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Page 73

Afghan progress in the fourth year plan · pages 1–93


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Scanned page 73 of Afghan progress in the fourth year plan

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these games is called Buzkashi, a game of agility, wit and supreme horsemanship. Divided into two teams consisting of 50 to 2,000 riders, they endeavour to pick up the carcase of a calf from a fixed place, gallop with it a distance of one to five miles and throw it back near the original spot. Their tradition of hospitality is well-known. For a guest there is no end to their kindness. As one famous author puts it: "One could go to any Afghan home and be warmly received. He would get the best food the family had to offer. The house would be his home, though he were a total stranger. If there was only one room, it would be turned over to him..." Their national code of Pakhtanwali (Pashtanwali), based on righteousness, parallels the Islamic teaching of which they are devout followers. Many individual and tribal problems are solved in accordance with the unwritten rules of this code. They are a proud people, their pride born of their heritage of thousands of years. An Iranian writer has this to say of the Pakhtoon's national pride: "If you ask even a poor Afghan who is dressed in rags and is your paid servant who he is, he will answer with pride that he is a Pashtoon. From his expression and the tone of voice you can see that he is proud of being a Pashtoon. His firmness of voice and his dominating gestures make you feel that he is the master and you are his servant." Buzkashi—the game with hundreds of horsemen.

Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.


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Afghan progress in the fourth year plan, page 73. Afghanistan Digital Library, New York University Libraries. Machine-transcribed text: Afghan Press Archive, https://afghanpress.org/book/adl0980/73 (accessed [date]).
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