Ancient Indian Boardgames: Digital Documentation

Title (dcterms:title)

Incomplete Board, Bull Temple

Description (dcterms:description)

This board or this etching of a board could be speculated as the outer lines of Tablan. This etched board was found and recorded from Bull temple at Bangalore. This Bull temple consists of the largest stone carving of Nandi, the vahana (vehicle) of Lord Shiva. This temple was built by Kempe Gowda who was the the founder of Bangalore. This temple also has legends around it of the villagers worshiping the bull and has been on of the important centers of worship for the local people. This graffiti board lies on the left side of the porch. The temple is built in Vijaynagara style with the Nandi idol in the centre and porches on both sides. These porches have graffiti boards etched on them. This is one such board.
Tablan is a traditional Indian board game for two players, similar to Backgammon and Tâb, where the goal is to occupy more of your opponent's home squares than they do yours. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Here's a more detailed breakdown: [1, 4, 5]

Origin & History: Tablan is an ancient Hindustani game originating in India, particularly in some villages in Mysore, southwestern India. [1, 4, 5] It could have originated from the Roman games Duodecima Scripta .
Tablan is a "running fight" game from Mysore in India. Two bands of twelve warriors fight their way to each other's stronghold. Can you get more of your warriors into enemy territory than your enemy can get into yours? The game is a traditional blend of luck and strategy still played relatively recently.

History of Tablan

There is a class of games known as running fight games, in which two players advance towards each other on a straight course according to the throw of dice or casting sticks. But instead of being a race, the winner of a running fight game is decided by the capture of pieces when the game ends.

Tablan is a running fight game. Although the board is two-dimensional, it represents a single track which has been folded in on itself.

The game is a traditional one from India, of unknown antiquity. It is apparently related to a smaller, but more complex, game called tab, which was first described in the west in 1694. Whether tablan is the ancestor or descendant of tab is not currently known.

According to R. C. Bell, tablan was still being played in the villages in Mysore, southwest India, in the second half of the twentieth century. It has been made known in the west partly by Bell's own books. (source: Cyningistan.com)

Alternative Title (dcterms:alternative)

Tablaa, Tabufalaa

Rules (dcterms:instructionalMethod)

Gameplay: [1, 3]
• Players use a 12x4 board, with each player having 12 pieces on opposite edges. [1, 3]
• The game is played with four casting sticks, each with one side marked and the other plain. [1, 2]
• Players throw the sticks alternately, counting the plain sides showing, and the player who throws a 1 starts the game. [1, 2]
• The goal is to get your pieces to the enemy's home row, and the winner is the player with the most pieces in their enemy's home row. [1, 2]

• Related Games: Tablan bears some resemblance to Backgammon and Tâb and is likely related to one or both of these games. [4, 6]
• Materials: You'll need a Tablan board, 12 pieces of each player's color, and four casting sticks. [1, 2, 5]

Contributor (dcterms:contributor)

Adrija Mukherjee

Rights (dcterms:rights)

Creative Commons

Format (dcterms:format)

Graffiti Boardgame

Medium (dcterms:medium)

Graffiti Boardgame etched or engraved on the floor of the temple

References (dcterms:references)

Tablan- Cyningstan

tablan- Digital Ludemi Project

, Bell, R. C. The Boardgame Book. First edition. Los Angeles : New York: The Knapp Press, 1979.

Temporal Coverage (dcterms:temporal)

The Bull temple was built in 1537CE.

Spatial Coverage (dcterms:spatial)

Karnataka

Variants (dcterms:isVersionOf)

Bheri Bakri

Tabul Phale

Incomplete Board, Bull Temple

Tablan, Handmade

Tablan: Downloadable Game

Tablan, Pataleshwar

Graffiti Boardgame Tablan in Kailash Temple Ellora

Tablan

Entered by (dcterms:accrualMethod)

Adrija Mukherjee

Tags (dcterms:conformsTo)

Tablan

Etched games

Boardgame

Karnataka

Two-player

Race game

Dice

Unfinished