Akṣadyūta is a scoring game that plays a central role in the Indian epic Mahabharata. While the Mahabharata was an oral tradition which was written down much later, one of its key events is a game of Akṣadyūta in which Shakuni won the kingdom from Yudhishthira. Later Indian sources often confuse the game as that of Pachisi or Chaupar, but the text clearly describes a game of a different nature.
Rules
Players grasps akṣas (beans). They are thrown on a mat. There are four grasps: krta, kali, dvapara, treta. Krta wins all, kali loses all, treta beats dvapara. With two players, one player can win on their first grasp.
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Sources
Syed, R. 2020."The Akṣadyūta in the Mahabharata." In R. Gowri Raghavan and D. Vinayak Kamath (eds.) Playing with the Past: Proceedings of the National Conference on Ancient and Medieval Indian Games, 1 & 2 June, 2019. Mumbai: India Study Centre Trust, 223-230.
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