PESHAWAR
In connection with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa traditional games, a traditional Khel Bail Cart Race was organized in Marghuz Swabi, in which Amir won the first position.
On the instructions of Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur, Adviser to Chief Minister on Sports and Youth Affairs Syed Fakhar Jahan, Director General Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Secretary Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a traditional sports race was held in Marghuz, Swabi.
The first place in the race was won by Amir. In his own name Muhammad came second, Shireen Dad third, Nisar fourth and Khan Bahadur came fifth. Provincial Minister Irrigation Aqibullah Khan, Tehsil Chairman Razaullah Khan, Director General Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Secretary Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, District Sports Officer, Regional Sports Officer Mardan were present in the final ceremony. Trophies were distributed among the winning players along with a cash prize of Rs. 150,000.
There were two types of bulls or bails races wherein the bulls did not run on any sort of track. Instead, they take turns. The first bull is attached to the beam of the waterwheel and proceeds to run for eight minutes around the well. Then the next bull does this, and so on.
Another traditional Arraht Bull Race was organised at Marghuz, Swabi village that attracted people from parts of the province and both the organisers and participants vowed to keep the race alive for the future generation.
In some remote villages, bulls are still being used for drawing water from wells for irrigation. The bull is tied to a traditional system of ropes connecting many small pots going down and drawing water while it makes rounds of the well, and this whole arrangement is called ‘Arraht’.
For the Monday race, a special space was created and the bull completing the most rounds in the allotted time was declared as the winner by the judges’ committee. A farmer from Charsadda whose bull won the race was awarded the winner’s cup amid drum beating and dance by his supporters. The local growers made arrangements for the race and had invited farmers from parts of the province to test their bulls in the contest.
The residents said the price of the bull winning the race increased manifold and the affluent participants showed interest to buy the bull. “The bull owner feels too much pride and enjoys the victory,” Khasta Rehman Khan, one of the bull racers, told APP.
He said the interested farmers from parts of the province reached Marghuz village to witness the cultural event, usually held in winter. Aamir Khan, who also took part in the contest, said the farmers prepared their bulls for race for almost the whole year.
Another traditional bull race was held in the field at Markhuz village attracted thousands of people not only from across Swabi but also from various adjoining districts. The people poured into the venue in great numbers despite the harsh summer day. The event was attended by over 8,000 people from various villages of the district, and Buner, Mardan, Nowshera and some Punjab districts.
Deputy Director Operation Jamshed Baloch, who held the same race in District Nowshera some three years earlier, said that they have prepared the field specially for this race the local farmers, who organised the race, had leveled the agriculture fields and extended hospitality to the bull owners, who were overjoyed to display the might of their bulls. The race provided a great source of excitement, entertainment and festivity to the farmers and visitors, Jamshed Baloch said.
Adviser to the Chief Minister on Sports and Youth Affairs Syed Fakhre Jahan said the bull race was a very courageous cultural event of farmers and the government wanted to highlight it not only at national but also at the international level.
“The bull trace could attract tourists and Pakistan could earn sufficient foreign exchange. The race encourages and promotes peace and harmony in the society,” he said.
Director General Sports KP Abdul Nasar Khan highlighted how the event served as a platform for cultural exchange, uniting teams from both Punjab and KP province. He expressed the commitment to promote bull racing, as well as other traditional yet dwindling sports like guli danda, by regularly organizing such sporting events across the province.
He shared the vision of continuing to organize traditional sports events to further promote activities such as dog races, bull races, and archery in the future. Ever since ancient days, farmers have raised bulls with great love and care because they were the main source of motive power in cultivation. Across South Asia and its vast agrarian tracts, these bulls were used for ploughing the fields, as transportation to carry crops to market or at home in various contexts: with a water wheel and on a gani (sugarcane press) for making gur (jaggery).
Over the past century, modern machinery replaced these all traditional methods with new and faster mechanized processes. Although these machines brought about a great degree of relief from the backbreaking nature of agricultural work and saved much time, even farmers who adopted fully mechanized farming processes have continued to raise bulls with great love. The role that they now see for these massive creatures is no longer one of toil in the fields, but entertainment – or to be more precise, races.
Abdul Nasar Khan said the farmers of Swabi still relive the age-old cultural tradition of waterwheels, having converted their operation into something of a competitive race. In the last week of the year, the farmers bring their bulls to compete with others.
Trophies and cash prizes were presented by Syed Fakhre Jahan to the jubilant winners of the race amidst thundering cheer and applause from the assembled crowd.
