Beloved by Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kyrgz, Kazakhs, Pashtuns and Turkmens as well as Afghans,
the equestrian sport known as Kokpar or Buzkashi is a rugged, and traditionally extremely violent,
game similar to polo with one surprising twist; rather than hitting a ball with mallets toward
a goal, players vie for control of a headless animal carcass.
While at first glance this may seem a tad barbaric, it's really not all that strange
when you consider footballs used to be made with pig bladders and baseballs are covered
in cowhide.
In fact, a large majority of major sports throughout the world tend to use the skin
of various animals, which is perhaps less visually gory, but we’re positing it's all
the same to the animal involved.
Buzkashi just more or less cuts out the middle man and uses the somewhat freshly killed animal
carcass instead of a stitched version.
When you think about it, doing it this way instead of using factory made balls shipped
from all over the world and often treated in a variety of chemicals is even slightly
more environmentally friendly...
;-) So how did this sport come about?
It is widely believed the game was first played in the Oxus basin, now known as the Amu Darya,
along a border of Afghanistan.
Although its beginnings are lost in time, many claim that the sport began when Genghis
Khan's Mongols, who brutally invaded the area, pillaged goats and sheep while riding at full
speed on horseback.
To retrieve their property, the legend goes brave Afghan villagers would likewise gallop
into Mongol camps to take back their stolen livestock.
As the sting of invasion and thievery wore off over time, apparently the men grew to
enjoy the chase, and a new sport was born.
Whether any of that is true or not, at some point the sport really did become a thing.
So what were the rules?
Up until quite recently, there were only two rules: You do not talk about Buzkashi, and
. . . kidding.
The two rules are that no rider may intentionally strike another with his whip or knock an opponent
off his horse.
Other than that, anything goes!
Armed with whips (ostensibly for use only on the horses) and equipped with special boots
that hook tightly into their saddles, players fight each other fiercely for control of the
prize – a carcass.
Traditionally a goat that is disemboweled, decapitated and had its limbs removed below
the knee joint, the carcass would be soaked in water for at least a day to toughen the
skin.
In modern practice, a calf is frequently used since its hide is considered to be much more
resilient.
Whatever the carcass, the ultimately point was traditionally to break free from all other
riders in possession of the carcass, which is easier said than done.
As for more modern times, there are three variants of the game: tudabarai, qarajai and
a version only played in Kabul.
The least organized version, tudabarai, begins play with as many as 500 riders (yes, 500)
in a scrum surrounding the carcass; as described in a Wall Street Journal article, "beating
one another with whips as they fought over the goat."
Eventually, one rider, known as a Chapandaz, will have "dipped to the ground and grabbed
with one hand the goat carcass..." riding away from the initial circle in any direction
getting clear.
The winning rider will remain free of the others until the game is called.
In Qarajai, play begins in a circle, but the successful rider must not only control the
carcass, but also carry it around a flagpole and then drop it in a designated place, known
as the "Circle of Justice."
Points are awarded, and play continues until one team is deemed the winner.
Moving on to even more recently, as part of an effort to have Buzkashi made an Olympic
sport, the Afghan Olympic Federation created official rules for a much milder version of
the sport.
Observed only in Kabul, this official version limits the field of play to a square with
sides of 400 meters.
The number of riders is also limited - to official rosters of no more than 10 players,
with each team having only five on the field at a time.
In addition, as opposed to the open-ended play of the more traditional versions of Buzkashi,
the official rules limit Kabul Buzkashi to two 45-minute halves.
Even more distressing to the traditionalist, the official version has a referee on the
field!
As for training to master the sport, among aficionados, it is well accepted that the
best Buzkashi riders, the Chapandazan, have been playing since their boyhood, have endured
years of arduous training and are often middle-aged.
However, the sport would be impossible without the assistance of a stout horse, and even
the proudest Chapandaz gives credit to his animal.
In fact, there is a popular saying that explains precisely how important a well-trained mount
is: "better a poor rider on a good horse than a good rider on a poor horse."
Proud of their ancient breeds, Afghans primarily use two types of horses in Buzkashi: the small,
swift and sturdy Tartar, and the large breed that came from the plains of Turkestan, Habash.
Other horses used in the sport include the Arabi, Tazi, Borta and Waziri.
Regardless of breed, only un-castrated male horses, presumed to be stronger, are ridden.
Special trainers, known as Sayez, spend years working with their stallions.
Avoiding collisions and learning to never trample a fallen rider are two of a great
Buzkashi horse's main skills as you might imagine.
The best are also able to push and even ram their way into the middle of the scrum, and
then remain absolutely still despite the chaos going on around, while the rider reaches down
to grab the goat or calf.
Since raising a horse and finding the time away from work to train can be expensive,
much of Buzkashi is financed by the wealthy.
Common benefactors include warlords, entrepreneurs, merchants and generals.
An industry all to itself, "children with handfuls of fifty- and hundred-dollar bills
from wealthy spectators crisscross the bleachers to place bets with a bookie" during play,
and this exchange leads to nice salaries for the Chapandazan.
According to reports, successful players are well paid, receiving thousands of dollars
in tips and driving luxury automobiles in a country where the average daily wage is
under $2.
Of course, as you might expect, animal rights activists are aghast at the idea of adding
a sport to the Olympic roster that involves fighting over a corpse and whipping horses.
But Afghans remain undeterred and proud of their heritage.
To quote one aficionado of the sport, "Buzkashi is Afghanistan."
Bonus Fact: Speaking of animal carcasses, a common nickname
for the American Football is “pigskin” But were they actually ever made of this?
As alluded to, the earliest of these balls were actually made of animal bladders- sometimes
the bladder of a pig, which is thought to be how the moniker "pigskin" came about.
Animal bladders were much more accessible to the average team than more expensive items
like leather.
When the bladder was inflated, it was mostly round and served well as a ball for gameplay
for a variety of sports.
The only trouble was actually inflating it, which was a pretty disgusting task as you
can probably imagine.
Sometimes the bladder would be stuffed with things like straw or scraps of other material,
but stuffing rather than inflating tended to lead to a strange shape that didn’t work
quite as well in certain sports.
Later on, the animal bladders were sometimes encased with leather of some type, though
pig skin wasn't commonly used.
Luckily for all of the pro and casual football players out there, the practice of blowing
up bladders to play ball fell out of practice sometime in the 1860s, around the time American
Football was taking its first steps branching off from Rugby.
This switch in material of the ball can be explained by the invention of vulcanized rubber
in by Charles Goodyear in 1844.
Eager to ditch the gross task of inflating the bladders, footballs started being made
with rubber and cowhide, which made the sport a much more pleasant experience for everyone
involved, except the cow we suppose.
It is likely that rubber footballs started to be used shortly after Goodyear patented
vulcanized rubber, but animal bladders were still relatively commonly used into the 1860s.
Since 1955, the official NFL footballs have been made at the Wilson factory in Ada, Ohio.
Each football is handmade from cowhide sourced from Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa.
The hides are tanned in Ada with a “top secret football-weather-optimizing tanning
recipe.”
130 people working at the factory produce nearly 4000 footballs every day.
Each football is made up of four pieces and a synthetic bladder, and each cowhide can
usually make up to 10 footballs.
Another question often associated with what a football used to be made out of is, “How
did American footballs get their shape?”
As you probably know, footballs are pointy at the end and rounder in the middle (known
as a prolate spheroid).
Turns out, this shape wasn’t for aerodynamics (the forward pass wasn't introduced until
1906) or ease of holding it on long runs to make a touchdown.
Rather, it happened purely by happenstance.
As one witness of the Princeton-Rutgers game in 1869 remembered,
“The ball was not an oval but was supposed to be completely round.
It never was, though — it was too hard to blow up right.
The game was stopped several times that day while the teams called for a little key from
the sidelines.
They used it to unlock the small nozzle which was tucked into the ball, and then took turns
blowing it up.
The last man generally got tired and they put it back in play somewhat lopsided.”
This difficulty with the shape of the inflated ball continued on; by the time the quality
of the ball's manufacturing had improved sufficiently to get the shape right, the oblong shape had
been the norm for so long it stuck, with only slight tweaks to make it a little more pointy
happening over time.
The rest, as they say, is history.