Pixistan Games

Games of Gilgit-Baltistan

گلگت بلتستان

Gilgit-Baltistan is where freestyle polo lives. Played on long stone-walled grounds in Gilgit, Chilas, Skardu and the valleys between, it is a rougher and faster game than the international sport: no umpire, few stoppages, and a rule set maintained locally rather than by a federation. The Shandur ground, on the pass between Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral at roughly 3,700 metres, hosts the best-known annual tournament each July. Buzkashi is played in parts of the region in winter and spring. This page collects every game on this site with a documented presence in Gilgit-Baltistan and links to the individual entries, where equipment, ground, player counts and seasons are cited. Because the region's games are documented mainly through festival reporting and a small number of accounts, claims about origins are held to a source or left out. Where our own contributors have watched a match, that is recorded as a dated field note rather than folded into history.

More on this region in the Pixistan library.