Wrestlers, Pigeon Fanciers, and Kite Flyers: Traditional Sports and Pastimes in Lahore

Jürgen Wasim Frembgen is an Islamicist, anthropologist, writer, and Senior Curator (Hauptkonservator) of the Islamic Collection at the Munich State Museum of Ethnology. He is also Professor, of History of Religion and Culture of Islam at the Institute of Near and Middle Eastern Studies,University of Munich. Since 1981, he has taught Anthropology and Islamic Studies at different universities in Germany. In addition, he had been a visiting professor at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, National College of Arts, Lahore, as well as Ohio State University, USA. Since 1981, Frembgen has annually conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Pakistan (in the Punjab and Sindh as well as in the Karakoram and in Indus Kohistan). Paul Rollier has a PhD in Social Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London. He is currently a post-doctoral research associate in Social Anthropology at University College, London, working on a collaborative project on democratic culture and power in South Asia.

Preface ; Introduction ; Celebrating the Male Body: Traditional Muslim Wrestling ; The Everyday Pleasures of Flying Pigeons ; Duels in the Air: The Art of Kite Fighting