 Chowgan in aPersian miniature fromTabriz,Iran of the 16th century (from Arifi's "Ball and club" manuscript)[1] | |
| Players | 6 |
|---|---|
| Playing time | 30 minutes |
| Chovqan, a traditional Karabakh horse-riding game in the Republic of Azerbaijan | |
|---|---|
| Country | Azerbaijan |
| Reference | 00905 |
| Region | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2013 (8th session) |
| List | Need of Urgent Safeguarding |
| Chogān, a horse-riding game accompanied by music and storytelling | |
|---|---|
| Country | Iran |
| Reference | 01282 |
| Region | Asia and the Pacific |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2017 (12th session) |
| List | Representative |
Chovgan,Chowgan orChogan (Persian:چوگان,romanized: čowgân,Azerbaijani:çövkən) is ateam sport with horses that originated in ancientIran (Persia).[2][3] It was considered an aristocratic game and held in a separate field, on specially trained horses. The game was widespread among the Asian peoples. It is played in Iran,Azerbaijan,[4]Tajikistan, andUzbekistan.[5] Chovgan is included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List as a "Karabakh horse-riding game" in the Republic of Azerbaijan.[6] In 2024, The International Chovgan Federation (ICF) was established in Baku.[7]
It considered that thepolo is the adopted version of chovgan.
Chovgan originated in ancientIran and was a Persian national sport played extensively by the nobility.[2][3] Women played Chovgan as well as men. Chovgan originated in the middle of the first millenniumA.D., as a team game. It was popular during the centuries in theMiddle East. Fragments of the game were periodically portrayed in ancient miniatures, and detailed descriptions and rules of the game were also given in the ancient manuscripts. Chogān is an Iranian traditional horse-riding game accompanied by music and storytelling. It has a history of over 2,000 years in Iran and has mostly been played in royal courts and urban fields.[8] Some authors give dates as early as the 5th century BC (or earlier)[9] to the 1st century AD[10] for its origin by the Persians. Certainly, the earliest records of polo are from thePersian.[11] During the period of theParthian Empire (247 BC - 224 AD), the sport enjoyed great patronage under the kings and noblemen. According toThe Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, polo (known asčowgān inMiddle Persian, i.e., chovgan), was a Persian ball game and an important pastime in the court of theSasanian Empire (224–651).[12] It was also part of royal education for the Sasanian ruling class.[12] EmperorShapur II learned to play polo when he was seven years old in 316 AD. Known as "chovgan," it is still played in the region today.[citation needed]
Englishmen had a significant role in the distribution and development of the game in Europe and around the world. Chovgan was later brought fromIndia to England in the 19th century it became more popular, and the addition of new rules favored the spread of this game in Europe and the United States. Namely, on the initiative of Englishmen, this game acquired its present name, "polo," and was included in the program of theOlympic Games held in 1900 inParis.[citation needed]
Chovgan, known as chowkan in theSasanian Empire (Middle Persian:čowkān),[13][14] was part of the royal education for the Sasanian ruling class.[12] The neighboringEastern Romans adopted chovgan from the Sasanians and called ittzykanion, which derives from the Middle Persian word.[12] During the reign ofTheodosius II, the Roman imperial court started playingtzykanion in thetzykanisterion (polo stadium).[12] By the time of theTang dynasty (618–907), records of polo were well-established in China.[11][15] According toThe Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, the popularity of polo in Tang China was "bolstered, no doubt, by the presence of the Sasanian court in exile".[12]
Polo was, at first, a training game for cavalry units, usually the king's guard or other elite troops.[16] In time polo became an Iranian national sport played generally by the nobility. Women as well as men played the game, as indicated by references to the queen and her ladies engaging KingKhosrow II Parviz and his courtiers in the 6th century AD.[17] CertainlyPersian literature and art give us the richest accounts of polo in antiquity.[citation needed]Ferdowsi, the famed Iranian poet-historian, gives several reports of royal chogan tournaments in his 9th-century epic,Shahnameh (the Book of Kings). In the earliest version, Ferdowsi romanticizes an international match betweenTuranian force and the followers ofSiyâvash, a legendary Iranian prince from the earliest centuries of the Empire; the poet is eloquent in his praise of Siyâvash's skills on the polo field. Ferdowsi also tells of EmperorShapur II of theSasanian dynasty of the 4th century, who learned to play polo when he was only seven years old.Naqsh-e Jahan Square inIsfahan is a polo field which was built by kingAbbas I in the 17th century.[citation needed]
SultanQutb al-Din Aibak, aTurkic military slave from present-day Northern Afghanistan who later became Sultan ofDelhi Sultanate for only four years, died accidentally in 1210 while playing polo. While he was playing a game of polo on horseback, his horse fell, and Aibak was impaled on the pommel of his saddle.[citation needed]
From Persia, polo spread to the Byzantines (who called ittzykanion), and after theMuslim conquests to theAyyubid andMameluke dynasties ofEgypt and theLevant, whose elites favored it above all other sports. Notablesultans such asSaladin andBaybars were known to play it and encourage it in their court.[19]
Later on Polo was passed from Persia to other parts of Asia, including theIndian subcontinent[20] and China, where it was trendy during theTang dynasty and frequently depicted in paintings and statues. Valuable for training cavalry, the game was played fromConstantinople to Japan by theMiddle Ages. It is known in the East as the Game of Kings.[17] The namepolo is said to have been derived from theTibetan word "pulu", meaning ball.[21]In 2017, Chogān in Islamic Republic of Iran was included in the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List.[8]
In Azerbaijan, chovqan (Azerbaijani:Çövkən) is considered a national sport.[22] Various antique prints and ceramics suggest that the sport has a long history there. For example, a vessel with fragment pictures of a chovgan game was found during archaeological excavations in the Oran-Gala area, suggesting indirectly that the game existed during the 11th century aroundBeylagan city. Mentions of the chovgan game also appear in “Khosrow and Shirin”, a poem by thePersian poet and thinkerNizami Ganjavi, and in pages of the Turkic epic “Kitabi Dede Korkut”.[citation needed]
One of the varieties of this game was broadly cultivated in Azerbaijan. Two teams strive to score a goal with special clubs. Rules in the modern edition of the game are the following: two goals with a width of 3 meters with semi-circled areas with a radius of 6 meters are fixed in enough big place. The game was held with a rubber or woven leather belt ball. Clubs can be different in form. In Azerbaijani, the clubs are reminiscent of ashepherd's crook.[5] There are six riders in each team, 4 of whom act as attackers and two as fullbacks. The latter can play only in their half of the area. Goals can be scored behind the borders of the penalty area. The duration of the game is 30 minutes in two periods.[5]
In 1979, a documentary called “Chovgan game”, shot by Azerbaijan's Jafar Jabbarly film studio recorded the sport's rules and historical development. However, overall the Soviet era saw a decline of the sport to near 'oblivion'[23] and the dislocations of the immediate post-Soviet period proved difficult for the breeding of horses. In recent years, however, the sport has rebounded somewhat. Since 2006, Azerbaijan has held a national tournament in December known as the President's Cup at theRepublican Equestrian Tourism Center,[24] at Dashyuz nearShaki. The first of these, held from December 22–25, 2006, pitted teams from eight cities of Azerbaijan – Shaki,Aghdam,Ağstafa,Balakən,Qakh,Gazakh,Oğuz, andZagatala with those from Aghstafa taking overall victory.[citation needed]
In 2013, chovqan was included in theUNESCOlist of Intangible Cultural Heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.[25]
The game originated in Persia, and was generally played on horseback (...)
It is since these origins in Persia that the game has often been associated with the rich and noble of society; the game was played by Kings, Princes and Queens in Persia.
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