Directorate of Culture
Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Makha is the traditional game of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, played with a great joy mostly at district Swabi, Mardan and Buner, however the game is not always about losing or winning but the tradition of hospitality.The game is played with a long arrow (ghashay) and a long bow (leenda). The arrow has a saucer shaped metallic plate (tubray) at its distal end. The archers play in teams and attempt to hit a small white wooden target called takai surrounded by a circular ring called kwaara. The target is secured in fresh clay placed at some height a few meters away from the archer.

Langari is an ancient traditional game of District Swabi, People from Utman (Yousafzai tribe) used to playthis game mostly at evening, during winter, when men used to gather in Hujras. The game is inherited fromancestors.In 1980s it was a common game in all the hujras of district Swabi.

The game can be played in two different ways, one as a board game, where the players have toreach the goal, the player who used to reach the goal first was considered to be the winner, howeverone have to go back to square one "Start" when an opponent passes by you.

Another way of playing Langari was to set a Goal points target, the player who achieved the target points was considered to be the winner. The game was usually played for recreational purposes in hujras, it is said that out of four players /groups the loosing player / group would use to prepare sweet dishes like "Halwa" for the winner orwinning group at the end of the game. People from different villages of the district told different stories,but most of them remembered it till the end of 80s, however the game transformed into an existinggame played as Ludo in 1990s.

Mirghati is a traditional game played in KPK. This is a game for little girls. In this game round pebbles of stone which are five in number are taken and are played by four individual players turn by turn. One of the pebbles is tossed in the air and before coming to the ground the other pebbles is hastily collected in a hand and then the tossed pebble is caught with the same hand. If the catch is dropped, the turn ends. This game is played entirely by one hand. Now-a-day a tennis ball is also used in this game.

PittuGaram (Seven Stones) is a traditional South Asian game played between two teams. The game is also called Lagori in kannada. The game requires a tennis ball and set of seven stones which can be stacked up to form a small tower. The aim of the game is to be able to break the tower and then rebuild it before getting hit by one of the opponent. PittuGaram is a traditional game played in KPK. This is a game of young boys age 8 to 14. It is still exists in hilly and far-flung areas of KPK. It involves a ball and a pile of flat stones, generally played between two teams in a large outdoor area. Each team consists of 5 to 6 members as total of 8 to 12 players. A member of one team (the seekers) throws a soft ball at a pile of stones to knock them over. The seekers then try to restore the pile of stones while the opposing team (the hitters) throws the ball at them. If the ball touches a seeker, he is out and his team continues without him. But a team member can always safeguard himself by touching the opposite team member before the ball hits him.

This is a game usually played by little girls. It goes by various names, for example in Swat it is called Sindakh. Variations of it are found in different parts of the country and even abroad. In Britain, the game is known as hop scotch. It is played by two teams each consisting of three or four members. Chindroo is the name of a diagram, similar to a parallelogram or rectangle, which is drawn on the floor with chalk or marked out in the ground with a stone or stick. Within the shape there are some seven or eight columns drawn on the floor, usually with chalk powder or limestone. A round “striker” made of baked clay or some other material is thrown turn by turn into columns, and then pushed with the foot to the other column. If the striker lands on a line it is a foul, and the player’s turn comes to an end.

Patpatone is a game of hide and seek and is common all over the tribal area. It is also known in same areas as Laroo. Any number of boys can take part in it. One of the boys entrusted with the task of catching other boys, shuts his eyes for a while near a wall or tree. Meanwhile, other boys hide themselves in the surrounding area. The boy opens his eyes with a go ahead signaling the form of Laroo and starts searching for other boys. He, however, keeps a vigilant eye on the movement of his fellow boys who, in turn, try to touch the spot where the boy had shut his eyes earlier. Any boy seized before reaching the post assumes the duty of catching others while the first boy is relieved of his duty. Patpatoney is a traditional game played in KPK. Patpatoney, a game of hides and seeks, is common all over the tribal area. Any number of boys can take part in it. Obviously it is suited to small age children male or female. One of the boys entrusted with the task of catching other boys, shuts his eyes for a while near a wall or tree. Meanwhile, other boys hide themselves in the surrounding area. The boy opens his eyes with a go ahead signaling by saying (Razakoperazay nor ye su-la pataway) the form of Larroo and starts searching for other boys. He, however, keeps a vigilant eye on the movement of his fellow boys who, in turn, try to touch the spot where the boy had shut his eyes earlier. Any boy seized before reaching the post assumes the duty of catching others while the first boy is relieved of his duty.

The game of Biloori is very famous game of KP’s culture and tradition because it is played all over the province. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa it is played in two variations. The rules of both are mentioned below:

First Variation:

• First draw a circle about 2 feet wide, in the dirt or on a sidewalk.
• You keep one marble as the shooter; the others go in the circle. Sometimes the shooter is bigger.
• You shoot your marble from outside the circle into any of the marbles inside the ring.
• The marbles you’ve knocked out of the circle are yours.
• You take turns with the other player(s).
• Whoever has the most marbles wins!

Second Variation:

• All you need is a set of kanchey (marbles or small colored glass balls about 1 cm in diameter) and an open space.
• A shallow hole is dug in the ground and the objective of the game is to throw the marbles into the hole.
• Each player contributes two marbles.
• The first player holds the marbles in one hand and throws them together aiming at the hole.
• Some marbles may fall into the hole. The other children then choose a marble from those outside the hole and the first player is asked to hit the selected marble with another marble that belongs to him.
• If he succeeds, he wins all the marbles.
• If not, he gets those in the hole and the one with which he hit.
• The next player takes his turn with the remaining marbles.
• The player who ends with the largest number of marbles is the winner. “Winner keeps, loser weeps”.

How to aim?

Stretch back the forefinger of your left hand using the forefinger of the right hand and the thumb to grip the marble. Now pull the marble towards you and then push your left forefinger to release the marble with force in the desired direction. Remember, while pushing the marble, your left thumb should firmly touch the ground. Who plays first? To decide which child gets the first turn, two lines are drawn on the ground – one about half a foot and the other three feet away from the hole. The players stand at the second line and try to throw their marbles into the hole. The person whose marble is closest to the hole gets to play first. While the game of marbles was once ubiquitous and attracted widespread press to national tournaments, its popularity has dwindled in the television age. Nevertheless, the easy rules and no-equipment cost put this game on our list.

This game is played by the boys. First of all a hole is dug in the ground. Six players together play the game. Each player has a walnut with him. These are the playing nuts. The game is played with one hand and a middle finger of the other hand. Turn by turn each player retries to hit the walnut of the other player with the force of the middle finger. If he happens to hit the walnut of the other player, then he tries to fill the hole with his walnut with fingers. If he wins the gets already specified amount of walnuts. The loser gets out of the game and the game is continued till the last winner has won all the walnuts. Nowadays this game is played by marble balls or glass balls.

TopeyTopey game is popular game of tehsil puran of district shangla. This game is mostly play by children in grounds or the top floor of the houses. This game is played between two teams and each team consists of 4 to 6 players however there is no restriction on the number of players but not less than 3 players. Before starting the game each team draw a line where there team players will be stand. The cap is place in the center of circle which is made by chalk on the floor or by stone in the ground. One player from each team come to center and place one hand on each of their shoulder and try to touch the cap carefully. If the one player touch the cap and success to run to the where there other team members are stands without touching by opposite player then he get the point. If he touch y opposite player then the point should be consider to opposite team. The points are fixing before starting of game. The team which got 8 points first is considering being winner of game.

Kabaddi is tradional game of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Two teams compete, each occupying its own half of the court. They take turns sending a "raider" into the opposing team's half and earn points if the raider manages to touch opposing team members and return to the home half, all while taking only a single breath. If however the raider is tackled and prevented from returning, the opposing team earns the point.