P r o j e k t e

Der Förderkreis nimmt Anträge zur Förderung von Forschungsprojekten jederzeit an.

Über die Vergabe von Zuschüssen entscheidet ein Projekt-Ausschuss.
 
Compiled by Manfred A.J. Eder, Kelkheim/Ts. (Germany)
for the Seminar on “Chess and Human Civilization”
initiated and arranged by Prof. Dr. C. Rajendran
Head of Department of Sanskrit
University of Calicut, Kerala
in Cooperation with All Indian Radio

10 Major Achievements in Chess-Historic Research
within the first 5 years of the Charity Trust
“Foerderkreis Schach-Geschichtsforschung e.V.”,
Kelkheim/Ts., Germany
1. The Gambling-Scenes on the Stupas of Bharhut und Bodghaya have nothing to do with Caturanga (Chess) – nothing.

They represent earlier Indian Board-Games which, however, have not (yet) been identified.

This result also implies that Bharhut provides no prove that any kind of “four-handed chess” existed before the “two-handed” game of two armies matching each other.

(Project by Dr. habil. A. Bock-Raming, Freiburg)
   
2. The Maukhari Dynasty, ruling a large territory of North-India over six identified generations, most probably implemented the game Caturanga (which term originally only meant “Army”) in the 6th century AD, during their growth and expansion, when they made themselves independent from the declining power of the late Guptas, for which they earlier served as their vassals.

(Project by Dr. habil. Renate Syed, Munich)
   
3. Caturanga as a game is the out-come of a miniaturization of a “didactic model“ of Indian military schools put on an available board (astapada) with 8 x 8 squares, fitting exactly to represent the traditional Indian Army consisting of four wings: elephants, horse-riders, chariots and foot-soldiers, governed by their King and his Military Advisor (Minister).

(Project by Dr. habil. Renate Syed, Munich)
   
4. There is a great likelyhood that the “didactic model” in the Indian army schools was exercised with figurines of terracotta-warriors such as found in Kanauj and other nearby cities located within the territory of the Maukhari Kings. There are single pieces from later Chess-Sets (some also made of terracotta, some made of ivory) that appear to have such terracottas as their ancestors.

Due to availability and comfort in practicability it obviously happened very early that Caturanga was not only played with figurative men which derived from the terracotta armies used in the “didactic model”, but moreover with chessmen “made handy” (and almost unbreakable from ivory or bone or wood) by simply differenciating existing gaming pieces in use with other, older Indian board games (such as “Sara’s”), letting them stand-in for elephants, horse-riders, chariots, foot-
soldiers, king and minister.
   
5. There is a great probability that the presentation of Caturanga (Chess) by a royal delegation from India to the Sasanian King Khosrow I Anushirvan – in the 2nd half of the 6th century AD – took place with a non-figurative Chess-Set (last but no least in order to make the riddle difficult to solve to find out what game it was!).

(Project by Manijeh Abka’i Khavari, Munich)
   
6. A large number of facts seem to prove that the sender of this royal delegation from the North-Indian city of Kanauj to the Sasanian capital Ktesiphon was the Maukhari-King Sarvavarman, who reigned from 560/565-585 AD.

NB: Sarvavarman’s grandson Grahavarman later (604 AD) married
King Harsha’s sister Rajyasri and in the same way Caturanga = Chess could have reached Harsha’s court.

(Project by Dr. habil. Renate Syed, Munich)
   
7. The “Minister” (Queen) in Chess-Sets of the so-called “Arabian-Islamic” Style, with the characteristic that this piece is only smaller than the piece of the “King” but otherwise having an identical shape, is not a “degraded king” of the “four-handed”  chess-like game (played with dice) – a theory strongly supported by the Chess-Historians Linder and Petzold.

The identical shape of “King” and “Queen” (Minister) is due to the fact that all the time right from his earliest existance the Caturanga-“King” had his “Advisor” (Minister: “Queen”) next to him, and his qualification as a Statesman was always only little less than that of the Monarch.

(Project by Dr. habil. Renate Syed, Munich)

From this and from comparisons of “Arabian-Islamic” Chess-Sets with “Indian-Islamic” or earlier figurative Indian Chess-Sets it becomes clear that the concept of designing those two pieces principally identical is Indian and of ancient origin.

(Project by Manfred A.J. Eder, Kelkheim/Ts.)
   
8. It may be assumed that the “Arabian-Islamic” Style of Chessmen has its origin in a genious interpretation of “Indian-Islamic” Chess-Pieces by artisans working with rock-crystal in Basra (Iraq) – earlier than 800 AD.

It was already in the second half of the 8th century that the court of Bhagdad became famous of its chess-players and that game and gaming-pieces (made of rock-crystal) were brought from there to the Califat of Cordoba (Andaluz/Spain).

(Project by Manfred A.J. Eder, Kelkheim/Ts.)
   
9. On the initiative of “Foerderkreis Schach-Geschichtsforschung e.V.” a call for scientific research entitled

“We must find the (Gaming)-Pieces”

is underway, with the effort (as the next step) to investigate the terracotta figures held in the museums of cities of the ex-Maukhari territory (i.e. Kanauj and neighbouring places like Ahicchattra, Pataliputra, Kausambi) and the purpose for which they were made and used.

(Project in Cooperation with our Friends in India)
   
10. Not only on this subject and project our friendship with almost a dozen Indian scholars is most pleasing – so let us call this partnership for exchange of information, material and new findings one of the most glorious achievements of the ten listed all in all.

Example given: Without major contributions from India (in the following especially by Panduranga Bhatta) it would not have been possible to identify the roots and sources to substanciate the theory of

                          the immortality of the King
                          as a rule of tradition in the game of chess

and its Indian origin: Not to kill the king made Caturanga to be Chess!
   
  Kelkheim/Taunus, January 2002