The earliest dice date back to the Sumerian royal tombs of Ur of the Third
Millennium B.C. The Greeks played dice during banquets, while rich and noble Romans had
special rooms set aside for dicing games. Dice has also been a popular game of ancient
India wherein one of the forms was known as 'pachisi' meaning '25' - the maximum score
that can be obtained from one throw with six cowrie shells, which were used instead of an
engraved cube. In fact, the Indian epic the Mahabharata revolves around the game of dice,
wherein the Pandava prince Yudhistira staked his all including his wife and lost miserably
to the Kauravas.
However, the game of 'pachisi' is believed to have originated a little earlier than the
sixth Century. Traces of dice boards have been found in the cave temples of Ellora and
also at Agra as well as Allahabad. The Mughal emperor Akbar, who ruled during 1556 to 1605
A.D., had a huge open?air board of inlaid marble. In the centre was a dais or platform on
which the king and his courtiers sat. Instead of pieces, the king used women from his
harem.
Another variant of the game is called 'chausar' in which three oblong four?sided dice are
used instead of cowrie shells. Another difference is that in the game of 'pachisi' a piece
may rest in a Capture free castle, whereas in 'chausar' there are no castles or safety
places. References to dice and types of throws are also found in?the Vedas and Puranas of
India. While the 'pachisi' board is often a cross shaped cloth, another type of the game
using wooden boards is popular in Tamil Nadu. The wooden board has two rows of pouches and
the game is played using dried tamarind seeds as pieces and cowrie shells as dice.
The modern English game of ludo played on a square board has originated from the game of
dice. |