Traditional games of Pakistan

Pakistan has many traditional games and sports.[1] Many of them are similar to the traditional South Asian games played in countries such as India and Bangladesh.

Two players on horseback during a game of polo.

History

A lack of government funding, an increase in urbanisation, and the growth of Western sports have contributed to a decline in traditional sports.[2][3][4]

Traditional games

Gilli Danda
Main article: Gillidanda

Gilli Danda revolves around players taking turns to use one stick to hit another stick as far as possible, while trying not to allow the other team to catch the airborne stick before it touches the ground.[5]

Kite-flying
Main article: Fighter kite
This section is an excerpt from Fighter kite § Pakistan.[edit]
Kite fighting is common in all over Pakistan, but mainly concentrated in cities of Punjab and Sindh region including Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Karachi, Islamabad etc. While city of Lahore is considered as the capital of kite battling in South Asia. Kite flying is considered as the culture of Lahore. In the past, kite battling had a status of sports in Lahore, and those kite flyers were termed as "Khilari" or sportsman.

Pittu Garam
Main article: Seven stones

In Pittu Garam, one team throws a ball at a pile of seven stones and then attempts to put them back up as fast as possible, while the other team can throw the ball at players of the first team to eliminate them.[5][6]

Marbles

Marbles, also known as bilori or shinoli in Pashto, is a family of games involving marbles.[7]

Goli pila

Goli pila involves flicking marbles into small holes in the ground using one's fingers.[8]

Chindro
This section is an excerpt from Chindro.[edit]
Chindro (also known as Stapoo or Kidi Kada) is a popular rural game of Indian Sub-Continent. The game is played with a stone that tossed and slid on a marked off playing court. It is similar to hopscotch.

Slap kabaddi
This section is an excerpt from Slap kabaddi.[edit]

Slap kabaddi or thappad kabaddi is a Pakistani variant of kabaddi which is particularly popular in Punjab.[9] Two players aim to slap each other, scoring one point for each slap landed on the opponent (above the waist);[10] the winner is the one who scores the most points, or who can force his opponent to forfeit the match.[11][12]

Punches are not allowed, though players can slam into each other.[13][14] There is no time limit or limit to the number of slaps that can be executed, though causing injury to the opponent results in disqualification in some matches.[15]

Tackling games

Malakhra
This section is an excerpt from Malakhra.[edit]

Malakhro () is an ancient Sindhi form of wrestling in Sindh, which dates back 5000 years. The match begins with both wrestlers tying a twisted cloth around the opponent's waist. Each one then holds onto the opponent's waist cloth and tries to throw him to the ground. Malakhra is one of the favorite sports among males in Sindh, Pakistan. Malakhara matches are generally held on holidays and Fridays and are a feature of all fairs and festivals. Rich feudal lords and influential persons maintain famous Malhoo (wrestlers) and organize matches for them. In the Pakistani region of Sindh, it is the provincial sport.

a model of Malakhiro at ISJ

Yanda

Yanda (also known as Yenda, Yandu, etc.) is a game of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in which the teams take turns sending one of their players to run around a circle, while two opponents attempt to make the runner fall before he can run around the entire circle and safely make it back to his teammates. Players who are made to fall are eliminated from the game. The game ends once one team has all of its players eliminated, with the other team then winning the game.[16][17]

Variations of tag
See also: Variations of tag

Kabaddi
This section is an excerpt from Kabaddi.[edit]
Kabaddi being played at the 2018 Asian Games
Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players, originating from India. The objective of the game is for a single player on offense, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their players and return to their own half of the court, all without being tackled by the defenders in 30 seconds. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider. Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled, but are brought back in for each point scored by their team from a tag or a tackle.

Kho-kho
This section is an excerpt from Kho kho.[edit]
Kho kho playing in Govt middle school, Nallambal, Karaikal

Kho kho is a traditional Indian sport that dates back to ancient India.[18][19] It is the second-most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi.[20] Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connecting two poles which are at either end of the court. During the game, nine players from the chasing team (attacking team) are on the field, with eight of them sitting (crouched) in the central lane, while three runners from the defending team run around the court and try to avoid being touched.[19] Each sitting player on the chasing team faces the opposite direction of their adjacent teammates.

At any time, one player on the chasing team (the 'active chaser'/'attacker') may run around the court to attempt to tag (touch) members of the defending team, with one point scored per tag, and each tagged defender required to leave the field; however, the active chaser cannot cross the central lane to access the other half of the field, and can not change direction once they start running toward either pole. The chasing team can get around these restrictions if the active chaser either switches roles with a sitting teammate (by touching them on the back while saying "Kho") who is facing the other half of the court and therefore has access to it, or runs to the area behind either pole and then switches direction/half. Each team has two turns to score and two turns to defend, with each turn lasting nine minutes. The team that scores the most points by the end of the game wins.[21]

Wanjh wati
This section is an excerpt from Atya patya.[edit]
Atya patya or atya-patya (Hindi: आट्यापाट्या) is a traditional Indian tag sport played by two sides of nine players. It is more popular in rural areas of India. It is more commonly played in Maharashtra, a western Indian state.[22] Atya patya is described as a "game of feints".[23] The playing area comprises nine trenches, coming out of either side of a central trench; a point is awarded to the attacking team's players for each trench they cross without being tagged out by the defensive players within the trenches.[24] The game ends after 4 innings (scoring turns) of 7 minutes each, with each team having two innings to score. It has been described as a game of "militant chase".[25] The sport is played in a relatively small area and requires no equipment, similar to other games indigenous to India such as kabaddi, seven stones, kho kho, gillidanda and langdi.[23]

Baraf Paani
Main article: Freeze tag

Players become frozen in place when tagged by an opponent, but are unfrozen by the touch of a teammate.[26]

Oonch Neech
This section is an excerpt from Oonch Neech.[edit]

Oonch Neech (or Oonch Neech ka Papada) is a rural and urban street children's game and variation of Tag game played in North India and Pakistan. Oonch Neech (Hindi) translates Up and Down in English.[27]

In Oonch neech if the denner (tagger) says neech (down), all players have to go to an elevated area. If he says oonch (up) then all players have to stay down. Whatever the denner picks, he has to stay on that platform.

Langri Pala
Main article: Langdi

Players attempt to tag opponents while hopping on one foot.[26]

Jee
See also: Bengali traditional games § Gollachut

Jee is a traditional Balochi game in which one team attempts to send one player at a time from one area to another without being tagged out by the opponents.[28]

Bandar killa

Before the game starts, a coin toss-like process known as pugan pugayee is done, in which three players are chosen randomly and are asked to face one of their hands either upwards or downwards; if one of the player faces their hand in the opposite direction of the other two players, then that player is eliminated from this process; this repeats until finally, one player in the last group of three faces their hand in the opposite direction of the other two players, with this last player being chosen as the "monkey" (bandar). Once the monkey is chosen, the other players place their footwear around a tree or similar object; a rope is then bound to the tree, with the monkey required to hold the rope and continuously run around the tree. The other players then attempt to retrieve their footwear, but if any player is tagged by the monkey, play restarts and the tagged player becomes the new monkey. If all of the footwear is successfully retrieved, then the monkey is forced to run to a designated area away from the tree, while the other players are allowed to throw the footwear at the monkey. Play then restarts with all players continuing in their roles.[29][30]

Board games

Carrom
This section is an excerpt from Carrom.[edit]
Tibetans playing carrom in Delhi

Carrom is a tabletop game of Indian origin in which players flick discs, attempting to knock them to the corners of the board. The game is very popular in the Indian subcontinent, and is known by various names in different languages. In South Asia, many clubs and cafés hold regular tournaments. Carrom is very commonly played by families, including children, and at social functions. Different standards and rules exist in different areas. It became very popular in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth during the early 20th century.

The word carrom means to strike and rebound.[31]

Animal events

Chirpiest Partridge

Various caged partridges are placed next to each other, with the chirpiest of them winning the day's contest.[6]

Tent pegging
This section is an excerpt from Tent pegging § Contemporary sport.[edit]

The United States Tent Pegging Association (USTPA) is a not-for-profit organization registered in the New York state and is the National Governing Body for the sport of tent pegging in the US. USTPA is the premier equestrian sports body dedicated solely to the promotion and development of the equestrian sport of tent pegging across the US

In Pakistan tent pegging is also named neza bazi.[32] It is played in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some parts of Sindh and Balochistan, it is the unofficial provincial sport of Balochistan, Pakistan. There are many clubs who have owned different and unique style of Turban and Waistcoat to identify their clubs. People decorate their horses for the competition. Every club arranges a neza bazi competition. All clubs are invited to participate in the competition. There are some specific shows being arranged since many decades. National Horse and Cattle Show is one of them. It is held at the Fortress Stadium in Lahore every year usually in end of February or at first week of March. Tent pegging is a part of this event. Clubs from all the districts of Pakistan participates there.[33] It is also popular with British Pakistanis.[32]

References
  1. "What Are the Most Popular Traditional Sports in Pakistan? Let's Find Out". A blog about real estate, lifestyle and tourism in Pakistan | Zameen Blog. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  2. Ali, Hafsa; Wright, Richard; Dickson, Geoff (2023-06-12). "Sport policy in Pakistan". International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics: 1–13. doi:10.1080/19406940.2023.2219272. ISSN 1940-6940.
  3. isbpostadmin (2020-07-23). "Traditional games of Punjab lost in the dust of time". Islamabad Post. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  4. Hussain, Umer; Cunningham, George B (2021). "'These are "our" sports': Kabaddi and Kho-Kho women athletes from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan". International Review for the Sociology of Sport. 56 (7): 1051–1069. doi:10.1177/1012690220968111. ISSN 1012-6902.
  5. "Traditional Games of Pakistan - Muhammad Awais - Youlin Magazine". www.youlinmagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  6. Traditional Games of Pakistan: A glimpse into past and present https://www.app.com.pk/
  7. "Rolling back to golden past: playing marbles becomes a pastime for youngsters in Jamrud | TNN". TNN | Tribal News Network. 2014-12-18. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  8. A glimpse into our games: Numerous team sports including desi kushti, tent pegging and stone lifting are practiced in the region https://www.bolnews.com/
  9. "पाकिस्तान में अनोखा गेम, एक दूसरे को ताबड़तोड़ थप्पड़ मार रहे खिलाड़ी- VIDEO वायरल". आज तक (in Hindi). 2023-07-06. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  10. "पाकिस्तान में खेली जाती है कुछ ख़ास किस्म की कबड्डी, जिसमें चलते हैं थप्पड़". BBC News हिंदी (in Hindi). 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  11. "What Is Thappad Kabaddi? This Variant Has Taken Internet By Storm". Zee News. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  12. "Fact Check: Viral Slap Kabaddi video misidentified as Indian is from Pakistan". India Today. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  13. "What Is Thappad Kabaddi? This Variant Has Taken Internet By Storm". Zee News. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  14. "Slap Kabaddi, the viral sensation in Pakistan: Rules, Players, Origin, and More". SportsTiger. 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  15. "Watch | Videos of 'slap kabaddi' from Pakistan are going viral. But what is this sport?". WION. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  16. Vandal, Sajida; Hassan, Fakhra. "Traditional Games of Pakistan". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. "Sports and Games of Pashtoons". www.khyber.org. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  18. Hard Bound Lab Manual Health and Physical Education, p. 41
  19. "kho-kho | Indian sport | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  20. Peter A Hastie (2010). Student-Designed Games: Strategies for Promoting Creativity, Cooperation, and Skill Development. Human Kinetics. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-7360-8590-8.
  21. Nag, Utathya (24 June 2022). "Kho Kho, a kabaddi-like sport linked with Indian epic Mahabharata - know all about it". Olympics.com
  26. Value of traditional games Saima Khalid https://core.ac.uk/
  27. Satyam, Amitabh; Goswami, Sangeeta (2022-04-18). The Games India Plays: Indian Sports Simplified. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-93-5435-256-0.
  28. Akhter, Javed. "The Importance of the Sports in Baloch Society: A Cultural Perspective". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  29. "Bandar Qilla (Baander killa) - Dost Pakistan". Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  30. Kaur, Ramandeep (2020-10-22). "ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੇ ਅੰਗ-ਸੰਗ (13): ਡਿਜੀਟਲ ਦੌਰ 'ਚ ਵਿਸਰਿਆ ਤੰਦਰੁਸਤੀ ਦਾ ਰਾਜ਼". punjabi.abplive.com (in Punjabi). Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  31. "Definition of CAROM". www.merriam-webster.com. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  32. Khan, Aina J (4 October 2022). "British Pakistanis find fraternity in cavalry sport of tent pegging". The Guardian.
  33. 'nocadmin', "National Horse And Cattle Show", Pakistan Adventures, 2 June 2011.
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