Nezabazi: tent-pegging
Riders at full gallop spear a small wooden peg out of the ground, to the dhol: the great horseback sport of Pakistani Punjab.
Nezabazi, from neza, a lance, began as cavalry training for attacking an enemy camp by pulling up its tent pegs. In the villages of Pakistani Punjab, especially the Potohar and the west, teams of riders in turbans charge one after another at the mela, and a clean strike that carries the peg away is met with a roar and the beat of the dhol.
The horses are the pride of their owners, and are often trained to dance as well.
More sport and games
The circle kabaddi of the Punjab's villages, now played in leagues from Jalandhar to Lahore, Toronto and Birmingham.
The mud-pit wrestling of the akharas, which produced the Great Gama and Dara Singh.
The game in which Punjabis from both sides of the border won Olympic gold for India and for Pakistan.
The 'rural Olympics' near Ludhiana: bullock-cart races, tractor stunts, horse dancing and tests of strength.
From Lahore's first Test players to Imran Khan's World Cup of 1992 and India against Pakistan at Mohali in 2011.