- published: 29 Sep 2014
- views: 68359
Chaturanga (Sanskrit: चतुरङ्ग; caturaṅga) is an ancient Indian game that is the common ancestor of the games of chess, shogi, and makruk, and related to xiangqi and janggi.
Chaturanga developed in Gupta India around the 6th century A.D. In the 7th century, it was adopted as shatranj in Sassanid Persia, which in turn was the form that brought chess to late-medieval Europe.
The exact rules of chaturanga are not known. 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 precursor of the Rook in modern chess.
Sanskrit caturaṅga is a bahuvrihi compound, meaning "having four limbs or parts" and in epic poetry often means "army". The name itself comes from a battle formation mentioned in the Indian epic Mahabharata, referring to four divisions of an army, viz. elephants, chariots, cavalry, and infantry.
Chaturanga was played on an 8x8 uncheckered board, called Ashtāpada. The board had some special marks, the meaning of which is unknown today. These marks were not related to chaturanga, but were drawn on the board only by tradition. The great chess historian Murray has conjectured that the Ashtāpada was also used for some old race type dice game, perhaps similar to Chowka bhara, in which these marks had a meaning.