherever and crash and bang to get them to drop the carcass. Hell, even spectators can be run over if they’re not careful.

Here’s an example of buzkashi played in Mazar-i-Sharif, in the northern end of Afghanistan; here, hundreds of riders play in each game, which can last as long as 3 or 4 days.

Overall, buzkashi has seen a huge resurgence in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, which had outlawed the game under their fundamentalist regime. Nice to see a tradition that predates Islam itself in Afghanistan still carries a huge amount of significance after hundreds of years of history. I personally have never much been one for horses, but if any of you have some money to burn and are looking for a new challenge, maybe, just maybe, this might be your thing!