Kechipapag

A mounted team game: a goatskin ball has to be sent through a hoop hung from a tree.

Names among the peoples

About

Kechipapag is a mounted team game of the Terekeme of Karabakh. The ball is sewn of goatskin and stuffed with straw — hence the name, "goat papag". It is thrown on the ground; a rider leans out of the saddle, picks it up and passes it to a team-mate, and the team tries to send it through a hoop hung from a tree.

In its build the game is close to sur-papaq, where two parties of riders likewise throw a stuffed skin cap into a hoop. Kechipapag was recorded by collectors of the Folklore Institute of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences from Rafail Aliyev in the village of Shahsevan, Aghjabadi district; F. Bayat names it among the mounted games called "Terekeme" or "shepherds' games".

Rules in brief

Each team has five players. The hoop is one metre across and hangs from a tree; it used to be made of a hazel rod and is now made of wire. Cloth is hung at its sides so that it can be seen when the ball goes through.

The ball may be picked off the ground only by leaning from the saddle. It may be held for six seconds at most: within that time it has to be passed to a team-mate, or the player is penalised. A rider may not pick the ball up and carry it to the hoop alone — he must first give it to a team-mate.

Peoples

Research: Vasif Namazov, Turan Games Concept

Sources

  1. Qarabağ: folklor da bir tarixdir. II kitab (Bərdə və Ağcabədi rayonlarından toplanmış folklor örnəkləri). Bakı: Elm və təhsil, 2012, s. 171–172 («Tərəkəmə oyunları»)
  2. Füzuli Bayat. Şamandan səmazənə: oyun və oyunçu. Bakı: Elm və təhsil, 2017, s. 136
  3. İllüstrasiya: süni intellektlə hazırlanıb, Komitə təqdim edib