Chovqan is a traditional horse-riding game played by two competing teams of players mounted on Karabakh horses on a flat, grassy field.
As a national sport in Azerbaijan, chovqan is considered to have a long history. An archaeological excavation of an ancient vessel suggests the sport has existed for at least a thousand years.
As an aristocratic game, it was held in different fields with specially trained horses. The game became very popular among the Asian people. It is played throughout Iran, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The game was later adopted in the Western World, today known as polo.
It originated in ancient Iran (Persia) as a game played with horses called Chowgan (Persian: cowgan, Azerbaijani: cövkan). An archaeological excavation in the Oran-Gala area yielded a vessel with fragments of pictures of a chovgan game, indicating that the game existed around Beylagan city during the 11th century.
There are five riders on each team, two fullbacks, and three forwards. They use wooden mallets to try to drive tiny leather or wooden balls into their opponents' goals. Instrumental folk music is known as janghi plays in the background. The game lasts 30 minutes and is divided into two periods. Traditionally, Karabakh horses are used as mounts for the game because of their agility and relatively calm temperament.
Chovqan is played by local male farmers and skilled riders. They traditionally wear big astrakhan hats, long pants with a high waist, socks, and shoes. It is a traditional game watched by people of all ages, and it is strongly rooted in nomadic culture. People of all ages love the horse, as it is part of the perception of the horse as an integral part of everyday life. New players are taught the specific rules, skills, and techniques of Chovqan through collective training.
Chovqan is no longer practiced or transmitted due to urbanization and migration. Due to this lack of players, trainers, and Karabakh horses, the practice and transmission have weakened.
However, in the last couple of years, the sport has slowly recovered. Azerbaijan holds a national competition in December known as the President's Cup, hosted by the Republican Equestrian Tourism Center in Dashyuz, near Shaki. The teams representing eight Azerbaijani cities participated in the first of these competitions, which took place from December 22 to 25, 2006. The winners were the teams from Aghstafa, which took the title after beating Qakh, Gazakh, and Oguz.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/chovqan-a-traditional-karabakh-horse-riding-game-in-the-republic-of-azerbaijan-00905) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chovgan#Chovgan_in_Azerbaijan)