Chaman-i-Houzouri (a.k.a. Jeshn Ground)

The Chaman-i-Houzouri lies at the foot of Tapa Maranjan. This open field was a golf course during the reign of Amir Habibullah (1901–1919). Today it is a favorite meeting ground, especially on Fridays and during holidays such as Jeshn-i-Jamhuriat (July 17–19), Republic Day. Occasionally spectacular competitions in tent-pegging are held here. Superb riders on gaily caparisoned horses gallop past, long lances lowered, and attempt to spear a series of small pegs planted in the ground. Once a practice sport for young warriors training to ride through a rival encampment and literally bring it down upon their enemy’s heads, it is now an exacting sport in which riders from the Ghazni-Katawaz area excel. Other sports events take place in Ghazi Stadium, next to the Chaman. The Jeshn exhibition buildings and the Kabul Nandari (Theater) stand in a ring around an artificial lake between the Chaman and Tapa Maranjan.