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Chaturanga (, , ) is an ancient Indian Strategy game board game. It is first known from India around the seventh century AD.
While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that chaturanga is the common ancestor of the board games chess, xiangqi (Chinese), janggi (Korean), shogi (Japanese), sittuyin (Burmese), makruk (Thai), makruk (Cambodian) and modern Indian chess. It was adopted as chatrang ( shatranj) in Sassanid Persia, which in turn was the form of chess brought to late-medieval Europe.
Not all the rules of chaturanga are known with certainty. Chess historians suppose that the game had rules similar to those of its successor, shatranj. In particular, there is uncertainty as to the moves of the gaja (elephant).
According to Stewart Culin, chaturanga was first described in the Hindu text Bhavishya Purana. The Bhavishya Purana is known to include modern additions and interpolations, however, even mentioning British rule of India.
An early reference to an ancient Indian board game is sometimes attributed to Subandhu in his Vasavadatta, dated between the 5th and 7th centuries AD:
The colours are not those of the two camps, but mean that the frogs have two colours, yellow and green.
Chaturanga may also have much older roots, dating back 5,000 years. Archeological remains from 2000 to 3000 BC have been found from the city of Lothal (of the Indus Valley Civilisation) of pieces on a board that resemble chess. Another argument that chaturanga is much older is the fact that the chariot is the most powerful piece on the board, although Ratha appear to have been obsolete in warfare for at least five or six centuries, superseded by Light cavalry and Heavy cavalry. The counterargument is that they remained prominent in literature and continued to be used for travel and transport, in processions, for games, and in races.
In Arabic, most of the terminology of chess is derived directly from chaturanga: Modern chess itself is called shatranj in Arabic, and the bishop is called the elephant. The Tamerlane chess was also introduced in Iran later.
The game was first introduced to the West in Thomas Hyde's De ludis orientalibus libri duo, published in 1694. Subsequently, translations of Sanskrit accounts of the game were published by Sir William Jones.
Etymology
Sanskrit is a bahuvrihi compound word, meaning "having four limbs or parts" and in epic poetry often meaning "army".Meri 2005: 148 The name comes from a battle formation mentioned in the Indian epic Mahabharata. Chaturanga refers to four divisions of an army, namely war elephant, , cavalry and infantry."The Indian case is that chess originated in the Indian subcontinent in or before the early seventh century AD, where it was known as chaturanga chaturanga or caturanga originally meant four elements or arms, and the term had been used in Sanskrit literature from an early date to describe the four parts of the Indian army: elephants, cavalry, chariots and foot soldiers. These were also the pieces, together with the rajah and mantrin or counsellor, which were used in the game of chaturanga which was thus a representation on the board of a conflict between Indian armies." An ancient battle formation, akshauhini, is like the setup of chaturanga.
History
Origin
The origin of chaturanga has been a puzzle for centuries. The earliest clear reference comes from north India from the Gupta Empire, dating from the sixth century AD. Banabhatta's Harsha Charitha (c. AD 625) contains the earliest reference to the name chaturanga:
Under this monarch ..., only the bees quarrelled to collect the dew; the only feet cut off were those of measurements, and only from Ashtâpada one could learn how to draw up a chaturanga, there was no cutting-off of the four limbs of condemned criminals...
The time of the rains played its game with frogs for pieces nayadyutair yellow and green in colour, as if mottled by lac, leapt up on the black field squares.
Spread outside India
While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that chaturanga is the common ancestor of the chess, xiangqi (Chinese), janggi (Korean), shogi (Japanese), sittuyin (Burmese), makruk (Thai), makruk (Cambodian) and modern Indian chess.Murray, H. J. R. (2025). 9780936317014, Benjamin Press (originally published by Oxford University Press). . ISBN 9780936317014
The game
Set-up
Chaturanga was played on an 8×8 uncheckered board, called ashtapada, which is also the name of a game. The board sometimes had special markings, the meaning of which are unknown today. These marks were not related to chaturanga, but were drawn on the board only by tradition. These special markings coincide with squares unreachable by any of the four gajas that start on the board due to movement rules. Chess historian H. J. R. Murray conjectured that the ashtāpada was also used for some old Race game dice game, perhaps similar to chowka bhara, in which the marks had meaning.
Rules
The initial position is as shown. White moves first. The objective in chaturanga is for one side (say 'white') to checkmate the opponent's raja (king) or to reduce the other side (say 'black') to just the raja ('bare king'), although if on the following move the black side can also reduce the white side to 'bare king', in which case the game is drawn.
Pieces and their moves
+ Chaturanga pieces raja (king) mantri (minister) or senapati (general) (Ferz; early form of queen) ratha or sakaṭa (chariot; rook) gaja or hastin (elephant; later called alfil; early form of bishop) ashva (horse; knight) infantry, bhata, or soldier (foot-soldier or infantry; pawn)
Additional rules
Al-Adli mentions two further rules:
See also
Bibliography
(2025). 9780786494279, McFarland. ISBN 9780786494279
Further reading
(1996). 9780192800497, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192800497
External links
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