A Note on Sufi Snakes and Ladders
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12555778 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrew Topsfield (Museum of the History of Science, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1016-1029 |
| Publication date | 2021-09-06 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1356-1863 • E-ISSN: 1474-0591 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1356186321000547 |
| OpenAlex | W3197038772 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 1 |
This article discusses a number of nineteenth century playing boards for the Sufi form of the traditional Indian board game of gyān caupar̩ (the Chaupar of Gnosis), from which modern Snakes and Ladders derives. Usually comprising 100 squares inscribed in Persian, the playing area conducts the players hazardously upward from lower spiritual states to the final goal of heaven, according to the throw of dice and sudden demotions or promotions through snakes or ladders. Most surviving examples are held in British collections, including that of the Royal Asiatic Society. Detailed attention is given to a unique, expanded version of the standard Sufi board which came to light a few years ago. Innovative and elaborate in its structure, method of play and nomenclature, it seems however to have been a late and short-lived experiment
Ancient history · Archaeology · Dice · Genealogy · Heaven · Inscribed figure · Artificial Intelligence in Games · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · History and Theory of Mathematics · Mathematics
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |