Chaturanga

Krishna and Radha playing Chaturanga on an 8x8 Ashtāpada (board)

Chaturanga is an ancient Indian strategy game. It is the earliest known form of chess, dating back to the 6th century AD during the Gupta Empire. The name comes from the Sanskrit words for "four limbs," referring to the four divisions of the ancient Indian army: infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry.

History

Chaturanga originated in Northern India and later spread to Persia. From Persia, it traveled to Europe and evolved into modern chess. It also moved East, leading to games like Xiangqi (China) and Shogi (Japan). While the basic history is well-documented, modern players often use Chaturanga strategy guides to understand the subtle differences between these historical versions and their modern counterparts.

Pieces and Movement

The game is played on an 8x8 uncheckered board called an Ashtāpada. Each player has 16 pieces. Below are the traditional Sanskrit names and their historical movements.

Piece (Sanskrit)	Symbol	Modern Equivalent	Movement
Raja (राज)	K	King	Moves one square in any direction. The game ends when the Raja is checkmated.
Mantri (मंत्री)	M	Queen (ancestor)	Moves exactly one square diagonally. By the 15th century, this piece became the all-powerful Queen.
Gaja (गज)	G	Bishop (ancestor)	Jumps exactly two squares diagonally. It leaps over any piece in between. You can view specific Gaja movement rules for competitive play.
Ashva (अश्व)	N	Knight	Moves in an L-shape (2+1). Can jump over pieces. This piece has remained unchanged for centuries.
Ratha (रथ)	R	Rook	Slides any number of squares horizontally or vertically. Cannot jump over pieces.
Padati (पदाति)	P	Pawn	Advances one square forward. Captures one square diagonally forward. No double first move.

Rules

The goal of Chaturanga is to checkmate the opponent's Raja or to "bare" the king by capturing all other pieces. Unlike modern chess, there is no "castling" move.

Because the game is ancient, there are different ways to handle stalemates and opening moves. Modern enthusiasts often refer to an opening book for Chaturanga to study traditional setups. If you are new to the game, reading a full rules overview is the best way to start playing correctly.

From the beginning until the end of the 15th century the pieces we call bishops and queens had limited movement, and it took longer to get the pieces into action. In modern chess, the original pieces evolved into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, rook, queen, king, respectively.^{p173; p74}

Chaturanga Media

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  Chess set from Rajasthan, India