From ancient times to the present day
In the process of evolution, ancient man inevitably developed. And his physical strength, speed, reaction and, of course, health were of great importance. Only those possessing these qualities could pass through the sieve of natural selection.
To survive, man had to fight predators; he could avoid danger thanks to his strength, his fast run. Over time, people began to compare, test their physical and mental abilities.
Those who passed this kind of test won the right to become the head of a clan or tribe. This is how the need arose among people to test their physical qualities in the struggle.
With the development of society, the forms and methods of this struggle, tests changed, their various types began to appear. The origin of sport, which is one of the greatest achievements of human culture, is based on just such forms of wrestling.
Sport as a system of competitions in various sets of exercises and training has passed a long evolutionary path. Tests in various physical actions and labor skills, types of fights, which included wrestling, running, jumping, lifting weights, swimming, archery, rowing, fencing, javelin throwing, etc., can be considered the first sports.
There is no doubt that every nation had this kind of sports. It is impossible to determine exactly where and when the first event was first held in any of these events.
Judging by the data of archaeologists, the first competition was in wrestling. The earliest information about them dates back to the 27th-26th centuries. BC. In the dastan "Gilgamesh" (8th century BC) there is information about wrestling competitions with reference to the Sumerian monuments of the 3rd millennium BC.
Promotional video:
Since ancient times, wrestling has been a widespread traditional sport in Azerbaijan. In legends and fairy tales, in ancient literary sources, much is said about wrestling competitions. In the dastan "Kitabi Dede Gorgud", along with wrestling, other types of martial arts are described.
It is also noted that these fights were often aimed at just competition as such. The brave men in fairy tales and legends tested their strength on lions, bulls, fought with each other on sashes.
Time passed, the struggle developed, the attitude towards it changed, the rules for the conduct of fights changed. Subsequently, in Azerbaijan, wrestling competitions, this ancient sport, were held in special places called zorkhana.
The daredevils of the Oghuz people, including girls, were also skilled in horse riding, fencing, and shooting. Boys were not given names until they showed courage in battle, won the duel. The heroes of the dastan "Kitabi Dede Gorgud" Bamsy Beirek and Banuchichek, having only tested themselves in races, shooting and wrestling on sashes, give each other their hearts.
And it doesn't matter that the competition was held between a young man and a girl: Bamsy Beirek overtook the girl, shot her with an arrow, then knocked her to the ground, kissed her three times, once bit and, removing the ring from her finger, put it on her finger.
You can read about sports competitions mentioned in the legends of "Kitabi Dada Gorgud" in other sources. In the works of the Azerbaijani poet of the XI century. Khagani Shirvani speaks about “chovgan” - equestrian team game, horse riding, chess, fencing, etc.
The ancient Turkic-speaking peoples spent most of their lives on horseback. The Oguzes hunted on a horse, stored food, traded, went on campaigns … On a horse they were born, fought, ate and drank, and died. These people made history on horseback, created culture, had fun, and held various competitions.
Historians have written a lot about the fact that among the Huns, most sports were held on horses. Among the Turkic-speaking peoples, such sports as horse racing, wrestling on horseback, etc. were widespread. Sources indicate that later, the equestrian competitions loved by the Chinese were taken from the Turks and Mongols.
Chovgan team competitions were formed in the middle of the 1st millennium AD, and were popular for centuries in Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Persia, Turkey, Iraq and other neighboring countries.
Sources tell about the first in the history of international chovgan competitions among riders from the countries of Central Asia, held in one of the cultural centers of the Islamic world - Baghdad.
The long-standing popularity of chovgan competitions in Azerbaijan is actually confirmed. The image of this game on the dishes found during archaeological excavations in Orangala in the Beylagan region indisputably proves the fact of the spread of this game in the 9th century.
From the work of Nizami "Khosrov and Shirin" and the dastan "Kitabi Dede Gorgud" it becomes known that the history of the chovgan in Azerbaijan goes back to the 6th-7th centuries, and maybe even to more ancient times.
The factual proof that chovgan is an ancient Azerbaijani game is its repeated portrayal on Azerbaijani miniatures, information about the rules for its implementation, available in written sources of antiquity.
In the spread and development of the chovgan game, like other sports popular in the East, in more remote regions, the British play a large role. So, this game, introduced in the nineteenth century. from India to England, actively developed and spread in America and Europe already on the basis of new rules.
It was on the initiative of the British that this game called "polo" was first included in the program of the II Olympic Games held in Paris in 1900, and became entrenched in Western civilization under this name.
In the Middle Ages, Azerbaijan, distinguished in the Islamic world by its strength and greatness, was one of the advanced states in terms of cultural development and scientific potential.
In the country, along with such sciences as philosophy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, along with music, literature, and the visual arts, an intellectual sport, chess, was also widespread. In the chess palaces, chess was a favorite pastime.
There were many women among the chess players of Azerbaijan. The famous Azerbaijani poetess Mekhseti Ganjavi (12th century) also played chess well. Information that she was a skilled chess player is available in the works of her contemporaries. By the way, the recording of the chess games of Mekhseti Ganjavi has come down to our times.
Traditionally, the women's game of chess in Azerbaijan continued in later times. In the nineteenth century. Alexander Dumas, while in Azerbaijan, played chess with the daughter of the Karabakh Khan, the famous Azerbaijani poet Khurshudbanu Natavan, and was delighted with her wonderful game.
Thus, we can conclude that sport in Azerbaijan has an ancient history, and the sports were very diverse - from chovgan, horse racing, javelin throwing, various types of wrestling to chess. Since ancient times, the existing traditions of these games have survived to the present time, having been preserved in one form or another in various sports.
At the beginning of the twentieth century. the names of the Azerbaijani heroes Sali Suleiman and Rashid Yusifov were popular all over the world. In competitions held in the most significant cities in the world - Paris, London, Rome, Chicago, Washington, they demonstrated their skills.
Sali Suleiman was considered the most dangerous opponent of the heroes of the whole world. He was called "Dagestan lion", "Favorite of the East". He easily broke iron chains, tied an iron rod in a knot. To this day, legends about him are passed from mouth to mouth.
Rashid Yusifov did not lag behind him in terms of the successes demonstrated in the struggle. At the beginning of the twentieth century. Baku, rapidly developing as an oil city, has become one of the world's major industrial centers. In this regard, oil specialists and workers from different countries flocked here.
In order to have a good time, foreigners introduced sports that are well-known and beloved in their countries in Azerbaijan. As a result, swimming, athletics, weightlifting, gymnastics, football, etc. became popular in Baku in those years.
At the beginning of the twentieth century. football is gaining great popularity in Baku. In a short period of time, many football teams have been created: “The Circle of Balakhani Football Players”, “Stella”, “Friends of Sports”, “Sportsman”, “Congress”, “Unitas”, “Belaya”, “Centurion”, “Progress”, etc.
At first, due to the lack of associations, structures that would organize the competition, all this took place spontaneously, by agreement between the team captains. And the number of teams in the city grew rapidly.
And now football competitions have begun to take place at the interstate level. In 1912-1913. first in Tiflis, and then in Baku, meetings were organized between the football teams of Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Finally, in 1914, the Football Union was established in Azerbaijan. The Union took over the organization and conduct of official city championships and other competitions. Starting this year, it has become a tradition in the country to create organizations and societies in various sports.
Due to the fact that Azerbaijan was part of the Russian Empire, at the beginning of the century, work on the development of sports at the state level was not carried out here. At the state level, the development of sports began in the 1920s.
Since that time, and not only in Baku, but also in other districts and cities of the republic, work has been carried out to create clubs and sections in various sports, create a material and technical base for the population to engage in physical sports.
In 1920, at the republican combined-arms educational structures, the Council for Physical Culture was organized, which began to lead the development of sports in the country.
On the initiative of the Council, work on physical education was established in general education schools, in cultural and educational organizations, orphanages and workers' clubs and the first sports clubs were organized.
They studied gymnastics, football, athletics, basketball, fencing, weightlifting and other sports. During these years, the companies “Avtomotor”, “Vodnik”, “Rechnik” and a little later “Dynamo” were established in Azerbaijan. Since 1921, competitions in various sports have been held between cities.
Towards the end of 1922, the Azerbaijani trade unions were involved in physical culture and sports. They created sports societies under their auspices, provided special support in creating the material and technical base of republican sports. In 1923, the first sports newspaper "Girmizi idmanchi" ("Red Athlete") began to appear in Azerbaijan.
In the same year, a school for physical education teachers was opened in Baku, which trained teachers and specialists in various sports. This gave impetus to the development in the republic, along with traditional, and other sports.
If, for example, in 1920 there were two basketball societies in Azerbaijan, then in 1924 already 52 teams were organized, and two years later their number reached 300.
In the same years, boxing circles were organized at the Azerbaijan Institute of Oil and Chemistry and the Central House of Physical Culture. The country often held sports events and competitions in swimming, water polo and diving.
Today, special attention is paid to sports in Azerbaijan, a state with rich sports traditions. These traditions have a thousand-year history, a development path with ups and downs.
Today, Azerbaijani sport is heading towards conquering its highest peaks. The Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro proved this once again.
Based on materials from websites azerbaijan.az and ksam.org
O. BULANOVA