Buzkashi

Buzkashi is a Central Asian horseback team sport in which riders compete to seize and carry a headless goat or calf carcass toward a goal. Its rules and formats vary across regions and organized competitions.

Connect

Buzkashi rules: The conventions and regulations governing play, scoring, teams, and fouls in buzkashi. Rules determine how possession and carrying the carcass count toward a win.
Afghanistan: A landlocked country in South-Central Asia with a long history of buzkashi. Afghan buzkashi is the sport’s best-known national form.
Abdul Rashid Dostum: An Afghan military and political leader known for his association with buzkashi. His patronage helped make the sport visible in Afghan political life.
Kok-boru: A Kyrgyz and Kazakh horseback game in which teams carry a goat carcass toward a scoring area. Kok-boru has standardized team play that contrasts with many traditional buzkashi contests.
Buzkashi carcass: The animal carcass used as the object of competition in buzkashi. Riders wrest possession of this object and carry it through the contest.
Kyrgyzstan: A Central Asian country where kok-boru is a prominent traditional horseback game. Kyrgyz traditions show how related carcass games developed across the region.
Khaled Hosseini: An Afghan-American novelist whose fiction includes Afghan settings and cultural traditions. His novel The Kite Runner introduced buzkashi to many international readers.
Kokpar: A Kazakh horseback game in which riders compete over a goat carcass. Kokpar is a close regional relative, but its modern rules and formats are distinct.
Buzkashi horse: A horse trained or selected for the speed, strength, and maneuverability required in buzkashi. A rider needs a powerful, responsive mount to enter crowded contests and escape with the carcass.
Kazakhstan: A Central Asian country with traditions of horseback games including kokpar. Kazakh kokpar is a regional relative with its own organized forms.