Traditional games of Afghanistan
Afghanistan has several traditional games and sports.
Traditional games
Sangi rag
Two teams of four to five players compete by throwing rocks at a target; each player gets 10 throws, and the player that throws the closest to the target in a given round wins that round. Hitting the target directly earns twice as many points. The team that reaches 10 points first wins.
Barfi
This game is played during the time of year when the first snow falls. One person sends a messenger to another person's home, and if the recipient of the message fails to catch the messenger before the messenger can return home, then the recipient must pay for a large meal for the sender of the message; otherwise, the message-sender pays.
Tokhm-jangi
To celebrate Eid al-Fitr, participants in this game paint hard-boiled eggs and then bump them against other participants' eggs in order to break the other eggs.
Khusay
In khusay, two teams assembled at two goal lines attempt to hop past each other to the other team's goal line, while preventing the other team from doing the same.
Martial arts
Ghorsai
Ghorsai is a boxing competition in which participants hop on one foot and try to knock each other down.
Koresh
Koresh, also known as chepanki wrestling, is a form of belt wrestling.
Pahlavani
Pahlavani is a form of wrestling contested over four rounds, in which each round is won by the participant who can flip their opponent onto their back.
Animal events
Buzkashi
Buzkashi (Persian: بزکشی, lit. 'goat pulling') is the national sport of Afghanistan. It is a traditional sport in which horse-mounted players attempt to place a goat or calf carcass in a goal. Similar games are known as kokpar, kupkari, and ulak tartysh in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
