The Prince of the Pegs: Lance, Legend, Legacy

Malik Ata Muhammad Khan and the Art of Naiza Baazi

There is a moment in tent pegging — Naiza Baazi as it is known across the plains of Punjab — that captures everything worth knowing about the sport. A horse surges to a full gallop, somewhere between 65 and 70 miles per hour, and the rider leans from the saddle with a lance or sword outstretched, targeting a peg no wider than an inch buried in the earth. A single second of perfect coordination between man, beast, and instinct. It is ancient, it is breath-taking, and for much of the modern era, it survived in Pakistan largely because of one man — Malik Ata Muhammad Khan, popularly known as Prince Malik Ata.

Born on October 25, 1941, in Kot Fateh Khan in the Attock District of North Western Punjab, Malik Ata came from a lineage of feudal aristocracy — a grandson of Sir Sardar Muhammad Nawaz Khan Gheba, chief of the Gheba tribe. His bloodlines carried the weight of tradition, and from childhood, he carried it willingly — particularly in the saddle. Educated at the prestigious Aitchison College in Lahore, he grew into a figure who straddled two worlds: the polish of Pakistan’s elite institutions and the dust-and-thunder of open fields where horses and riders tested one another’s limits.

His competitive career announced itself on an international stage early. In 1982, Malik Ata represented Pakistan at the Ninth Asian Games in Delhi, winning the silver medal and signalling to the world that tent pegging was no mere village pastime — it was a discipline of the highest order. That same year, he took the Pakistan team to the Hyde Park Games in London. A year later, the BBC came looking for him, producing a documentary titled One Man and His Horse in 1983 — a portrait of a man inseparable from his sport and his soil.

But Malik Ata’s real legacy was not built in competition alone. It was built in the offices, arenas, and international meeting rooms where sporting futures are decided. He became the first elected President of the Equestrian and Tent Pegging Federation of Pakistan, using the platform to modernise the sport’s governance while fiercely protecting its roots. More significantly, he was a founding member of the International Tent Pegging Federation (ITTF), working to secure recognition from the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) — the apex body of world equestrian sport. He served as the ITTF’s Vice-President and, following the 2013 World Equestrian Tent Pegging Championship in Gurgaon, India, was elected honorary president of the newly established World Tent Pegging Federation.

His later years were marked by a particular determination to bring the world to Pakistan’s doorstep. In February 2013, he organised an international tent pegging competition at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad — the first time in history that more than two international teams had gathered on Pakistani soil for the sport. England, South Africa, and a United Nations team accepted his invitation, competing alongside the hosts in an event that said as much about diplomacy as it did about horsemanship. A year later, at the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, Malik Ata was given perhaps his proudest honour — leading the parade of nations with Pakistan’s flag held aloft, in front of the entire equestrian world.

Beyond sport, he was a man of rich public texture. He served as a member of the Punjab Provincial Assembly from 1990 to 1993. He appeared in ISPR’s beloved television drama Alpha Bravo Charlie and in the film Verna. Michael Palin, during the filming of the BBC series Himalaya, visited Malik Ata at his haveli in Kot Fateh Khan, and the scene that unfolded — bull races, tent pegging, a feudal lord entirely at home in his traditions — became one of the series’ most memorable passages.

Malik Ata Muhammad Khan passed away on February 6, 2020. He left behind a a global following, and a sport still very much alive — carried forward on the same galloping hooves he had devoted his life to.

“When the horse is running and you have to pick a one-inch peg from the ground — it is very spectacular.” Malik Ata Muhammad Khan

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