Page images
PDF
EPUB

gained a Singhāsana (¿.e. a throne). When he gains a Singhasana by slaying either of the adverse Kings, he then wins a double stake, otherwise it shall be a single stake. When a King, O Prince, mounts the throne of his own ally, then also he gains a Singhāsana, and thenceforth he commands the allied forces along with his own.'

"2. Chaturaji.-When a player, after having attained possession of his ally's throne, succeeds in capturing the two adverse Kings, his own King still remaining on the board, then he is said to have gained the Chaturājī. When the Chaturājī is attained, on the part of a player, by the latter's King slaying the last of the hostile Kings, then he is entitled to a twofold stake, otherwise it shall be a single stake. O Prince, when, in the game of Chaturanga, a king slays the last of the two adverse Kings on his own square, then he is entitled to a fourfold stake; and when thus a Singhāsana and a Chaturāji occur both at the same time, then, O Prince, it shall be deemed only a Chaturāji, but not the Singhasana likewise.

"3. Nripakrishṭa.-When a player has got the two adverse Kings into his possession, his own King still remaining on the board, then, should his allied King have been previously captured by the adverse forces, he has the right of reclaiming his ally without any ransom, which procedure is called Nripakrishța; but, so long as the two adverse Kings are not in his possession, the captured ally is to be deemed defunct, or hors du combat. An allied King may also be ransomed or exchanged for one of the adverse Kings; but this is entirely at the option of the last player, who may either claim the exchange, or consider both Kings defunct.

1 Hence it must have occasionally happened, that only one player on each side remained, to conduct the whole allied forces, and this result very naturally gave rise to the medieval game of Shatranj, of which more hereafter.

"4. Shatpada.-When either of the two middle Pawns has reached the opposite end of the board, he is then distinguished with the title of Shatṭpada,1 and assumes the power of that piece (Rook or Knight,) whose square he · may have attained; a Pawn having reached the corner square, or that of the King, is not entitled to the rank of Shatpada. O son of Pandu, the player who is still in possession of three Pawns is not entitled to a Shaṭpada; so it has been decreed by Gotama.

“5. Kākakāshta.-When, towards the end of a game, a King remains alone, after all his forces have been captured, such a situation is called Kakakashṭa; and the King, thus bereaved, according to the decision of all the Rakshasas, is neither entitled to victory, nor liable to defeat.

"6. Vrihannaukā.-When three Ships happen to be in contiguous squares, and the fourth Ship can be played into the remaining contiguous square, the situation is called Vrihannauka; and the last player takes possession of all the others.3

"7. Gāḍhāvați.-When, in course of the game, a player is left with only the Ship and a single Pawn, the

1 The term shaṭpada denotes six steps, and corresponds with what we commonly call queening a Pawn. In the Chaturanga, as stated above, a Pawn could only (with one exception) become a Knight or a Rook; in the Shatranj, as we shall see hereafter, a pawn on reaching the extremity of the board, was compelled to become a farzin, or "counsellor," and nothing else.

2 The Rakshasas literally signify demons or giants; but the term was applied to the inhabitants of Lankā, or ancient Ceylon, probably from the gallant and desperate defence they offered against their northern invaders under Rāma, the King of Ayodhya, the Oude of our day. It is further evident from this stanza that the situation called Kākakāshṭa was equivalent to what we call a drawn game: though in the Shatranj as we shall hereafter see, the party so reduced was considered as defeated.

concourse of the ships,"

3 The curious situation called Vrihannaukā, or "C can occur only in five particular portions of the board, viz., in the four central squares, and also within a square of each of the four corners, as will appear from the diagram in the following page.

Pawn is then called Gadhāvați,' and is not subject to any restriction on the score of becoming a Shatpada."

Before we conclude this Chapter it may be proper to explain more fully the nature of the situation called Vrihannauka which is best done by means of a diagram, thus::

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

Let the letters g, y, b and r, represent the green,

1 The term Gaḍhāvați means "strong" or "secure" Pawn. This privilege seems to have been a species of chivalrous courtesy that was shown towards the losing party; of which some traces remain, though of a different kind, in the modern Indian game at this day. It is a rule observed among the natives of India, when playing their own game, that, when the weaker party has only one piece left, that piece cannot be taken so long as he acts merely on the defensive, in protecting his own King. It would further appear that some such rule also prevailed in the Levant during the middle ages, as may be inferred from Twiss, Vol. ii. p. 14, where he states-"Piacenza mentions that in the Levant it is sometimes customary to play with a Pezzo di Tregua (Piece of Truce), which Damiano calls Pezzo Fidato (Trusted Piece) to which is given the privilege of not being liable to be taken except when it actually attacks the enemy." In Latin Chess Manuscripts of the middle ages we also find a piece similarly privileged,-Per Fiduciam, as it is termed.

yellow, black and red ships respectively; then we see at a glance the respective squares on which each of them acted. Let each ship make two moves towards the centre, and the result is a Vrihannaukā, or concourse of ships, which we here represent by the four Bishops. This done, suppose each ship to make one move more in the direction of any of the four corners, we get four additional Vrihannaukās, where it may be observed the ships always fall into the same relative position, so that altogether there is a possibility that this situation may occur in one of five different parts of the board in the course of a game.

It may be further observed that exactly one half of the squares on the board were altogether inaccessible to any of the ships; but in the ancient game, when dice were used, the Ship, though in general the weakest of the pieces for attack, yet from the probability of the occurrence of a Vrihannaukā, was of greater importance than it more recently became in the Shatranj. He who had the good fortune to bring up his Ship last, so as to complete the concourse, destroyed the two hostile ships, and applied that of his ally to his own use. This Oriental alliance, then, seems to have been rather of a passive kind, and certainly not over cordial; for we have seen two instances in which a player might be coolly plundered by his ally, first of his throne, and secondly of his Ship.

CHAPTER IV.

CHATURANGA CONTINUED.

Theory and Practice of the Game.

In the last chapter we gave the reader as full and complete a description of the game of Chaturanga as our original materials would permit ; and although sundry minute points have necessarily remained unexplained, yet the account, on the whole, is far more satisfactory than that of any of the Grecian and Roman games of a sedentary nature that has come down to us. In the Chaturanga we have before us all the elements of the game of Chess, for every individual piece has precisely the same move and the same power which it continued to have in the medieval game of Asia and Europe. The transition of the Chaturanga into the latter modification is of the simplest and most natural kind, being merely a step in advance on the high road of improvement, similar to the change from the medieval into the common game of the present day, which took place near the time of Damiano, in the early part of the sixteenth century.

Let us now examine a little into the practical working of this primæval game. Its elements are so few and simple, that almost any four persons may play it, provided one of the four be acquainted with the moves of our own game, so as to guide the others. Hence it is admi

« PreviousContinue »