Ancient Indian Boardgames: Digital Documentation

Title (dcterms:title)

Bagh Chal, Ellora

Description (dcterms:description)

This etched or incised Bagh Chal game board has been documented from the Kailash temple (cave 16) of Ellora. Bagh Chal or Tigers and Goats is an ancient hunt game that has been popular in many regions of the world. The board of Bagh Chal is part of the alquerque family which traces its history to the Moors of Spain in their Libro de Los juegos (book of games) commissioned by Alfonso X in the 13th century. Although the rules were first found there, the history of alquerque goes further back to Egypt and to a name mentioned in the Kitab-al-Aghani (book of songs) as Kirkat or Al-Kirkat. Besides reference in literature similar game boards have been found both in practice amongst players in various communities as well as in archaeological sites. Bagh Chal has many variants, and is known by different names all over India, Nepal, Bhutan and other countries of South Asia. The structure of the board, the number of pieces and the variants in the rules may vary from place to place but the intention of winning remains the same. It is a two-player game where one individual represents the tiger and the other represents the goats. The number of tigers vary from one to even five in some games while the number of goats can be twenty or less or more depending on the structure of the board and the rules popular to the region.
The construction of the Kailash temple roughly dates back to the reign of Krishna I (756 – 774 CE) of the Rashtrakuta dynasty according to the Vadodara copper plate inscription. This copper inscription records and mentions Krishna I as the patron of the Kailashnatha temple and also mentions a shiva temple at Elapura or Ellora present day. This particular carving has been found beside a series of fire altars in the Kailash temple. This board quite interestingly has a lot of similarities to another Tigers and Goat board documented in Orissa by Hem Chandra Das Gupta in Sedentary Games of India (Das Gupta 1999 :92). That variant was played by one tiger and twelve goats. Although it is difficult to assess the rules for the board found at Kailash Temple it is a possibility to trace similar rules of Bagh-Chal played in the region of Maharashtra.

Alternative Title (dcterms:alternative)

Bagh Bandi, Tigers and Goats, Baghchakkar, Chakrachhal, Sher Bakr, Bagh Batti, Sher Bakar, Kaooa, Bam Blang Beh Khla, Bagha Guti, Tagnor, Adu Puli Attam, Puli Meka, Ada Huli, Terhuchu, Kulaochal, Puli Judham

Rules (dcterms:instructionalMethod)

Bagh Chal rules for four tigers and twenty goats:-
Two players needed for the game.
Henceforth they will be called the tiger player and the goat player.
1. The game begins with four tigers on the board, one in each corner, as shown in the diagram.
2. The twenty goats are kept in hand by the player who has taken their side.
3. The goat player takes the first turn.
4. If the goat player has goats in hand, he must use his turn to place one on any empty point on the board.
5. If the goat player has placed all the goats, then he must instead use his turn to move one of the goats from its current position, along a marked line in any direction, to an adjacent empty point.
6. The tiger player in his turn may move a tiger from its current position, along a marked line in any direction, to an adjacent empty point.
7. Only one piece may occupy a point at any one time; stacking of pieces is not allowed.
8. A tiger may sometimes capture, or eat, a goat, instead of moving as described in rule 6.
9. To eat a goat, the tiger player must jump with one of his tigers along a marked line, over an adjacent goat, to an empty point beyond. The goat is then removed from the board and takes no further part in play.
10. The tiger may not change direction in the middle of its jump. A goat is only in danger of being eaten if on one side it has a tiger, and on the other an empty space.
11. Only one goat may be eaten in any one turn. Multiple jumps are not allowed.
12. The tiger player wins when his tigers have eaten five goats.
13. The goat player wins if the tigers are trapped and the tiger player has no legal move

Contributor (dcterms:contributor)

Souvik Mukherjee and Adrija Mukherjee

Rights (dcterms:rights)

Creative Commons

Format (dcterms:format)

Graffiti alquerque boardgame

Medium (dcterms:medium)

Game board engraved/excavated on basalt rock floor.

References (dcterms:references)

Bagh Chal variant from Orissa by Digital Ludemi Project

Sedentary Games of India- Bagh Chal

Temporal Coverage (dcterms:temporal)

Ellora Kailash temple of Cave 16 roughly dates to the 8th century CE.

Spatial Coverage (dcterms:spatial)

Ellora, Aurangabad, Maharashtra

Variants (dcterms:isVersionOf)

Bagh Chal

Bagh Chal: Downloadable Game

Tarup Ar Merom (leopards and goats)

Kulaochal

Bagh Chal (variant),Odisha

Bagha Chheli ( Odisha)

Baghchakkar or Chakrachal

Sher Bakr

Bagh Batti

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)

Baghchal, Handmade

Bagh Chal, Pataleshwar (3)

Baghchal, Pataleshwar (2)

Entered by (dcterms:accrualMethod)

Adrija Mukherjee

Notes (foaf:status)

As the provenance of these etched boards are unknown, the exact number of pieces for both tigers and goats and the exact rule variant is difficult to trace.

Tags (dcterms:conformsTo)

Bagh Chal

Tigers and Goats

Kailash Temple, Ellora

Maharashtra

Alquerque

Two-player

Capture

Hunt

etched

Shape: Square with one triangle