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Evidence for Phanjika
1 pieces of evidence found.
Id DLP.Evidence.2092
Type Contemporary rule description
Location Western Chalukya
Date 1126-01-01 - 1138-12-31
Rules Four 6x6 grids, arranged in a cross around a central empty square. Five, six, seven, eight, nine, or sixteen players. Five pieces per player, which begin off the board. Seven cowries, used as dice. The value of a throw is equal to the number of cowries that land face-down; all cowries face-up equals 14 and there is a special rule attached to it. A throw of five ("phanjika") allows the player to enter a piece on the board or to exit a piece from the board. A piece that lands on a space occupied by an opponent's piece is removed from the board and must reenter. Safe squares exist on the board. The first player to remove all of their pieces from the board wins.
Content Text of the Manasollasa on Phanjika MS 5.16.816-63: "one should make a four-sided diagram (measuring) eighteen fingers (on each side), (and) arrange such diagrams in (each of) the four directions...(There should be ) five, seven, six, eight, nine, (or) sixteen players...according to this procedure, every pawn of every player enters (the board) by throws of phanjika, and exits (it) by (throws of) five...the women who exit (the board with their pawns) win, and those who remain (on the board with their pawns) lose." Also: "Each player-or, perhaps, team of players- had five pawns which began the game outside the board and were controlled by the throws of seven cowries. As the throws were named after the number of cowries that fell face-down (e.g., ekaka for one, dvika for two, trika for three, etc.), it is likely that they awarded a similar numnber of moves to the player who threw them...The only exception was a throw of all cowries face-up known as kalasaptaka, or low (?) seven. The throw appears to have counted as a double saptaka, possibly awarding a number of fourteen moves, as it was registered with a notational sign of two wavy lines rather than the one used for a single saptaka. It also has a special rule attached to it, which, however, is not clear from my present understanding of the text...Squares where pawns were liable to be captured were termed mrtyugeha, or houses of death, while squares where they were safe from capture were termed saranagara, or houses of refuge." Schmidt-Madsen 2021: 58-61.
Confidence 100
Ages Adult
Genders Female
Source Schmidt-Madsen, J. 2021. "The Crux of the Cruciform: Retracing the Early History of Chaupar and Pachisi." Board Game Studies Journal 15(1): 29-77.
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