Neza bazi in the UK: the lance, the gallop, the peg.
Neza bazi, or tent pegging, rode out of the villages of Punjab and Azad Kashmir and into Britain. Find every UK event, from Bradford to Birmingham to London.
Neza bazi events
Ali Shan Rupyal Neza Bazi Event
The Birmingham Championship 2026
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List your eventBorn in the cavalry. Kept alive in the village.
Neza bazi is the South Asian name for tent pegging: a rider at full gallop, lance lowered, striking a small wooden peg on the ground without breaking stride. Most equestrian authorities believe the sport began on the Indian subcontinent in the Middle Ages as a cavalry skill.
The armies moved on. The sport stayed. In Pakistan it became neza bazi, ridden at village melas to the beat of the dhol, by clubs in matching turbans and waistcoats on horses dressed for the occasion. Today it has a world governing body, a World Cup, and a growing home in Britain.
Read the full story of neza bazi →- Middle AgesA cavalry skill on the subcontinentHorsemen train to strike ground targets at the gallop with lance and sword.
- 19th centuryFrom the regiments to the melasCavalry regiments compete; in the villages the sport becomes a festival, with dhol, dress and decorated horses.
- 2013A world federationThe International Tent Pegging Federation forms, with Pakistan's Malik Ata Muhammad Khan among its founders.
- 2023Pakistan, World Cup runners-upSecond behind Saudi Arabia at the Tent Pegging World Cup.
- July 2026London's first neza baziTeams from Bradford, Birmingham and Manchester ride at Acton alongside riders who travelled from Pakistan.
- 26 July 2026Memorial Cup in BirminghamA free tent pegging show at Ward End Park, with riders from across the country competing for the Tent Pegging Memorial Cup.
From Mirpur to the Midlands
Many British Pakistani families trace their roots to Mirpur and the villages of Azad Kashmir and the Pothohar. The horses stayed behind; the love of the sport didn't. Now clubs in Bradford, Birmingham and Manchester are riding again.
In July 2026, a rugby ground in Acton hosted London's first neza bazi competition. Sikh neza bazi groups from London rode too, a tribute to a sport Punjab shares.
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