ChaturangaChaturanga (Sanskrit: चतुरङ्ग, IAST: caturaṅga, pronounced) is an ancient Indianstrategyboard game. It is first known from India around the seventh century CE. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that chaturanga is the common ancestor of the board games chess, xiangqi (Chinese), janggi (Korean), shogi (Japanese), sittuyin (Burmese), makruk (Thai), ouk chatrang (Cambodian) and modern Indian chess.
Sanskrit literatureSanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some mixed and non-standard forms of Sanskrit.
Louis Herbert GrayLouis Herbert Gray (1875–1955) was an American Orientalist, born at Newark, New Jersey. He graduated from Princeton University in 1896 and from Columbia University (Ph.D., 1900). Gray contributed to the annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, with contributions on such topics as the Avestan texts.
Harinath DeHarinath De (12 August 1877 – 30 August 1911) was an Indian linguist, polyglot, Indologist and an academician, who later became the first Indian librarian of the National Library of India (then Imperial Library) from 1907 to 1911. In a life span of thirty-four years, he learned 34 languages. Early life and educationHe was born in Ariadaha of Kamarhati (in present North 24 Parganas district) near Kolkata, West Bengal.Gupta Empire
ChessTraditional board game for two playersChess is a board game for two players, played on a square board consisting of 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players, referred to as "White" and "Black", each control sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns, with each piece type having a different pattern of movement. An enemy piece may be captured (removed from the board) by moving one's own piece onto the square it occupies.
A. V. Williams JacksonAbraham Valentine Williams Jackson, L.H.D., Ph.D., LL.D. (February 9, 1862 – August 8, 1937) was an American specialist on Indo-European languages. BiographyHe was born in New York City on February 9, 1862. He graduated from Columbia University in 1883. He was a fellow in letters there from 1883 to 1886, and an instructor in Anglo-Saxon and the Iranian languages from 1887 to 1890.
Kumaragupta IKumaragupta I alias Mahendraditya was the Gupta emperor from c. 415 until his death in c. 455 CE. A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and Queen Dhruvadevi, he likely retained sovereignty over the inherited realm, which extended from what is present-day Gujarat in the west to present-day Bengal region in the east.
SkandaguptaSkandagupta (Ska-nda-gu-pta, r. c. 455–467) was a Gupta Emperor who ruled an empire centered on present-day northern India. His Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power by defeating his enemies, who may have been rebels or foreign invaders. He repulsed an invasion by the Indo-Hephthalites (known as Hunas in India), probably the Kidarites.
Columbia University PressColumbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. Founded in 1893, it publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology, religion, film, and international studies. HistoryColumbia University Press was founded in May 1893. In 1933, the first four volumes of the History of the State of New York were published.
Columbia University Indo-Iranian SeriesThe Columbia University Indo-Iranian Series is a 13-volume book series edited by A. V. Williams Jackson and published by the Columbia University Press between 1901 and 1932.
SanskritAncient Indo-Aryan language of South AsiaSanskrit (; stem form संस्कृत; nominal singular संस्कृतम्, saṃskṛtam,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.