Holidays and special events - celebrated by the Pashtuns
The biggest holidays for Pashtuns are the Islamic Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The arrival of Sparlay, known as Nowruz, is also celebrated by some Pashtuns since the ancient times. Amongst some Pashtuns, Sheshbeeyeh, a prelude festival to Nawroz, is also celebrated. This tradition still survives, mainly amongst the southerners, in Bannu and Waziristan. During holidays, Pashtuns set up festivals in which they usually attend mosques to make special prayers, have cookouts in parks, and go to fairs.
Traditional Pashto music is mostly klasik ghazals, using rubab, sitar, tabla, portable harmonium, flute and several other musical instruments. Below is a list of the main known styles of Attan in Pakistan and Afghanistan. All of these may be practiced and mixed by Pashtuns in other valleys, and it's not uncommon to see Pashtuns of one province being better at a different region's style. اتڼ; ALA-LC Romanization: Ataṇ, also referred to as Atan or Attan, are the following:
Attan dance
In this dance, the dancers perform to the beat of the music. It is typically performed by men and women. It involves 2–5 steps, ending with a clap given while facing the center, after which the process is repeated. The hips and arms are put in a sequential movement including left and right tilts, with the wrists twisting in sequence. Ultimately a hand is projected outward and brought in a 'scoop-like' fashion towards the center where the other hand meets it for a clap. This dance is typically performed with the musician dictating the duration and speed.
Attan traditional dance
The Khattak dance is performed by the Khattak tribe, mainly in Pakistan but also in some eastern parts of Afghanistan.
This is a unique dance routine using rifles performed by the Mahsud tribe of Pashtuns in South Waziristan. Originally it was performed at times of war, but later became a cultural dance. The dancers dance empty handed and require only large drums. Nowadays it is performed with guns in the dancers' hands; loaded guns are taken in one hand, and to the beat of the drum the dancers move forward in a circle. After taking two and a half steps, each dancer turns about and cocks the gun. All the dancers do this in a uniform manner, and by completing the turning steps they fire in the air simultaneously. The sound of the guns seems to be a single big bang.
Waziri dance
, a region of Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, is a large area and has a particular Pashtun culture. Two drummers and a flute player play a particular tune. All the Wazirs stand around them. Two people leave the circle, go dancing towards the drummers, and come back dancing in the same manner. While performing, both people turn around twice, once facing each other, and once facing the opposite direction. After doing this separately, they march while dancing to the assembled crowd. As they reach the circle, another pair of performers move forward in the same fashion.
Clothing
Pashtun men usually wear a Partūg-Kamees in Pashto. In the Kandahar region young men usually wear different type of hat similar to a topi and in the Peshawar region they wear white kufis instead. Leaders or tribal chiefs sometimes wear a karakul hat. The Pashtun Lūngai is the most worn headpiece in Afghanistan, with different tribes having different styles and colours to indicate what tribe or region they come from. Women and girls wear traditional long dresses and cover their hair with a light piece of cloth.
Cuisine
Pashtun cuisine varies among districts in Afghanistan. Pashtuns are known for their large varieties of dried fruit and yogurt based dishes. Yogurt called maste is usually made by the Pashtuns themselves in their own homes. The national dish of Afghanistan is "Qabili Pilav" and is served in the Pashtun areas of Pakistan as well. Shna kawa or Tora kawa are served with dried fruits.
Sport
Cricket
Football
Buzkashi and polo
Some Pashtuns in Central Asia participate in buzkashi, which is a sport introduced in the region during the Mongol period from the 13th century onward. The word buz means "goat" and kashi means "dragging" or "pulling" in the Persian language. The basic objective is to carry the headless carcass of a calf or goat around a flag and back to the starting point while on horseback with other riders trying to do the same thing by taking the carcass away. This is not a team sport, it is every man for himself, which becomes apparent as soon as the game starts. It is played on a large open dusty field which does not appear to have many boundaries. The game is a microcosm of power politics in Afghanistan. Although buskashi is primarily an individual sport, alliances are built up between various players. Between the alliances, the strongest players finally take control and ride off to victory.
