02/11/2015
Skill(s) required :: counting, probability, Strategy, tactics
Pachisi is a cross and circle board game that originated in ancient India which has been described as the "national game of India".It is played on a board shaped like a symmetrical cross. A player's pieces move around the board based upon a throw of six or seven cowrie shells, with the number of shells resting with aperture upwards indicating the number of spaces to move.
Pachisi may be quite ancient, but so far its history has not been established prior to the 16th century. A 6th- or 7th-century representation of Lord Shiva and the Goddess Parvati said to be playing Chaupar (a closely related game)[5] in fact depicts only dice and not the distinctive board.[6] A Song Dynasty document referencing the Chinese game ch'u-p'u 樗蒲 (Wade–Giles, pinyin chupu), "invented in western India and spread to China in the time of the Wei Dynasty (AD 220–265)"[8] 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