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Concept
Chaturanga
Summary
Chaturanga (चतुरङ्ग; ) is an ancient Indian strategy board game. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that it is the common ancestor of the board games chess, xiangqi (Chinese), janggi (Korean), shogi (Japanese), sittuyin (Burmese), makruk (Thai), ouk chatrang (Cambodian) and modern Indian chess.
Chaturanga is first known from India around the seventh century CE. It was adopted as chatrang (shatranj) in Sassanid Persia, which in turn was the form of chess brought to late-medieval Europe. 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. 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.
The exact rules of chaturanga are unknown. Chess historians suppose that the game had similar rules to those of its successor, shatranj. In particular, there is uncertainty as to the moves of the gaja (elephant).
The Sanskrit word chaturanga means "four-limbed" or "four arms", referring to ancient army divisions of infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry. The origin of chaturanga has been a puzzle for centuries. It has its origins in the Gupta Empire, with the earliest clear reference dating from the sixth century of the common era, and from north India. The first substantial argument that chaturanga is much older than this is the fact that the chariot is the most powerful piece on the board, although chariots appear to have been obsolete in warfare for at least five or six centuries. The counter-argument is that they remained prominent in literature.
Sanskrit is a bahuvrihi compound word, meaning "having four limbs or parts" and in epic poetry often meaning "army". The name comes from a battle formation mentioned in the Indian epic Mahabharata. Chaturanga refers to four divisions of an army, namely elephantry, chariotry, cavalry and infantry.
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