It can tell you much about the way people lived in medieval times. If you look at the way a chess board is set up, then study the pieces and how they are used, you will realize that chess is a history of medieval times in miniature.
The history of chess specifically that of Western Chess, spans some years. The earliest predecessors of the game originated in India in the 6th century AD and spread to Persia from there. Both the Persians and Arabs attribute the game of chess to the Indians. In Sassanid Persia around the name became shatranj and the rules were developed further. Shatranj was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces largely retaining their Persian names.
Murray theorized that this change happened from Muslim traders coming to European seaports with ornamental chess kings as curios before they brought the game of chess.
In ancient India, there was great concern about the prevalence of gambling games using dice. A great number of people were playing for high stakes and becoming addicted to these games of pure luck.
One day the Indian King Balhait summoned Sissa, a Brahmin known for his high analytical repute and requested him to create a game which would require pure mental skill and would hence oppose the teaching of games in which luck decides the outcome by the throw of dice. Moreover, the king requested that this new game should also have the ability to enhance the mental qualities of prudence, foresight, valour, judgment, endurance, and analytical and reasoning ability.
Sissa invented a wonderful game called Chaturanga. The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th century. By the year it had spread throughout Europe. Introduced into the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors in the 10th century, it was described in a famous 13th-century manuscript covering shatranj, backgammon, and dice named the Libro de los juegos.
The next time you set up your chessboard and get ready to play a friendly game or two, think of chess as a history lesson. The pieces on the board represent a way of life that is no more, and the real life dramas that occurred in medieval times are now only a game. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. It would be good if it is written with proof, reference of historians. Do you know that Chess Board as a game has originated from India? If you have any doubt, let us trace the history of Chess.
The Chess Board history connotes that Chess was first introduced to Persia from India and became a part of the princely or courtly education of Persian nobility. The Arab Muslims lack pronunciation of ch and ng native sounds and therefore the rules were developed further as per the convenience.
The Chess Board game was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces largely keeping their Persian names. The form of the chess board, which finally arrived in Europe was already being played in Persia some 1, years ago.
When that area of the world was conquered by Muslim armies in the mid 7th century, they brought this game. The game of chess board became very popular in the Muslim world, and it was carried back, throughout Islam, across North Africa and eventually into Europe.
From its mysterious beginning, somewhere in the heart of Asia, from India, chess board has spread today to east, west, north, and south. This signifies the history of the chess board that it originated from India and is now a proven fact. Reference: 1. Murray, H. Tracing the history and origins of chess can yield interesting insights about the history of human civilization.
Because chess has become a cultural artifact, examining its historical origins can bring forth an understanding of how societies from different periods or centuries and regions invented and developed this board game through cultural and informational exchanges. Several allegories and assumptions exist regarding the historical origins of chess. For example, mathematician Pythagoras invented a similar game to convey abstract realities about numbers and mathematics. The Greek military leader Palamedes also allegedly created a game that demonstrated the art of battle positions.
There was also an extraordinary story about the vicious Babylonian King Merodach who lived during the sixth century BCE.
Xerxes tried to influence people from the unjust kingship of Merodach by inventing chess. The game instilled how rulers should behave and how subjects should play their role in protecting their superiors and territories. Another account tells that chess first emerged in India and became widespread during the Middle Ages as an instrument used by the military to present strategies in a visual and compelling manner.
Shenk made it clear that the aforementioned are mere myths or works of fiction. Accordingly, historians have come across different chess stories that explore the themes of social consciousness, freedom of choice or free will, struggles in politics and society, the nature and mystery of the divine, the capacity of the mind, the nature of competition, and the brain-versus-brawn assumptions. Each story delivers some truths and realities about a specific time when a society strived to explore and appreciate something about their difficult past.
Nonetheless, in pinning down the closest origin of chess, educator and historian Harold James Ruthven Murray remains the authority when it comes to the history of this popular board game. He was the first to identify the geographical origin of chess.
Murray studied Latin and Arabic for the sole purpose of tracing the history and origins of chess. He needed these languages to understand historical and archaeological manuscripts that he acquired as part of his paper trail. Note that it took him seven years to complete his research before pitching his findings and ideas for publication.
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