Editing Pachisi (section)

==History==
Games similar to chaupar with different colour schemes along with dice have been identified from the [[Iron Age]] during the [[Painted Grey Ware culture|Painted Grey Ware]] period from sites in [[Mathura]] and Noh (1100–800 BC).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lal |first=B.B |title=The Painted Grey Ware culture of the Iron age |url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/default/files/knowledge-bank-article/vol_I%20silk%20road_the%20painted%20grey%20ware%20culture%20of%20the%20iron%20age.pdf |journal=Silk Road |volume=I |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519224534/https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/default/files/knowledge-bank-article/vol_I%20silk%20road_the%20painted%20grey%20ware%20culture%20of%20the%20iron%20age.pdf |archive-date=2021-05-19 |url-status=live |pages=426–427 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nadkarni |first=M. V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DCklDwAAQBAJ&q=chaupar+painted+grey+ware&pg=PA225 |title=The Bhagavad-Gita for the Modern Reader: History, Interpretations and Philosophy |date=2016-10-04 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-315-43899-3 |language=en }}</ref> Cruciform boards have been depicted from art reliefs of [[Chandraketugarh]] dated to 2nd–1st century BC. A 6th- or 7th-century representation of [[Shiva]] and [[Parvati]] said to be playing [[Chaupar]] (a closely related game)<ref>Murray 1913, p 50.</ref> in fact depicts only dice and not the distinctive board.<ref name="Parlett 1999, p 43">Parlett 1999, p 43.</ref> In a similar period, a board identical to pachisi was discovered in the [[Ellora Caves|Ellora]] cave system. A [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279) document referencing the Chinese game [[Chupu]] ({{lang-zh |c=[[:zh:樗蒲|樗蒲]] |p=chūpú }}),<ref name="cult1">{{cite web |title=Chupu Game |url=http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/html/en/11Kaleidoscope2132.html |publisher=Cultural China |access-date=2 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207123104/http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/html/en/11Kaleidoscope2132.html |archive-date=7 December 2011 }}</ref> "invented in western India and spread to China in the time of the [[Cao Wei|Wei dynasty]] (AD 220–265)"<ref>Murray 1952, p 36.</ref> may relate to Chaupar, but the actual nature of the Chinese game (which may be more closely related to [[backgammon]]) is uncertain. Speculation that Pachisi derived from the earlier game of [[Ashtapada]] is plausible but unsubstantiated.<ref name="Parlett 1999, p 43"/>

[[File:The pachisi court.JPG|thumb|Large ancient garden version – [[Fatehpur Sikri]] – India; marked squares can just be made out under the shadows of the onlookers.]]
[[Louis Rousselet]] wrote:

<blockquote>The game of Pachisi was played by [[Akbar]] in a truly regal manner. The Court itself, divided into red and white squares, being the board, and an enormous stone raised on four feet, representing the central point. It was here that Akbar and his courtiers played this game; sixteen young slaves from the harem wearing the players' colours, represented the pieces, and moved to the squares according to the throw of the dice. It is said that the Emperor took such a fancy to playing the game on this grand scale that he had a court for pachisi constructed in all his palaces, and traces of such are still visible at [[Agra]] and [[Allahabad]].<ref>Falkener 1892, pp. 257–58; quoting Louis Rousselet: ''India and Its Native Princes'', 1876.</ref></blockquote>

[[Irving Finkel]] adds:

<blockquote>To date, these grandiose boards still represent the earliest secure evidence for the existence of the game in India. The game's role in the history of India still remains to be investigated. It is often assumed that the gambling game that plays so significant a role in the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', the classical literary epic, is ''pachisi'', but the descriptions, such as they are, do not tie in with the game, and this conclusion is perhaps erroneous.<ref>Finkel 2004, p. 47.</ref></blockquote>

In 1938, the American toy and game company [[Transogram]] introduced a mass market [[board game]] version called ''Game of India'',<ref name="harvard">{{cite web |url=https://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/company.html?company=transogram_company_inc |title=Transogram Company, Inc. |publisher=[[Harvard Business School]], Lehmann Brothers Collection — Contemporary Business Archives |access-date=December 14, 2017 }}</ref> later marketed as ''Pa-Chiz-Si: The Game of India''.<ref name="biggame">{{cite web |url=http://thebiggamehunter.com/company-histories/transogram/ |title=Transogram |first=Bruce |last=Whitehill |date=April 2013 |publisher=TheBigGameHunter.com |access-date=December 16, 2017 }}</ref>