Sqay: Reviving an ancient Kashmiri Warfare Art Form

By Farooq Wani

Known for its unmatchable natural beauty and gracious people, Kashmir is rightly called as Paradise on earth. It is also a hub of several indigenous skills, one being Sqay Martial Art. The history of Sqay can be traced in early days of Kashmir history and finds its origins in mythology. As per local folklore, its origin goes back several thousand years ago, as far back as the Kashmiri flood myth.

It is believed that the Shaivite snake-worshipping Naga people created this martial art prior to the Indo-Aryan invasions, and that it was later patronized by Kings. The first written evidence of Sqay or sabre-fighting in Kashmir finds mention in the writings dating back to the Muslim period, and the word Sqay means “Knowledge of War” in Persian.    

Before 4012 BC, Sqay skills were used by Kashmiris for self-protection as well as for hunting animals for food. But after 3905 BC, King Diya Dev trained his soldiers in this art to defend Kashmir against invaders and gave strict orders on its implementation to soldiers. In 3889 BC, a storm known as Tophani Nuh A.S had destroyed the whole nation including Kashmir. The few who survived this calamity took refuge in the Kohistan forests of Kashmir and used this art, both individually and collectively, for protection and hunting animals for food. After the storm subsided, Kashmir was rebuilt in the period of Kashap Reshi and saw the emergence of a democratic society.

King Puran Karan of Kashmir reintroduced compulsory training of Sqay Martial Art for his soldiers. Kashmir saw many wars and Kashmiri soldiers used their Sqay skills to defend the kingdom of Kashmir. In 3121 BC, when King Oukhand was the king, some parts of Kashmir were destroyed in a big war, but luckily, Kashmir remained safe from invaders up to 1324 A.D.

During the period from 1325 AD to 1819 AD, Sqay Martial art training remained compulsory for Kashmiri soldiers. Those days martial art was known locally by Kashmiris as ‘Shamsherizen’ which was displayed on certain festive occasions like marriage functions and fairs. After the 1819 AD, due to neglect and apathy, the ancient traditional war art of Kashmir was not patronized and this led to this age old art of defence from Kashmir.

Luckily, Nazir Ahmad Mir reintroduced Sqay more than three decades ago and has presented it in a modern avatar. He has worked very hard and tirelessly from a very early age to develop and promote this ancient traditional cultural martial art by modifying its techniques and conducting demonstrations and competitions of this unique art form in the international arena to enhance its popularity across the globe.

Ahmed’s commendable efforts and perseverance have paid off and he has won many National and International awards not only in Sqay but also in many other martial arts. Today, Sqay is included in All India Police Sports Control Board Calendar and his dedication was suitably rewarded when Maharashtra adopted the sport after a demonstration organised by him and his efforts to introduce Sqay to the world too has borne fruit.

While Thailand was the first country to accept Sqay, by 2006, around 20 countries accepted this sport after a demonstration given by Grandmaster Nazir Ahmed in Bangladesh. Presently Sqay has become a sporting event in more than 62 countries including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Cyprus, Russia, Azerbaijan and Sri Lanka.

Invigorated by the success of his Sqay promotion campaign, Ahmed started coaching youngsters in different styles of martial arts which were mastered by him. It was his interest in martial arts that fired Ahmed’s curiosity to trace Kashmir’s indigenous martial art and he painstakingly studied numerous ancient texts and chronicles before coming across Sqay which is an indigenous war art form of ancient Kashmir.

The language used in this attack and defence game is Kashmiri, commands like, play; come, stop as well as counting of points are all in Kashmiri with its translation available to non-locals.  Sqay employs weapons such as single sword, double sword, free hand and shields. “Tura”, the Sqay sword, is made of bamboo with a leather cover. Bargula, the shield is made of leather.

Sqay has two variants- one, combat event, or Loba (fighting) and, two, an Artistic event. The latter again has two variants, one without music (khawanky) and the other with music (Aerosqay). Sqay Martial Art is included in the upcoming 37th National Games scheduled to be held in Goa, which is a great honour for all the people of Kashmir.

The inclusion of the martial art discipline of Sqay in the national games is big news for both the martial art and sports fraternity of J&K. With its inclusion of this discipline, the medal tally and position of J&K in the National Games is surely going to witness a dramatic increase and this will provide additional motivation to athletes for working hard to enhance their performance.

The author is Editor Brighter Kashmir, author, TV commentator, political analyst and columnist.

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