A glimpse of India’s chess culture in 1850s books: Illustrations, Marathi verse and some history

Competitive sport, as it is understood now, was uncommon in 19th century India. Wrestling was the only sport that was popular along the length and breadth of India. Lavishly patronised by the innumerable royal courts of India, champion wrestlers were icons who were revered and idolised by the common man. However, from the perspective of the upper classes and the literary intelligentsia, wrestling was exclusively a spectator sport. They would not, perhaps, could not, enter the arena themselves.

The upper classes preferred sedentary forms of recreation. India has a long tradition of such games, mainly games of chance. They were variously known as chaupat, songatya and pachisi in different parts of the country. They were played on boards which were embroidered on cloth or carved on wood. Sometimes, they were worked into the flooring itself. They involved a throw of dice, generally made of ivory or bone. These games feature prominently in the epic literature of India where games of chance are the agents of doom for Dharmaraja Yudhishthira and King Nala. In the 19th century, these games were universally popular across India and played by every segment of the population ranging from royalty to the sethias and from the classes to the masses. However, as these...

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