Ancient Indian Boardgames: Digital Documentation

Title (dcterms:title)

Bagh Batti

Description (dcterms:description)

This game was documented at the region of Uttarkhand, which was once known as the British Garhwal by Hem Chandra Das Gupta during his geological fieldwork. The informants were inhabitants of the area.
The game of bagh-batti (bagh or tiger and batti or piece) is a type of tigers and goats or bagh chal played by two people, one of whom is the possessor of two pieces representing two tigers and the other of twenty pieces or battis. There are many variants of Bagh Chal found all across India. It is a hunt game which is also popular in Nepal and sources also show a variant of Tagnor being played in Bhutan. It is an alquerque game and all the variants require two people to play.
The differences lie in the structure of the boards and the number of pieces a tiger represents or goats. In this variant another important difference is that the goats are placed in stacks instead of one in each point which changes the way the game is played. The intention of winning remains similar to other forms of Tiger and Goat games.

Alternative Title (dcterms:alternative)

Bagh Chal, Bagh Bakri, Bagh Bandi, Adu Huli Ata

Rules (dcterms:instructionalMethod)

5x5 board, played on intersections, with diagonals for each quadrant of the board. One player plays with two tiger pieces, placed on the midpoints of two opposite sides. The other player plays with twenty goats, divided into four stacks of five, placed in the center of each quadrant. The goats move first. Goats may move one at a time to any adjacent vacant spot. More than one goat can be placed on the goats' starting spots, but not elsewhere. The tiger moves in the same manner, but also may capture a piece by hopping over it. Multiple captures can be made on the same turn with subsequent hops, but only the top goat in a stack is captured when a tiger leaps over it. The goal of the goats is to surround the tigers so they cannot move; when one tiger is blocked the other must be blocked on the next turn. The goal of the tigers is to capture all the goats.

Creator (dcterms:creator)

Hem Chandra Das Gupta

Source (dcterms:source)

‘Two Types of Sedentary Games Prevalent in British Garhwal’ by Hem Chandra Das Gupta in Sedentary Games of India eds. Nirbed Ray and Amitabha Ghosh.

Contributor (dcterms:contributor)

Hem Chandra Das Gupta

Rights (dcterms:rights)

Creative Commons

Format (dcterms:format)

Boardgames

Medium (dcterms:medium)

Boardgames on Text

References (dcterms:references)

Bagh Batti- Digital Ludemi Project

‘Two Types of Sedentary Games Prevalent in British Garhwal’ by Hem Chandra Das Gupta in Sedentary Games of India

Spatial Coverage (dcterms:spatial)

Uttarkhand

Variants (dcterms:isVersionOf)

Sher Bakar

Kaooa

Taag dha Nor or Tagnor (Tiger and Cow)

Bagh Chal, Kamakhya

Mughal Pathan

Bam Blang Beh Khla

Bagha Guti

Bagh Bandi

Bagh Chal, Bull Temple (4)

Baghchal, Bull Temple (3)

Entered by (dcterms:accrualMethod)

Adrija Mukherjee

Notes (foaf:status)

This essay was written before the independence period of India when the region of Uttarkhand was a province called the Garhwal region. Although still popularly known as Garhwal Himalays, Uttarkhand is mentioned in the description owing to current location of the state.

Tags (dcterms:conformsTo)

Alquerque

Sedentary Games

Uttarkhand

Two-player

Capture

Hunt

Shape: Square