Chaturanga
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| Ashtāpada : the 64- square board without a checkerboard pattern - sometimes with special markings - on which Chaturanga was played. |
Chaturanga or Caturanga (spoken: chátur-ánga) is an ancient Indian game believed to be the origin of chess , shogi , makruk and xiangqi (see the article on the history of the game of chess ).
Chaturanga has been played at least since AD 600 and is generally believed to be the oldest version of chess. Its Persian version Chatrang is the direct ancestor of the Persian Schatrandsch , the form in which chess reached medieval Europe.
Game board
Chaturanga was played on a 64-square board without a checkerboard pattern, called Ashtāpada. The board contained some special markings, the meaning of which is unknown today. These markings have nothing to do with Chaturanga, but are traditionally placed on the board. Some historians have speculated that the Ashtāpada was also used for dice games like the " Mensch ärgere dich nicht " - similar to the Indian pachisi game - for which the markings may have been important. In the Mahābhārata , Book 4, Chapter 1, it says:
"And on the chessboards, beautiful ivory pawn figures of blue and yellow and red and white move by throwing black and red dice."
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| Chaturanga game pieces | |
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Ràja (King) |
 
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Mantri (advisor) |
 
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Ratha (carriage) |
 
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Gaja (elephant) |
 
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Ashva (Springer) |
 
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Padàti (soldier) |
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| Chaturanga : Position of the stones at the start of the game. Unlike in chess, the Ràjas do not face each other; the white ràja starts on e1 and the black ràja on d8. |
The exact rules of Chaturanga are not known. Chess historians believe, however, that the game had the same or very similar rules as Shatrandsch . Above all, the mode of move of the gaja - the elephant and forerunner of the bishop in modern chess - is unclear.
- Ràja (king); also Raja or Rajah - moves like the king in chess or Schatrandsch. According to some sources, the Ràja is allowed to move like a knight once, unless he has been offered check.
- Mantri (advisor); also known as Senapati (General) - a square moves diagonally like the heel in Shatranj.
- Ratha (chariot) - moves like the rook in chess or Schatrandsch.
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Gaja (elephant) - three different ways of moving are described in ancient literature:
- Two squares in any diagonal direction, skipping one square like the Alfil in Schatrandsch. This is probably the oldest way of moving.
- The same move is common for the boat in a version of the Chaturanga for four players, the Chaturaji .
- The elephant in Xiangqi (Chinese chess) moves similarly, but without being able to jump. In fairy tale chess , the name “elephant” is used for a piece that can move two squares diagonally if there is no other piece in between.
- One space forward or one space in any diagonal direction (think of the elephant's four legs and trunk).
- Two fields in any orthogonal direction, skipping one field.
- A piece with this type of move is called Dabbābah in some chess variants. This move was described by the Arab chess master al-Adli around 840 in his partially lost work on chess. (The Arabic word dabbābah used to refer to a siege machine covered over above to attack fortresses, and today means "tank").
- The German historian Johannes Kohtz (1843–1918) suggests, however, that this was the original move of the Ratha.
- Two squares in any diagonal direction, skipping one square like the Alfil in Schatrandsch. This is probably the oldest way of moving.
- Ashva (Springer); also written Ashwa or Asva - moves like the knight in chess or Schatrandsch. (This fancy move marks a game as a likely descendant of Chaturanga.)
- Padàti (foot soldier); also written Pedati or known as Sainik (warrior?) - moves like the pawn in chess or Schatrandsch.
Al-Adli also mentions two other differences from Shatranj:
- A stalemate was considered a win for a stalemate player. This rule does not seem logical, but reappears in some chess variants in England around 1600. According to some sources, there was no stalemate, which is unlikely.
- The player who first exposed the opponent's king (caught all the stones except the king) wins. In Shatrandsch, this is also considered a victory, provided that the opponent cannot also bare the player's king in return.
history
In Sanskrit , "Chaturanga" literally means "four-part", which also refers to the four branches of the ancient Indian army. In addition to the king and his advisor at the center, the army consisted of the following units:
- Infantry represented by a line of advancing peasants.
- As descendants of the mythological elephant Airavata, war elephants , which carried a king and war chest at the center of the army, had the most striking power; at the same time, they were given the role of runners in the game because of their ability to cross swamps and lay paths as a swift advance guard of the army. Later this rather weak figure was not believed to be an adequate representation of the strength of a real elephant in Indian warfare. This changed the type of move and name, and nowadays in India the tower is often referred to as an elephant and the bishop is called "camel" (The term "camel" is also used for a piece from fairy tale chess with a different type of move, a (3,1) Jump, used).
- The cavalry is represented by the jumper and a platoon that favors side attacks.
- Chariots on the flanks moving quickly but only in a straight line. In Europe they were called a tower, in Russia they were also called a "ship".
Archaeological evidence
In central northern India - in the area between Kanauj and Pataliputra - numerous small clay figures have been excavated since the 1940s, including armed warriors, elephants, horses and chariots. However, there are no pieces that can be clearly identified as “king” or “adviser”, and a complete chess set has never been found. Most of the pieces are not published and are in difficult to access museums. The 5–15 cm tall figures are modeled, that is, produced in series, and some of them have been dated between 300 and 600 AD. The Munich-based Indologist Renate Syed interprets them as representatives of the armed forces that were used by the military in a kind of sandpit game to re-enact battles. Around 450 AD, an unknown person then combined these figures with the Ashtāpada - the 64-field board - and developed the Chaturanga from them.
See also
- Chess history
- Chaturaji , a version of Chaturanga for four players
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ashtāpada (English)
- ↑ Quotation from the Mahābhārata, Book 4, Chapter 1 (English)
- ↑ Dabbābah (English)
- ↑ al-Adli by Bill Wall ( Memento of March 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English); in the Internet Archive
- ↑ Zugweise des Ratha ( Memento from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English), via Internet Archive
- ↑ Some descriptions and illustrations can be found in Syed, Kanauj …, pp. 78–80 and 87–91.
literature
- David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld: The Oxford Companion to Chess. 2nd Edition. 1992, ISBN 0-19-866164-9 .
- Harold James Ruthven Murray : A History of Chess. 1913, ISBN 0-936317-01-9 .
- David Parlett: The Oxford History of Board Games. 1999, ISBN 0-19-212998-8 .
- DB Pritchard: The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. 1994, ISBN 0-9524142-0-1 .
- Renate Syed: Kanauj, the Maukharis and the Caturanga. Förderkreis Schach-Geschichtsforschung e. V., Kelkheim / Ts. 2001, ISBN 3-934474-09-8 .
Web links
- Chaturanga . Chess Variants (English)