Ancient Indian Boardgames: Digital Documentation

Title (dcterms:title)

Nine Men's Morris

Description (dcterms:description)

Believed to be one of the oldest games in history, Nine Men's Morris is an alignment and configuration game that is found widely around the world. "Morris" comes from the Latin word "merellus", which means the corruption of pieces. The earliest known etching of Nine Men's Morris was found in an Egyptian temple in Kurna, Egypt (c.a 1440 BC). Other boards have been discovered in Ceylon of Sri Lanka (c. AD 10) and in the Gokstad Viking ship (c. AD 900). Evidence of the board scratched in the ground in the United States. To the ancient Celts, the Morris square was sacred. The central square known as the Cauldron or Mill was a symbol of regeneration while the lines and squares coming out from the middle were symbols of the four directions. Shakespeare mentions the game in his A Midsummer's Nights Dream. In India, many graffiti boards are to be found in temples and Buddhist caves.

Alternative Title (dcterms:alternative)

Dahdi, Navakankari, Merrells

Rules (dcterms:instructionalMethod)

It is played by two people on a simple grid board with three concentric squares and 24 intersection points. The goal is to get three of your pieces in a row, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Players take turns placing their pieces on the board and moving them to adjacent spaces, trying to block their opponent's progress and create opportunities for themselves.

Creator (dcterms:creator)

Kreeda Games

Source (dcterms:source)

Gautam Sen Memorial Boardgames Museum

Rights (dcterms:rights)

Creative Commons

Format (dcterms:format)

Boardgame

Medium (dcterms:medium)

Print on Cloth

Entered by (dcterms:accrualMethod)

Souvik Mukherjee

Tags (dcterms:conformsTo)

Nine Men's Morris

Two-player

Games of Alignment

Dahdi

Cloth