Written by: Ushna Khan
Posted on: November 08, 2019 | 
| 中文
An 1892 Snakes and Ladders game from Victorian England
Board Games have been staples of households and prominent parts of childhoods. Families and friends often come together to play and compete with one another. But, not many people are aware of their histories, and how they have molded to the cultures and societies of different regions. Two such games are Chess, and Snakes and Ladders, two internationally loved games with surprising origins and meanings.
Paternity of the classic game of chess has been claimed by many regions, but earliest records trace the lineage to the Indian subcontinent in the 6th century. The game appears to be a modified form of the Indian game ‘Caturanga’. This Sanskrit word means ‘having four limbs’, symbolic of the traditional Indian army comprising of 4 divisions. Hence, Caturanga may have been interpreted as ‘army’.
The war game was played on a board with 64 squares dating back to 2nd c. BC, with different pieces representing the army. While the horses represented the knights, foot soldiers were the infantry, and the king controlled all the divisions with the help of his minister (Vizier).
From the time of Alexander, the Great’s brief expedition into the Subcontinent in 326 BC, elephants which are native to India, have played a key role in warfare. The chariots were another important element of an army in the days of Veda, 1st century AD, and they played a decisive role in battles. But by 4th century AD, they became synonymous with transportation, not war. Both elephants and chariots were featured in Caturanga.
Charlemagne on an Elephant chess piece from the 13th century
The game travelled to Persia during the period of King Khusraw I Anishshirvan (531-579 AD). The Persian name ‘Shatranj’ (which is also the Urdu word for Chess) replaced the Sanskrit term Caturanga. The name chess was derived from the Persian word Shah, which means King.
In the 7th century, under Arab rule, the game spread to the Middle East, Spain, Byzantium, Italy, China and so on. Crossing these geographic and cultural boundaries, the game was modified according to various regions.
However, Europe was not familiar with elephants, chariots or viziers. Elephants became ‘fools’ or ‘bishops’, while chariots (Ratha) became ‘castles’ or ‘towers’. They eventually were called ‘Rooks’, which seems to be taken from the Persian word Rukh(Direction). The foot soldiers remained on the board as Pawns, taken from the Latin word 'Padati', which meant infantry. The minister (Firzan), was replaced by a Queen.
The Lewis chess pieces from Scotland which dates back to the Late 12th Century
The chess pieces in India were representational figurines with carving of deities. In the Middle East, these were more abstract, in accordance with Islamic practices.
While Chess has been regarded as a war game, the concept embodied the universal order. It mimics a cosmic reality, with a ruler in control of the universe. It’s a game of skill and cunning, as the king fights others to protect his realm while controlling the fate of his men. While each piece is part of the larger body, it is master of its own fate, based on its own rules.
Many centuries and modifications later, the game still remains an all-time intellectual exercise, with international federations and competitive tournaments taking place every year.
The board game, Snakes and ladders, shares a similar fate, with roots buried deep in Indian history. Different versions and styles, dating from the 18th century of Jain, Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist periods survive today. The game is simple to play, easily engaging players by mainly working on the principle of luck.
However, sources suggest that it was a method employed by priests to meditate, and teach the community on morals via a medium other than sermons. Different religions used names such as ‘Gyan Chauper’, ‘Moksha Patma’ and ‘Paramapada Sopanapata’, which roughly translated to ‘Game of Self-Knowledge’ or ‘Steps to Higher-Place”.
The original Moksha Patamu game
The snakes embodied vices, suggesting those who indulged in evil could never progress forward, and bear the consequences of their deed. But ladders were symbolic of fruits of good deeds, branching out to help the virtuous. These snakes and ladders were assigned particular numbers and each correlated with a particular vice or virtue: faith (12), reliability (51), generosity (57), knowledge (76) and asceticism (78), disobedience (41), vanity (44), vulgarity (49), murder (73), rage (84), greed (92), pride (95) and lust (99).
In Hindu history, it encompassed the philosophy of Karma, Kama and Moksha i.e. destiny, desire and salvation. The idea was that good deeds and sacrificing desire will enable a person to achieve liberation, while bad deeds will lead to rebirth of the soul in inferior forms of life. The ratio of greater number of snakes to ladders implicated how hardships were more common and finding the path of righteousness was not easy. In the Muslim version, ladders are shorter to suggest the path to righteousness is a gradual one. These distributions varied across different religions.
These games were originally made on pieces of cloth or paper, and were treated more like manuscripts. The boards were elaborately decorated with religious sayings, architectural patterns, vegetal patterns, holy figures and scenes of heaven and hell. Cowrie shells and pieces of wood were used to denote the dice and different players, respectively. In the 19th century, the British imported this game to Europe, where it evolved into Snakes and Ladders, and later it was introduced in the United States as Chutes and Ladders in 1942.
A Snakes and Ladders board from 1791 featuring the French Revolution
Next time you log online to challenge your friends to a game of chess, or play Snakes and Ladders with your family on a rainy day, remember their centuries-old heritage, and make your ancestors proud.
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