While most of the world has been riveted to the latest war bulletins, rising costs of living or planned protests, a few young men and women have been training all year for horseback archery, building up their body strength for tug-of-war, training falcons and producing beautiful crafts, to participate in the World Nomad Games in the rugged mountain valleys of Kyrgyzstan.
Although this is the sixth World Nomad Games, the earlier games have not been on the sports radar the way the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the football World Cup or Wimbledon are. This year, thanks to the expanding reach of social media, “the spirit of people echoing across time” reached out to us from the scenic shores of Kyrgyzstan Lake Issyk Kul.
There are sports we never knew the names of, such as tenge ilu [grabbing coins on horseback], assyk atu [knucklebone shooting] and zhamby aatu [horseback archery], as well as some familiar games from bygone days, such as kok boru known to us as buzkashi. Participants dressed to reflect ancient cultures with an ease that made it difficult to visualise the jeans and T-shirts they probably wear the rest of the year. There were no specialist Nike, Adidas or Puma logos, no famous sports commentators, no third umpires.
The brainchild of Askhat Akibaev, a prominent Kyrgyz philanthropist, what started as an idea in 2008 became the first World Nomad Games in 2014, bringing together groups from across the globe, such as the Siberian League of Tradition Keepers, to celebrate ancestral heritage and create a global movement.
From the Kyrgyz steppe to Pakistan’s rural festivals, traditional games are emerging as a way for cultures to reclaim and celebrate their histories
Maria Cholbon, a celebrated Siberian shaman, sees the World Nomad Games as “a true breakthrough — not only in the world of sport, but in people’s consciousness.” While, like other sports, it involves skill, determination, and training, “there is no elitism. You simply step forward and show what you are capable of.”
When the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, the restoration of the Central Asian republics brought the steppe cultures of a past world back to life — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The cultural hold of European colonisers was more deeply embedded and is only just being critically assessed some 80 years on.
Games and sports can be seen as war where no lives are lost. It is fierce competition where the loser shakes the hand of the victor. Yet, games were also enlisted by colonisers to further cultural and political dominance, alongside the more overt impositions of language, administrative, legal and economic systems.
Games that dominate the world today, such as cricket, football, hockey, boxing, wrestling and athletics, follow European rules and regulations. Not only did these displace the value of traditional games, subjugated countries learned they could only assert themselves by excelling in these sports. The Indian film Lagaan describes this transition as a motley village team defeats a British Raj team at cricket to be spared three years of taxes. In the 1930s, the Mohammedan Sporting Club based in Kolkata became the first Indian-owned team — a cultural weapon to break the monopoly of British regimental teams.
Japanese and Chinese martial arts have established themselves internationally while maintaining their traditional rules. But the raw exuberance of the World Nomad Games has opened up a whole new space for cultural re-assertion.
The Traditional Sports and Games Pakistan Association was established in 2014 by our equivalent of Akibaev, Nawab Furqan Khan, to preserve and promote Pakistan’s traditional sports and games. Kushti [wrestling], naiza baazi [tent-pegging], gutti [lifting stone weights], bull racing, gilli danda [tip-cat], patang baazi [kite flying] and even kanchay [marble competitions], kept alive in villages, urban bastis [settlements] and rural festivals, are being highlighted once again.
The Horse and Cattle Show of the 1960s was a grand spectacle of traditional games, alongside a celebration of Pakistani livestock and agricultural produce. Tent-pegging has a new generation of enthusiasts, including women. Pakistani male and female contestants participated with honours in 23 disciplines at the 2026 World Nomad Games.
The message of the World Nomad Games, as expressed by Cholbon asserts, “It is possible to preserve your traditions while being part of the modern world. It is possible to show the world who you truly are without having to become someone else.”
Durriya Kazi is a Karachi-based artist.
She may be reached at
durriyakazi1918@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, EOS, September 27th, 2026
