Buzkashi as popular as ever in North Afghanistan

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Polo is played for a definite period with a fixed number of players, while Buzkashi does not incorporate any such limitations.

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Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport played on horseback mainly in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and other regions.

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Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport played on horseback mainly in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and other regions.

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Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport played on horseback mainly in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and other regions.

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The calf in a Buzkashi game is normally beheaded and disemboweled and has its limbs cut off at the knees. It is then soaked in cold water for 24 hours before play to toughen it.

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The calf in a Buzkashi game is normally beheaded and disemboweled and has its limbs cut off at the knees. It is then soaked in cold water for 24 hours before play to toughen it.

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The calf in a Buzkashi game is normally beheaded and disemboweled and has its limbs cut off at the knees. It is then soaked in cold water for 24 hours before play to toughen it.

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The calf in a Buzkashi game is normally beheaded and disemboweled and has its limbs cut off at the knees. It is then soaked in cold water for 24 hours before play to toughen it.

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Buzkashi is the national sport and a "passion" in Afghanistan where it is often played on Fridays and matches draw thousands of fans.

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Buzkashi is the national sport and a "passion" in Afghanistan where it is often played on Fridays and matches draw thousands of fans.

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Buzkashi is a traditional and national game in Afghanistan. It is somewhat similar to Polo, but riders grab a headless goat or a calf instead of a ball. Afghanistan. 9th January 2012

Buzkashi is a traditional and national game in Afghanistan. It is somewhat similar to Polo, for in both games players play while riding their horses. However, they are different in several ways. In Buzkashi, players (chopendaz, as they are called) are to grab a headless goat or a calf instead of a ball. They are to pitch it across a goal line / secure area, while clearing it off their opponents.
Another amazing difference between both games is that Polo is played for a definite period with a fixed number of players, while Buzkashi does not incorporate any such limitations1. You can play as long as you wish with as many players as can join it. If one is tired of playing, he has to accept his defeat. Normally, the Buzkashi season begins in fall starting November each year and ends after 21 March of the following year after the Nawruz the Afghan New Year.
Those interested visitors of Buzkashi first come to visit Shamsolhaq Nasery as the head of the Buzkashi game who is well known in the North part of the country, which includes Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz, Baghlan, Samangan, Balkh, Jawzjan, Sare Pul and Faryab provinces. Sometimes he plays Buzkashi when it is a special event or important visitors in order to offer then good hospitality and honor, and at the end of each game he invites the guest to his house to serve them special Afghan Kebab, which an Afghan Tradition. He is from Pashtoon ethnicity which is the majority ethnic group in Afghanistan, but remains in minority in the north of the country.