Noble Asher’s light

Pakistan is a diverse country. Our language, culture and history are all different, and nothing connects us except religion. However, one is shared. It’s a string that makes the people of Turbat come to Sindh or Punjab and share their collective love. It is a preservation of a game cock called Aseels, an Arabic word that was developed 2000 years ago, a common hobby in urban and rural Pakistan, all linguistically different regions with the same passion as all ethnic groups, and is a maintenance of a game cock called Aseels, an Arabic word that was fed to local chicken, developed 2000 years ago. Emperor Akbar is said to have fallen in love with Asher’s chickens. It is said that it influenced the breed standardization and the name Ashire.

The animals in the game have always brought a sense of adoration and respect from the human keeper. The qualities they exhibit are considered noble, whether it is a war horse, an extreme hunting dog, or a game cock. They are incredibly obedient, trusting their human companions, and not ashamed to be treated. They are happy in any environment. They never retreat from the main character of the battle. The only characteristic that separates them from the rest of the chicken, and even many game chicken, have developed elsewhere. In the old days, it influenced the Mughal emperors and had so much respect for them that they showed them that it was essential that their soldiers watch the fight of the cocks and showed them how courage was defined. These birds have a high pain threshold due to selective breeding over thousands of years. Retreating, running away, or screaming in pain will be disqualified. Such cocks will not breed any further.

This ancient variety has origins from the subcontinent, but Punjab is considered the real birthplace. Some local experts have suggested that there were no Asher birds in Pakistan at the time of the partition, and Pir Shah Alam Shah, who had moved from India to Mianwari, introduced the hobby to Pakistan with the birds. Ascribe the whole hobby to one person is probably not true as it is about Pakistanis and is enveloped in more myths than facts. These birds must have been here, but animal care was restricted to financially stable families and families during the pre-division era. Today, the same hobby is considered lower class activities and is associated with illiteracy. These stereotypes may be completely unfounded and untrue, but they do not mean that the hobby itself is low. What gives bad names is the death match, even illegal gambling and fighting.

Asher chickens have a rather game-like appearance with a tall, muscular body and unmistakable aggression. Both the rooster and the chicken show a game and never retreat. Even newborn chicks can instinctively start fighting and kill each other. There are two main categories where ASEELS is raised: open spur and closed heel games. As the name suggests, in the open spur game, birds fight spurs as they are, and in the closed heel game, spur glove is used. Asel, used in open spur games, can be lighter, smaller in size and faster. In the closed heel game, birds are bred for more weight and height as they cannot use spurs and must resort to powerful punches and powerful shanks. Mianwari is Pakistan’s open spur bird hub, and in the North Punjab and Sahiwar regions, Acerz fights closed heels and covered spurs.

The size and color of Aseels vary greatly depending on which line is grown and which line they belong to. They come in almost every colour. Dark red, bright red, black, spotted red, duck, pure white, spangle, golden, blue, gray. Usually people think of color as a marker for their breed, but that is not true at all, as the variety is not determined by color unless the line is specially bred.

These birds are found in abundance in Pakistan, but they are still facing extinction and are actually beginning to disappear from several states in India. The ultimate extinction of Asher is the result of breeding birds with game cocks imported from Thailand, Japan and Türkiye. In my opinion, this is a form of mating, as most of these imported birds can probably be genetically traced back to Pakistan and India.

This is not the only threat to Asir, as most breeders now just want to win the battle and don’t really care about the purity of the bird breeding line. Therefore, they breed birds fighting in illegal holes. Heavy gambling and bragging rights further strengthen the criminal elements associated with the fight of the cock. There are certain breeders who are actually trying to save this noble breed of cock and chicken, but I can count them on one hand. Compared to thousands of breeders in mating, this number is terrible. If this trend continues in the coming decades, we will not be able to find pure Pakistani Asher.

The stigma and bad image associated with this hobby can only be rebutted if more people with diverse backgrounds and good education accept it. The dignity and beauty of Aseel Birds is unparalleled. The qualities they possess are rare even in humans. Fighting them is abominable and needs to be blamed. We should encourage people to maintain them for decorative purposes, especially to save this variety from extinction.