Chaturanga, catur, is an ancient Indian strategy game which is the common
ancestor of the board games chess, shogi, makruk, xiangqi and janggi.
Chaturanga developed in the Gupta Empire, India around the 6th century AD.
In the 7th century, it was adopted as shatranj in Sassanid Persia, which in
turn was the form of chess brought to late-medieval Europe.
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, the precursor of the modern
chess bishop. History
Sanskrit caturaṅga is a bahuvrihi compound, meaning "having four limbs or
parts" and in epic poetry often means "army". The name comes from a battle
formation mentioned in the Indian epic Mahabharata, referring to four divisions
of an army, namely elephants, chariots, cavalry and infantry. An ancient battle
formation, Akshauhini, is like the setup of chaturanga.
Chaturanga was played on an 8×8 uncheckered board, called Ashtāpada. The
board sometimes had special markings, the meaning of which is unknown today.
These marks were not related to chaturanga, but were drawn on the board
only by tradition. Chess historian Harold Murray conjectured that the
Ashtāpada was also used for some old race-type dice game, perhaps similar to
Chowka bhara, in which the marks had meaning.
An early reference to an ancient Indian board game is sometimes attributed to
Subandhu in his Vasavadatta: 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.
The colours are not those of the two camps, but mean that the frogs have a
two-tone dress, yellow and green. Banabhatta's Harsha Charitha 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... While there is little doubt that
Ashtâpada is the gameboard of 8×8 squares, the double meaning of
chaturanga, as the four-folded army, may be controversial. There is a probability
that the ancestor of chess was mentioned there.
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.
In Arabic, most of the terminology was carried out directly from chaturanga:
modern chess itself is called "chitranj" in Arabic, and the bishop is called
"elephant". Rules
The initial position is as shown. White moves first. The objective in
chaturanga, the same as modern chess, is to checkmate the opponent's Raja.
= Pieces and their moves = Raja: moves one step in any direction,
the same as the king in chess. There is no castling in chaturanga.
Mantri; also known as Senapati: moves one step diagonally in any direction,
like the fers in shatranj. Ratha: moves the same as a rook in
chess. Gaja: three different moves are
described in ancient literature: Two squares in any diagonal direction,
jumping over the first square, as the alfil in shatranj. This is a fairy chess
piece which is a-leaper. The same move is used for the boat in
chaturaji, a four-player version of chaturangam.
The elephant in xiangqi has the same move, but without jumping.
One step forward or one step in any diagonal direction.
The same move is used for the khon in makruk and the sin in sittuyin, as well
as for the silver general in shogi. The move was described c. 1030 by Biruni
in his book India. Two squares in any orthogonal direction,
jumping over the first square. A piece with such a move is called a
dabbābah in some chess variants. The move was described by the Arabic chess
master al-Adli c. 840 in his chess work. The German historian Johannes Kohtz
suggests, rather, that this was the earliest move of the Ratha.
Ashva: moves the same as a knight in chess.
Padàti or Bhata; also known as Sainik: moves and captures the same as a pawn in
chess, but without a double-step option on the first move.
= Additional rules = Al-Adli mentions two further
differences: Stalemate was a win for a stalemated
player. This rule appeared again in some medieval chess variations in England c.
1600. According to some sources, there was no stalemate, though this is
improbable. The player that is first to bare the
opponent's king wins. In shatranj this is also a win, but only if the opponent
cannot bare the player's king on his next turn.
See also Chaturaji—a four-player chess variant
Chess in early literature Liubo
Origins of chess References
Further reading External links
Chaturanga by Hans Bodlaender, The Chess Variant Pages
Pathguy.com a simple Chaturanga program by Ed Friedlander