Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s3.t2.22

c7.s3.t2.22

(a) *Chess.*—Chess, according to all accounts, was considered to be the aristocrat of all indoor games. ‘It is impossible to live without some kind of recreation’ said the wise Harun-ur-Rashid, ‘and for a monarch, I can suggest no better diversion than chess’.¹ Such was the position the game had occupied in India since ancient times. Our period was especially happy in the progress of the game and a famous Indian chess player named Abu’l Fath Hindi occupied an international position and fame for his proficiency in the game.² Hasan Nizami, Amir Khusrau, and Malik Muhammad Jaisi make numerous references to the game of chess which reflects its wide popularity among all classes. Jaisi in particular depicts a realistic scene in which Sultan Ala-ud-din Khalji and Raja Ratan Sen engage to play a game of chess inside the Rajput fortress of Chitor.³ The Indian origin of chess has sometimes been disputed on insufficient grounds. The point was not so much in dispute in the time of Amir Khusrau who is an enthusiastic advocate of the Indian origin of chess. Historical evidence is not wanting to prove that the claim of India is indisputable.⁴ Besides the present game of chess, another variety referred to as *Shatranj-i-kamil* or ‘quadruple chess’ was also played during this period.⁵ (b) *Chaupar, playing cards, etc.*—The Indian origin of *Chaupar* has never been disputed. It is an ancient game which is played even nowadays under three different names—*Pachisi*, *Chausar*, and *Chaupar*, the difference consisting not in the rules of the game or in the manner of playing but in minor and negligible respects.¹ The game of *Chaupar* was played, as it is to-day, with sixteen pieces in four sets each of a different colour. The game is generally played by four players in teams of two each. Each player has four pieces with him which he moves on the diagram of chaupar according to the throw of the dice (or nowadays, of cowries). The diagram of chaupar may be described as follows :—take two sets of two parallel lines crossing one another at right angles in the middle. This intersection of the four lines forms a square in the centre and four rectangles adjoining the four lines of this square. Leaving the central square as it is, the four rectangles are divided into 24 squares in three rows of eight squares each.² The playing of chaupar was especially popular among the Hindus, particularly among the Rajputs. The Mughal Emperor Akbar later substituted human figures for the pieces of chaupar and turned it into the amusing game of *Chandal-mandal*.³