The Incredible History of Ludo

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Ludo. We’ve all played it. All of us have felt the rush when our goti was able to get away from chasing opponents to reach home and win it. We have also felt the incredible frustration of getting sent back to square one and then not getting a six to get out for a number of turns as we watch our opponents just walk towards the finish. The game is similar to the game of parchisi, but in many ways, the influence of Ludo in the subcontinent is quite similar to that of monopoly in the USA, but Ludo is much older. 

And perhaps even more frustrating. 

In any case, we may not realize that the game of Ludo has roots that stretch even farther than those of chess, hailing from games that might even have become extinct-only to be rediscovered in archaeological digs. In this article, we will look at Ludo’s history, its cultural relevance, the story of where it came from and an even older theory of where it might have originated and the games it evolved from. 

The type of game that is Ludo is a type of game that evolved much earlier than even the predecessors of the game itself came on to the scene. The first such game can be attributed to the game known as “The Royal Game of Ur”. This game was extinct; it was actually dug up in a dig in the ancient city of Ur in the early twentieth century. 

The Royal Game of Ur

In fact, the story of the game being found involves spies, world war I, and even Lawrence of Arabia, of all people. An archaeologist named Sir Leonard Woolley was at a dig with his assistant- a man by the name of T.E Lawrence. It is theorized that the dig was but a guise for the two to be in that region of Iraq to keep an eye on any German movements in the region. The dig to uncover the ruins of ancient Sumer was a way for the two to be there without raising any suspicion. In any case, T.E Lawrence later became the Lawrence of Arabia that we know today, with Sir Leonard Woolley being knighted and granted many awards aside from that. 

In any case, they were the ones to be the first to uncover a sample of a board of the Royal Game of Ur. 

But the story of its unearthing pales in comparison to its own story, in truth. The Royal Game of Ur was rediscovered in a dig, and new rules have been found for it, and you can play it today. Said to be more than four thousands years old, this was the precursor to many of the modern games that we play today. 

One of these is Ludo itself. 

The game of Ur was played in the middle-east, ancient Mesopotamia, and even in Egypt as it travelled across the globe through trade routes. Eventually, the game was taken to India by a Jewish tribe, and it is theorized that it stayed and evolved there into multiple other board games. 

Chaupar – The Original Ludo

When the original rules of the game were lost, and the civilization that spawned the game and its empire was fallen and lay in the dust, the Royal Game of Ur stayed and evolved in different regions of the globe. Eventually, a game known as Chaupar began to be played in the subcontinent, with a cloth board being used along with shells to determine the moves that had to be played. 

Evidence of Chaupar, mainly game pieces, have been found in the subcontinent stretching from the Iron Age, with references of the game in art and literature being found in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One of the earliest ones are at the famous Ellora Caves present in Maharashtra, where illustrations referring to the game are found. Murals depicting Hindu gods and goddesses like Shiva and Parvati have been found as well, and references to the game abound in the Mahabharata as well. 

There are even folk tales involving the game that have been passed down from generation to generation, like that of Sundri and Mundri where a king used trained mice to move the gotis on the game board while distracting his opponent with stories and fancies.Chaupar is quite old indeed, and the connection between it and the Royal Game of Ur is strong. 

Ancient Roots of Ludo

One connection is the fact that thousands of years ago, the Royal Game of Ur arrived in the subcontinent with a jewish tribe that migrated to the region of Kochi. They played a game called Asha until they migrated to Israel. The Royal Game of Ur and chaupar both had similar kinds of game play, with luck determining the moves of the player. Even the modern rules of the Royal Game of Ur are similar to that of chaupar. The game was popular during Mughal times aswell, with the nobility using the game to show off their wealth and influence. 

“It’s been said that Indian Emperor Akbar played the Chaupar on courts of red and white marble squares that represented a pachisi board. He used his slaves or a collection of beautiful women as the pieces of this game. He used to sit on his throne and throw some cowrie shells which were used to determine how many squares the playing pieces are supposed to move next. Some of these life-sized boards are still in India today.” (Aziz)

In any case, since most modern games are evolved forms of much older games, the rules are similar in both games, and there is a possible link of where it came from to India, it can be stated that it is likely that chaupar evolved from the Royal Game of Ur. 

The relevance of discussing chaupar is that the game eventually evolved further, becoming Parcheesi in the West and Ludo in the East. The only change being that Ur was played with bones, chaupar was played with shells, and Ludo is played with four sided dice. 

In Conclusion

The game of Ludo has various versions across the globe, with slight differences in the game being played in India and Pakistan. There are versions of the game even being played in Africa. Wherever the game is played, it can be said with surety that everyone knows how good it feels to get two of your sibling’s gotis in one go.