Pachisi
Ancient Indian cross and circle board game.
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Pachisi is a game for two, three, or four players, four usually play in two teams.[1] Originating in Ancient India, Pachisi belongs to the cross and circle family of board games.[2] The Mahabharata, an ancient text, mentions this game under the designation "Pasha".[2]
Making and release
Cruciform boards have been depicted from art reliefs of Chandraketugarh dated to 2nd–1st century BC.[3] At Iron Age sites in Mathura and Noh (1100–800 BC), dice and games resembling chaupar but with altered color arrangements have been uncovered from the Painted Grey Ware period.[3] A 6th- or 7th-century artwork showing Shiva and Parvati supposedly playing Chaupar actually displays only dice, with no sign of the characteristic board.[3] A Song dynasty (960–1279) text mentions the Chinese game Chupu, said to have been "invented in western India and spread to China in the time of the Wei dynasty (AD 220–265)"; this may be connected to Chaupar.[4]
The idea that Pachisi evolved from the earlier game Ashtapada is reasonable but lacks supporting evidence.[5] Akbar played Pachisi in an exceptionally grand fashion.[6] Akbar and his courtiers played there; sixteen young slaves from the harem, dressed in the players' colors, acted as the pieces.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Pachisi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mohr 1997, p. 68. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pachisi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Finkel 2004, citing Falkener (1892, p 257) as the originator of the term. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pachisi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lal, "The Painted Grey Ware culture of the Iron age", Silk Road, p. 426–427; Nadkarni, "The Bhagavad-Gita for the Modern Reader: History, Interpretations and Philosophy", Taylor & Francis, 2016-10-04; Murray 1913, p 50.; Parlett 1999, p 43. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pachisi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Chupu Game", Cultural China; Murray 1952, p 36. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pachisi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Parlett 1999, p 43. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Pachisi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Falkener 1892, pp. 257–58; quoting Louis Rousselet: India and Its Native Princes, 1876. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Pachisi (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Pachisi (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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