102 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT 



frequently formed of ivory, the sixteen pieces employed in 

 the Indian game being divided into groups of fours, distin- 

 guished by special colours, one set for each of the four players. 

 The moves on the board are determined by casting six or 

 seven cowrie shells, the value of the throw depending upon the 

 number of those that fall with their appertures uppermost.* 



An ancient use for ivory in India was for the legs of bed- 

 steads. The Brihat Sanhita, after proclaiming this material 

 to be the best suited for the purpose, and insisting that the 

 legs must be of solid ivory, proceeds to give the following 

 instructions as to the portion of the tusk which should be 

 thus utilized: "In selecting ivory, about two thicknesses 

 at the root of the tusk, which is hollow, should be rejected, if 

 the animal from which it is taken come from the plains; 

 but if it be a mountain grazer, somewhat less, "f Of modern 

 work on a large scale, Mr. Kipling notes an elaborately 

 carved ivory couch, on the model of an English sofa, owned 

 by the Maharajah of Benares; this was executed by carvers 

 in his employ. t 



Some ivory chains, armlets, crosses, etc., are made in 

 India, and we may also note a peculiar ear-ornament called 

 Karna-changa, a favourite adornment of the Tipperas, a 

 tribe dwelling in the hill country toward the northeastern 

 frontier of Bengal. A specimen of this style of ornament 

 was sent to the Calcutta International Exhibition, while at 

 the Colonial and Indian Exhibition was displayed a pair of 

 ivory armlets from Seran, in Bengal. Besides this locality 

 the following are mentioned as furnishing ivory ornaments 

 for personal adornment: Murshidabad, Cuttack, Amritsar, 

 Sialkot, Multan, Pali, Indor, etc.** 



*Stewart CuHn, "Chess and Card Playing," Washington, 1898. Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 1896, pp. 665-942; see pp. 852, 853. 



tT. N. Mukharji, "Art Manufactures of India," Calcutta, 1888, p. 274. 

 JThe Journal of Indian Art, Vol. I, No. 7, p. 51, July, 1885. 

 **J. L. Kipling, Journal of Indian Art, Vol. 1, 1885. 



