caturanga

[Valerie J Roebuck]

It sounds as though Ludo may have elements of both CaupaR and Pachisi. It's
played on a square board, but the Plus-Sign-shaped track of CaupaR is still
there.  The squares that this leaves in the corners are used as bases for
the players.  There are four players, with four counters each, as in
Pachisi. Players have to race their counters round the track to get to
their own "home" square (in the middle of the board).  They can also slow
down other players by taking their counters, forcing them back to their
base to start again.  Moves are determined by the throw of a dice.  (You
have to throw a six to start a counter off.)  There are other refinements,
but this (from memory) is roughly how it works.  The OED has the word
"Ludo", but the date it's first recorded is illegible in my copy
(18-splodge-8), and there's no other information.

>Richard Barz <Richard.Barz at ANU.EDU.AU> wrote:
>I think that Ludo- if it is the same as the American game Pacheesi- is
>modelled on the Indian game CaupaR, which was supposed to be especially
>liked by Krishna.
>
Jogesh Panda wrote:

>I have no idea what the American game Pacheesi looks like, but the Indian
>games Pacheesi and CaupaR are two different games. The Pacheesi [or Pachisi
>from pachis < paJcaviMSa]has twenty five houses [or squares] on a borad [or
floor] drawn with five parallel lines across and five parallel lines
horizontal. It is played by four players with four pawns [or tamarind seeds,
date seeds or betel nuts]. These pawns are called goTi-s, possibly from
pebbles that were earlier used in such games. For example, in the game of
"bAgh-bakri". The player whose pawns reach the twenty fifth house first wins.

>
>The CaupaR also is a board [or floor] game. The CaupaR can be played by as
>many players as can be seated around the table or on the mat or durry. The
>board [or floor] plan is like an oversized Plus [+] sign. The four hands [or
>sides] have each sixteen [or more]houses or squares. The game is played with
>dice [or cowrie shells].


Valerie J Roebuck
Manchester, UK