CHESS AND PLAYING-CARDS. 



8G1 



It may be observed that the forms of the chessmen in countries under 

 Mohammedan influence are not usually those of men or animals, as 

 such representations are forbidden by Mohammedan law.^ 



Probably the oldest chessmen known to exist are an almost complete 

 set which is preserved in the East Indian Museum, London. They* 

 were excavated about thirty years ago on the site of the city of Brah- 

 munabad in Sind, which was destroyed by an earthquake in the eighth 



Fig. 166. 



TURKISH AND GREEK CHESSMEN. 



After Hyde. 



century. They are black and white, made of ivory and ebony; turned, 

 and plain in character, without ornament. The kings and queens are 

 about 3 inches high, the pawns 1 inch, and the other pieces of inter- 

 mediate heights. Fragments of a chessboard of the same materials were 

 found with them.^ 



Fig. 167. 



KURDISH CHESSMEN. 



Height, 1 to IJ inches. 



Cat. No. 19683, Museum of Archaeology, University of Pennsylvanis. 



48. Chatok. Chess. Johore, Malay Peninsula. Board and men.^ 



Identical with the Indian game. The pieces on each side receive the 

 following names: 



Rajah, (1) ^ King, 



Muntrie, Vezir (1) = Qiioeii. 



Teh, Chariot (2) = Rook. 



di'jah, Elephant (2) = Bishop. 

 Kuda, Horse (2) = Knight. 



Bidak, Foot-sohlier (8) = Pawn. 



They are made of wood of two kinds, of the natural colors. 



'Some commentators have supposed that the prohibition of images in the Koran 

 referred to chessmen, and the notion, repeated in a note to Sale's Koran, has found 

 ■wide acceptance. There is no evidence that chess was known to the Arabs in the 

 time of Mohammed. 



"William Maskell, Ivories, Ancient and Medieval, London, 1875, p. 78. 



■Cat. Nos. 16490, 1G489, Mus. Arch., Univ. Penn. From the exhibit of H. H. the 

 late Sultan of Johore at the Columbian I'xposition, Chicago. 



