Blog 14 of 14
The game Chathurvimshathi Koshtaka or the game in 24 squares is a game drawn from an old book written in Sanskrit by Harikrishna, son of Venkatram in the late nineteenth century. It is perhaps one of the first games Kreeda has found in a book and not from a person who has played it. What makes it more significant is that no one we have spoken to has any memory of this game. One wonders how many games have been lost in this manner.
It is interesting to read the first stanzas of the book and appreciate the importance he gave to play. He says and I quote, ‘I hereby describe the organization, structure and rules of this ancient shastra (games), the reason being that there is no such book available, and the scholars do not study them. In this book there is a description of several board games, the intention of this shastra being that people will enhance their brain power by playing them.”
He goes on to conclude the book thus: “I have described the famous games of my time. I do not claim this to be exhaustive, there are several games of various types played in the world and it is physically impossible to compile all of them, I have done my best to compile the most important of my time. I, Harikrishna, son of Venkatram was born in Aurangabad in south Maharashtra. I have described in this book many wonderful games and the ways to play them.”
The game we have here is a simple strategy game described by Harikrishna as a game in 24 squares. We have used the Sanskrit description he has given as the name of the game. Chathurvimshathi Koshtaka simply means 24 boxes or squares.
Like any battlefield game, it involves two equally matched players who try to destroy the opponent and occupy enemy territory.
Our homage to Harikrishna and the wonderful world of traditional games – Chathurvimshathi Koshtaka – or the game in 24 squares
Ripples Of Life and Time 