11/30/2014 | Posted in: Chess 101, Chess History, Chess Pieces
Shah ~ Elephant Ivory
The most important figure on the Shatranj board was the Shah. Following military practices current in the 6th century, he was often depicted riding a war elephant. The goal of the contest is to place your opponent in a position where his Shah is threatened with death (capture). Over time, it became customary to announce “Shah!” when this position was achieved. If the Shah had no means of escape, the opponent would declare “Shah Mat!”, meaning “The Shah is dead!” This practice eventually replaced the actual name of the game, resulting in various linguistic forms of “Shah!” being used today – scacchi (Italian), echecs (French), Schach (German), skák (Icelandic).
As mentioned in a previous post, the game was called “chaturanga”, an Indian term meaning “four divisions”, as in four divisions of the military – infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry. The remaining figures on the board represent these divisions, and vary slightly from the modern game. We will go into each of them in depth in later posts, but for a quick overview, here they are:
First the infantry. Often referred to as “pieces”, the Persian name was “pujada”, and they were sometimes represented carrying sabers, lances or bows. We call them pawns, from the Latin-based word “peon”, which was a common term for foot-soldier.
The cavalry, “asp” in Persian, were soldiers mounted on horses or camels. The concept of “knights” would not be introduced for several centuries, but these were the most mobile and flexible forces on the field. They were fast moving and able to work well with the infantry screen.
War elephants, called “pil”, were a unique middle-Eastern military element. In the day when most soldiers were infantry, these powerful units were a valuable asset on the battlefield. Similar to modern-day tanks, they were difficult to kill, and easily defeated the cavalry elements. However, they were also slow, difficult to drive, and could only be used under special circumstances. Medieval Europeans, under the influence of the Catholic Church, replaced this figure with the bishop.
The fourth division in the military was the chariot, or “rukh”. Not as mobile as the cavalry and not as fortified as the elephants, they were a good combination of the strengths of both. They could range far across the field, inflict significant damage, and then quickly wheel away. By the end of the Roman Empire, most European armies had abandoned their chariots, so this was substituted with a figure of a siege tower or castle keep. However, we still call it a “rook”.
That leaves only one figure. The highest officer next to the Shah was his military adjutant. The Persian name is “feriz”, indicating a wise and trusted counselor. Under the influence of the Arab Muslims, who conquered Persia in the 7th century, this title was modified to “vizier”. As the second-in-command, the feriz is also shown riding a war elephant, larger than the pil, but not so large or grand as the Shah. The Europeans later replaced it with a queen. The reason for that change is still open for debate. Considering the medieval European culture, when queens had little real power, perhaps there was some logic after all. At the time, the figure had only limited mobility and was not very influential.
Interestingly, once the Muslims became the ruling influence, they simplified the chess figures. Their code against making images of humans and animals resulted in a game set whose figures are hardly recognizable today.
Ancient chess (Shatranj) figures, simplified under Muslim influence.
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