Chaupar (also known as Chaupad, Chaupur, Chaupat, Chausar, or Pat in Sanskrit). Chaupar is a cruciform board game played with quaternary lots in the form of long dice. The board is made of wool or cloth. The pawns are made of wood. It is difficult to separate its history from the related board game Pachisi who most probably is either a descendant of Chaupar or developed alongside Chaupar in the same timeframe. It is believed that both games were created around the 4th century A.D. Chaupar is more complex than Pachisi and was regarded as the more aristocratic game. Today both Chaupar and Pachisi are regarded as trivial pastime games. Folk game. Chaupars Golden Age seems to have been during the Mogul Dynasty (1526-1857). There are large boards marked out with inlaid marble and red and white squares on palace courtyards at Allahabad and Agra which served as giant Chaupar boards. The Emperor Akbar I (1542-1605) played Chaupar directing from a central dais. His pawns were sixteen slave-girls from his harem dressed in the traditional four colours of the pieces. Chaupar (and Pachisi) might be ancient and very old games. But nothing is certain about its age. Chaupar was believed to very old by the Mogul historians, but there is no firm evidence of its claimed antiquity1. As with Pachisi, there is no universally accepted standard form of the game. A very good description of the rules are given in Parlett (1999, pg. 46-48) Partnership game2. Black and yellow oppose red and green. Movement decided by throwing of two long dice marked 1-3-4-6; or three dices marked 1-2-5-6. Regular starting points are 6-7-23-24 spaces from the char-koni. Another starting point can be 6-7-9-10 from the centre, and thus at the end of each players home arm. Captured pieces re-enters from either its start position or from the char-koni. An exact throw is required to get home (homing). RulesNo value of the dice will gain an extra turn.The pawns do not get out from the Charkoni (nest) square, but from the 6, 7, 23, and 24 positions.Pawns can be converted into super pawns. If 2 or more from the same player are placed in the same square, they can move as a single pawn and can only be eaten by another super pawn.Forfeiting the turn voluntarily is not allowed
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 23:51:11 +0000
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