Explanation of Chess and Invention of Backgammon in Ancient Documents

Explanation of Chess and Invention of Backgammon

The vizārišn ī catrang ud nihišn ī nēvardašēr, ‘explanation of chess and invention of backgammon’ (VC), is a romantic record of how the game of chess was introduced into Persia from India, and how the Persin wise invented the game of Backgammon. The earliest examples of board games found in Persia come from different sites, Jīruft, Šahr ī suxtag, etc.; there are good reasons for going back at least as far as the third millennium B.C. The old (secondary) texts mention the board game(s) played by the Achaemenian king Artaxšaçā (Plutarch) and by the first Sasanian king Ardašēr (KAP). For this reason, the present text VC reflects an older version about these two board-games, chess and backgammon; the older names of the Persian king and his minister have been changed to those of the famous Husrō (Chosroes I, 6th century) and his wise minister Vazurgmihr –just as we see the traces of Cyrus’ life in the Chronicle of Ardašēr (KAP). Firdōsī translated it into Persian.  There was a romantic record of why the game of chess was invented by an Indian prince; we find a Persian version of it in the Šāhnāma.  One chapter of the Ēvēnnāmag was about the game of chess –it has been referred at the end of the present text – and another about the backgammon. The works on chess and Backgammon, in Persian and Arabic, contain interesting information about the history of chess. References to chess and backgammon in Sanskrit literature are scarce; they however should not be neglected.

Different types of ancient Backgammon discovered in Iran

There are many types of ancient boardgames discovered from excavations in Iran. 

Type A1 and type A2

First group, I called them type A1 and type A2. This types have 20 point in them.

Type A1 Boards have been shaped like Animals (Birds and Scorpions).

 

But type A2 is more abstracted and geometrical.

In this type, many different checkers is added to the games. you can recognize 2 set of dices and 4 types of checkers. 

Type B

It seems that in this type, It's the same game as type A but different bearing off or coming in game for checkers. Still, they have 20 points to play through.

 

Type C

In this type, the board games are completely changed. Now we have different point numbers, different shapes, different qualities and all this boards are rectangular.

Type D

From this type, I found only one picture. It's from a silver bowl made about 1500 year ago, during Sasanid period. It shows two players lied down and play on a board with at least 16 points.From now on we can officially call the game "Backgammon"!

Next time, I'm going to compare these types, and then propose how to play with them.

Backgammon started 6000 years ago!

At the beginning "Man" created "Backgammon"

Burnt City, Zabol, Iran

6000 years ago, in an ancient civilization from Iran, somebody invented a board game, the very first competitive game of two. He was intelligent, bored or just Lazy, we don't know. what we know, is that the very game created by this ancient genius, evoluted to become one of the most popular Board games of the world.

One of the Burnt city board games with dices and a checker, 1700 BC

The very first board games that has been excavated, found in "Burnt city" near Zabol and "Halil River" near Jiroft, both located in contemporary east borders of Iran.

Halil river board game, about 3000 BC

It seems that this board games, were just race games, ruled by four-sided dices.

These Board games had been developed to More complicated games with different type of checkers, boards and dices round the world. You may find very famous samples such as "Ur rocal board game" or "Senet" or some less famous discovered board games as "Khark Stone Board" or "Brädspel".

Brädspel backgammon

Khark stone backgammon

  

1500 years ago, "Bozorgmehr" the great Vezir of Anoushiravan, Greated six-side dice and developed the previous game in to what we known as backgammon. From this point in history, we have two dices, 30 checkers, 2 sides, four homes and 24 places for game. this way backgammon completely differed from chess and other games.

Illustration from Shah-name about Origin of Backgammon

Since then, Back gammon traveled round the world and many cultures add some thing to the game. Romans, Greeks, Normans, English, American, French, Arab, African, Turks and many other cultures played backgammon. many of them created different games played by same set and different rules that made Back gammon one of the most Mindful, time t

In this webpage, I'll write about backgammon, it's history, games, rules, strategies and many other related subjects.