The equestrianism training in the ancient Turkish life used to begin from the early
ages of the childhood and as the time passed the children became almost a part of the
horse with an intensive training on the back of the horse. Following the equestrianism
training and exercises on sheep or goats plus acquiring bow stretching skill, the Hun
children went out hunting to improve their skills of targeting with arrow
1. Even it has
been noted that the Turks trained their children for the equestrianism beginning from the
very early ages. They used to train the child at the cradle by putting a piece of wood
between their legs, following the child’s crawling on all fours by letting the him ride the
animals such as sheep or dog or exercising on the horse model made of woods
2.
These trainings, started from the early ages, prove that the Turks performed
equestrianism and archery in a planned way and by strictly following a program at the
period of teenage and maturity
1. All these phases of preparation caused Turkish
children to grow within an atmosphere of equestrianism culture and became master
riders. These skills in equestrianism were transformed into the mastership by games
and sportive competitions played with horse
3.
This study was carried out to put forth and analyze the equestrianism activities that
have a noteworthy place in the Turkish folklore as well as to state the reasons of
creating such a culture, the application methods, its functions within the society and the
changes in these functions through the history and to determine the contributions of the
Turkish culture to the current application methods of the horse related games.
When considered in a systematic way, it is possible to classify the equestrianism
activities during the Turkish history under three categories. These categories are
indicated below:
1. Skill shows on horse: Standing on a galloping
horse, sitting and then standing on a horse, slipping
towards the abdomen of the horse, bending and taking
anything on the ground while still riding the horse, rider’s
taking off and dressing his clothes on horse, taking off
and putting back the saddle on horse and shooting
arrows to the targets on the front and back on a galloping
horse.
2. Horse races: Generally long distance horse races.
3. Games played on horse: Çöven (polo), cirit
(jeered), gökbörü, kızbörü, beyge (babiga), kolbörü and
kızkovar-bike.
Although there are lots of games in the Turkish
history and they all can be mentioned under these three
categories, we will first of all and mainly discuss the
games played with horse based on a sportive form and
competition in this study. To this end, we will analyze the
horse race, çöven, gökbörü and cirit games respectively,
and then, we will make a general evaluation of the all the
games related with horse.
Horse races
The first examples of the horse races were observed
during the religious ceremonies. The meetings by the
Hun Turks (Hsiung-nu) held at a place called tai-lin were
the first meetings where the horse races were organised.
Sacrifices were given to the Gods and a census for the
people and animals were conducted during this meeting
and other similar meetings. The most important part of
the ceremony was circling around a forest for three times
by the horse –in case there was no forest, around a
model of forest made by willow branches on the ground.
The Göktürks applied a similar ceremony at the funeral
service. During these ceremonies, they were riding their
horses for seven times around the tent where the corpse
of the deceased was at rest. The purpose of the horse
race was usually to express their gratitude to the God.
The horse races held only at this mentioned religious
ceremonies at the beginning, were performed later at the
activities such as fest, wedding ceremonies, bazaar and
fairs, preparations of war, mourning ceremonies and
other celebrations and rites held owing to the various
reasons by gaining a sportive meaning. The horse races
were one of the most significant activities performed at
these ceremonies besides the music and dance4,5.
It has been observed that there were two different
ways of competition in the Turkish history. One of them
was the competition with an aim of “winning”. Such kinds
of competitions were the essential motives of the
wedding ceremonies, and feasts. The second
competition was the competition performed with the aim
of “fighting”. When two armies came face to face to make
a war, a bilateral agreement was approved. Mostly two
wrestlers or warriors from both sides step forward and a
representative “savaş güreşi” (war wrestling) is arranged.
The winning wrestler also winned the battle for his army;
the winning side also deserved the victory6. The horse
races that the participants were from various countries
and which were held for different purposes were fairly important for the Turkish people. Because the horse
winning a degree in a race meant the glory of the nation
or a matter of honour of the clan, and therefore the
award was of secondary importance. Usually big fights
were experienced at the end of the horse races and even
sometimes it was a reason to declare a war7.
One of the most ancient sources defining the horse
races in the terms of the sportive competition is
Tonyukuk (725 AC) inscription of the ancient Turks. The
expressions in these epitaphs such as “Let’s meet at the
race plain…” or “A hundred thousand soldiers were met
at the plain where the race will take place”)8 give clues
about the facts that the horse races were held at the
early eighth century and the plains in question were
named after these horse races.
The horse races kept their importance during the
times of Seljuk and Ottoman Empire. The races were
held especially on Fridays at the religious festivals as
well as the wedding ceremonies, feasts and appropriate
days of the spring and autumn and it was one of the
most ancient traditions of the Turks. There was a
racecourse in the surroundings of almost every Turkish
city9. Organizing a horse race at the wedding
ceremonies and the feasts plus in the honour of the
ambassadors became one of the established customs
during the Ottoman times10.
The first records ever found regarding the horse
races during the Ottoman times goes back to the period
of the Sultan (King) Orhan Bey (1324-1362 AC). The first
work of Orhan Bey following his invasion of Bursa was to
assign and make over a charitable foundation in the area
located between the centres currently called Balıklı
Village and Atıcılar Square, as racecourse. The people of
Bursa used to celebrate their feasts here by organizing
races and playing games with horses. This area is
accepted as the first playing field (for sport events) built
by the Ottomans. The Turks had also built racecourses in
Edirne, İstanbul, Kütahya, Manisa, Karaman and
Amasya other than Bursa2,11.
Horse races, where a kind of strong steppe horse
was used, were more like a field race performed in long
distances from 10-14 km to 100 km3. It has been
noted that the horse races mentioned in the Epic of
Manas was held for much longer distances and
continued for approximately eight days. “…After the
horses had gone, each division ate their meals coming
back to their places and started wait the return of the
racehorses. The horses would come after eight days
later …”7. Later on, the races gained a form based on
competition thus a rope was pulled at the finish line and
the horse that passed the finish line firstly was deemed
as the winner of the race.
In order to increase the number of the people
participating in the race, announcements were made in a
vast area. The cazgırs (person who announces the
wrestlers and recites a prayer before a greased wrestling
match) were hired to announce the characteristics of the
horses and the players; and cavalrymen with bayonets were ready to ensure the race be applied by the rules7.
The horses to be used at the race went under the
training in the fields assigned especially for this purpose.
These horses were cross breeding of mating the wild
stallion and domesticated mare. They were called arkun12. It has been noted that the horses were the horse
having maximum amount of first degree in the race.
Although the games were emerged as a religious
activity, gaining a systematic order by the time, turning
into a regular training process, gaining an award-based
structure, assuring the security by the rules through
judges with bayonets and marking the finish line by
pulling a rope are the evidences proving that the horse
races were transformed into sportive events based on
the competition within the historical circumstances.
However much the researchers set forth the idea that
these sportive events in the Turkish history were not
organised to “improve the race” such as the events of the
present time13, we can say that breeding activities and
studies on the improvement for the horse race had the
purpose of “improvement of the race”. In addition to
these, inviting every single person to the ceremonies
including the horse without making any discrimination
shows the importance attributed to the horse related
sports by the authorities. This approach had helped to
spread such sportive activities to each class composing
the society from the lowest class to the highest. It is a
well-known fact that the Turks are talented riders, the
fundamental reason lies beneath such a fact is the
support for the sportive activities by the whole society
from the lowest class to the highest14.
Çöven (Çöğen, Çevgan, Çevgen or Polo)
Çöven is a ball game played on horse. It spread over
different regions around the world from Asia and it was
the game mostly seen in the history of the many Asian
societies. There is no certain evidence proving which
nation discovered the game first. According to Ülkütaşır15, the exact time of the games leave the Middle Asia
and spread over India goes back to the times of Babur-
Shah. On the other hand, although it has been claimed
that the Chinese was playing the game since the early
times and that it passed to China from Iran, Eberhard4
emphasizes the probability that the Chinese learnt çöven
from the Middle Asian Turks. According to the author,
çöven was seen as a game of ball. When taking into
consideration of the dimensions of the role played by the
Turkish culture in the formation of the Chinese Culture16,17, we can say that the opinion supporting çöven’s
being taken to the Chinese by the Turks is getting
stronger.
According to the argument accepted in the Turkish
resources, it is a game formed by the hunting culture18. Likewise the other games in the Turkish history
such as gökbörü and cirit, it was a game with intent to
prepare the drive hunt organised for the military
purposes and the game was also played with an intention to avoid the performance loss and it became a
body culture by the time19,20.
Although there is no note in the great work by
Mahmud of Kashgar, regarding the format of the game
played with horse, he mentioned a game called cevgan
in the explanations of some words and noted that the
game had a Turkish origin. However, frequent repeat of
the word cevgan may not only prove the prevalence of
the game in the Turkish world of the 11th century but also
non-mentioning of the game format “played with horse”
makes us to consider the possibility that this game was
an another game played among the Turks without horse21.
Çöven played by the Turks at earlier times, was later
adopted by the Iranians who were settled on the road of
the caravan and it was named çevkân; it was turned into
much more professional form by the Iranians who had
modern standards of the said era. The game did not
remain just as a sportive activity in the new geographies
it was adopted; it became a subject of the art and
literature at the same time. Thus the game was an
opportunity to create unique examples of miniatures and
epic poems. Its’ way of playing and the required
materials such as ball and stick became common themes
addressed in the literature and philosophy3.
It has been observed that two different forms of
çöven were played in the Turkish history. These were
tokmak polosu (polo of mallet) and kaşık polosu (polo of
spoon). These names were derived from the shape of
the sticks used in the game. Tokmak polosu was a
tagging and ball handling game, the kaşık polosu was a
skill and balance game. But there were two teams who
competed with each other in both of the games19.
The game was played by a ball covered with leather
having a diameter of 10-15 cm made of maple or willow,
and it was called gûy. The ball was handled by a stick
with a bent end called çevken or çöven, the aim of the
game was to pass the goal line of the opposing team or
to hit a definite target by the ball. The game depended on
the principle to take the maximum scores. Hence çöven
required a quite well skills and excellent equestrian
training and it was played by two groups of four and six
persons in a vast square15. However, sometimes the
number of the riders was changeable between 4 and 20,
and there were also times the number of the players was
not limited. At the latter, the essential thing was the
equality in the number of the players. The game was
played in two sets of approximately half an hour (twenty
four minutes per each) per each, sometimes it took
almost two hours. And it was generally played during the
late hours of the day close to the sunset. There were
goal posts on the both sides of the playing field made of
stones or javelins stuck into the ground. When the ball
passed the goal post and the player hitting the ball
dismounted from his horse and held the ball up, the goal
was achieved. All kinds of hits to the ball were free.
However, these hits should be made on the course of the
ride and before the ball touched the ground. If the ball
over passed the goal line, it was not a record for the score. The game was started by one of the players’
throwing the ball upward and his hitting the ball before it
fell on the ground in the midfield. The women might
sometimes participate in the games. Colliding into the
horse of the opposing team member, blocking the way of
the rival and hitting the rival or his horse with the stick
were among the prohibited actions during the game22.
The horses to be used in çöven should be trained
specially. The horses were given a special training
regarding the movements and acts such as capability to
make short turns, making a sudden halt, having the skill
to get free of the rivals with swift movements, abrupt
accelerating, not getting shy against the noise and
sudden movements23.
A smooth field was enough to play the game. On the
other hand, well-kept and orderly çöven fields were
constructed by the time; in these fields there were
separate places for the kings and the princes. It was
important to clean the stones and the foreign grasses in
the field. A coating preserved the playing field during
rainy weathers. There were games quite simple and
there were games where the kings were participated.
These games were played in the fields with colourful
decorations and accompanying music as a feast.
Although it was played generally toward the evening
hours, after the game became rather widespread, there
were night matches that were played in illuminated fields19. It became a fairly popular game between the elite
society and highest level of administrators in both
Turkish and Iranian people. Accordingly, the kings,
princes, administrators and ambassadors had to be
skilful çöven players. As a natural result of this, there
were also games organised specially for the training of
princes. Due to all these reasons, the çöven was called
the ‘play of the kings’14.
So, the games institutionalization by the state support
where all people used to participate from all ages in the
early years24, taking the pulse of all classes and great
deal of interests, seems quite natural. Moreover, çöven
having a purpose to avoid the performance loss in the
first place gained the purposes to give physical training
for war and to display the skills regarding the horse–
human relation with time. And all these things assured
the game to institutionalize thus it became a cultural and
ethnological product.
Gökbörü
Gökbörü was one of the ancient and national games
of the Turks. It was related with the Bozkurt (gray wolf)
respected as totem. While it was a religious ceremony or
a rite in the times of the totemic belief, then it became a
horse related sport following the foundation of the large
empires. Currently the game is still played in Tajikistan,
where it is called buzkashi, Uzbekistan (ulak or kupkari),
Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, some areas of Kazakhstan
(kopkar tartu), Kirgizia, and in some parts of Afghanistan
where Uzbeks live14,15.
The game was played by almost every Turkish clans
and called with different words such as gökböri, kökbörü, kökpâri, oğlak/ulak, kökbar/kökpar, posteki, öndül
kapmaca, buz-kaşi in the geographic regions where the
Turks were settled6. The games such as kızbörü,
beyge (babiga), kolbörü and kızkovar-bike that are still
being played among the Turkish communities are all
derived from gökbörü. However, they do not have any
sportive characteristics.
The game depends on the struggle to take a
weighted young goat or any animal that is beheaded and
whose legs are cut and then filled with straw or sand (30-
50 kg), to the circle which is drawn in the middle of the
playing field. It is performed by one of the riders without
being caught and having his hunt snatched by the other
riders25.
Gökbörü was a game especially played during spring
times. Everybody used to prepare and train his horse for
gökbörü before the springtime. The day when the games
began would be announced everywhere. Everybody
gathered together in the field where the game would take
place, wanting to join the competition26. Generally it
was played with 20 or 40 riders; there were games where
hundreds of riders participated. There were games that
everybody competed alone; there were also games
where two teams were opposed to each other. A game
(gökbörü) endured hours even days according to the
number of the players3.
A rather large circle was drawn in the middle of the
field, called halhal (anklet) or adalet çemberi (justice
circle). The players were lined up around this circle. The
young goat was taken to the highest point of the field by
the judges. When the signal was given, the judges threw
the young goat towards the players. The purpose of the
riders leaving their place at the same time was to snatch
the animal as fast as they could25,26. The early catch
of the young goat was closely related with the power of
the horse. As a matter of fact, because it was a hard
game, the tall horses with broad chest were preferred.
However, the sole power of the horse was not enough.
The riders also should be strong physically and they
should be able to think practically. After the young goat
was gripped more than one player and pulled at both
ends for a while, it remained in the hands of the
strongest or most technical player. The player, who had
the young goat, used to place it on the saddle and
tighten his legs to hold the goat, because the reins ere in
his left hand, while the whip was in his right hand. This
holding and gripping process was accepted as the most
significant point for the gökbörü. Despite standing on the
horse in this situation was too hard to do, the purpose of
the rider was to reach the place swiftly where the circle
(in some regions where the sign port is) was, without any
unfortunate incident14. The player who managed to
take a stroll around the restricted area in spite of the
pulling, squeezing and pushing of the other players,
threw the goat in the middle of the circle. Then the next
struggle began from the all over again by another
player’s snatching the goat and his heading towards the
vast field. The player getting the highest score was
considered as the winner of the game25. The young goat or the animal used for the game even though it was
roughed up fairly would be the lavish meal of a main
feast at the end of the game27.
Gökbörü, even though derived from a religious origin,
subsequently gained a military characteristics and/or it
was applied for avoiding the performance loss and
training the body physically. Taking into consideration the
form based on the rules as a result of the evolution
throughout its history to date and looking back from this
standing point, we can say that gökbörü may be
accepted as a sportive activity within the present terms.
Cirit1 (Jeered)
Cirit is one of the most popular and preserved horse
related sports, which is still being played today, in the
Turkish history. It has been considered that cirit had a
religious origin as the other horse related games and
varied and developed by the hunting and fighting culture.
It has been noted that the Middle Asia Turks28. Within
a general term, cirit was adopted and reflected to the
other geographies mostly during the times of Anatolian
Seljuks. At this time, special fields were assigned for the
game. Cirit was not a game just played among the
people; the Sultans and other state authorities also
played it and it became a sportive activity where the
Sultans and state authorities took place. Hence it has
been noted that Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin
Keykubad I (1220-1237 AC) liked playing the cirit game
in person10.
Cirit has been a game mostly accepted especially in
the Ottoman times. Playing cirit on every Friday in the
public squares and in places where the armies spending
their nights became a tradition10. Since the times of
the Sultan Orhan Bey (1324-1362 AC), cirit has been the
most supported activity by the Ottoman Dynasty.
Ottoman sultans, viziers and state authorities
encouraged the people to play cirit in every opportunity
and they participated in the games in person29. For it
was played frequently at the Ottoman period, cirit was
called harhari. The games in the palace mostly had a
military purpose and played by the riders called cundi10.
Cirit was produced to develop the skills of using
javelin as a fighting instrument; but as the time passed it
became a traditional sport29. This game has purposes
to boost the morale, to improve the equestrianism skills,
to take courage, to improve the fighting and sporting
qualifications and to give well trained and sharp skills14.
The game depends on the essential of the throwing
the javelin to and hitting the moving target (rival) or
escaping from the javelin thrown by the opposing party.
The game has been played between the two different
groups having equal number of players since its early
applications. It was generally played by two teams composing four or twelve persons. The team including 4
or 5 persons was called bölük (company) and the team
including 6 or 8 persons was called alay (regiment). As
the names, which were used to define the teams were
derived from military terms, it is plausible to suggest that
the game was played from the very first time as a
preparation of war. Today cirit is played with teams
composing seven persons per each according to the
standardized rules within the frame of the Directive for
Competition of Equestrian Jeered issued by the Turkish
Traditional Sports Federation30.
The Ottoman Sultans gave the order to construct a
field in order to play cirit inside or within the periphery of
the palace. Because the cirit fields in the palace and
castles used to change according to the geographical
structure or the place of the fields to be used within the
palace or castles, no standardization was brought for the
sizes of the fields10. Today the cirit playing fields
consist of rectangular fields with the width of 30-40 meter
and the length of 90-140 meter. The game composes
two different midfields restricted by the drawings as in a
football field; the midfield is also divided within itself
according to the rules of the game30.
There are positions causing the gain and loss of
score. Positions resulting in the score gains: A
successful hit of the player from the opposing team,
catching the javelin thrown by the opposing team
member in the air, catching and forgiving the opposing
team member, renouncing the score in the positions that
can be very dangerous. The positions resulted in the
score loss: Catching but not forgiving the opposing team
member, colliding his horse to the horse of the opposing
team member, demounting the horse, entering into the
borders of the opposing regiment, passing the side line.
The regiment taking the maximum score is considered as
the winner of the game14,29,30.
Cirit having an important place in the Turkish history
as an application performed during the religious
ceremonies, a training of war, a training of
encouragement and a sportive activity has come to the
scene as a social necessity taking into consideration its
functions in the society. Awarding the attempts in
compliance with the fair play together with additional
points, punishing the behaviours against the fair play with
negative points, encouraging and/or awarding the merits
such as honesty, bravery, courage and forgiving
capacity, are all significant to show the social
responsibility attributed to this game. Within this frame,
we can claim that cirit and all horse related sports
mentioned here and observed in the Turkish societies
through the history first of all have gained a qualification
of a training institution that contribute to the
establishment of the morale values.
