From times of old, the people of Hindústán have been fond of this game. It is played with sixteen pieces of the same shape; but every four of them must have the same colour. The pieces all move in the same direction. The players use three dice. Four of the six sides of each dice are greater than the remaining two, the four long sides being marked with one, two, five, and six dots respectively. The players draw two sets of two parallel lines, of which one set bisects the other at right angles. These parallel lines are of equal length. The small square which is formed by the intersection of the two sets in the centre of the figure is left as it is; but the four rectangles adjoining the sides of the square are each divided into twenty-four equal spaces in three rows, each of eight equal spaces, as shewn in figure (XVII). The game is generally played by four players, of whom two play against the other two. Each player has four pieces, of which he puts two in the sixth and seventh spaces of the middle row of the parallellogram before him, and the other two in the seventh and eighth spaces of the right row. The left row remains empty. Each player moves his pieces, accord­ing to his throw, in the outer row, always keeping to the right, till he arrives at the outer left row of the parallelogram from which he started; and from there he moves to the middle row. When arrived at the latter place, he is pukhtah (ripe), and from here, he must throw for each of his pieces the exact number which will carry them to the empty square in the centre of the figure. He is now rasídah, or arrived.

When a player is pukhtah or rasídah, he may commence to play from the beginning, which leads to amusing combinations. As long as a player keeps two of his pieces together, the adversary cannot throw them out. If a player throws a double six, he can move two pieces over twelve spaces, provided the two pieces stand together on one field; but he is allowed to move them only six fields onwards, should he prefer doing so. A similar rule holds for double fives, &c. A throw consisting of a six, a five, and a one, is called khám (raw); and in this case, two pieces, provided they are together on the same field, may each be moved six fields forwards, and every single piece twelve fields. If a player throws three sixes, and three of his four pieces happen to stand on one field, he may move each of them over twelve fields. A similar rule holds, if a player throw three twos, or three ones. There are many other rules for particular cases. If a player has brought his four pieces into the central square, he throws, when his turn comes, for his companion, to get him out too. Formerly the custom was that when a piece had come to the last row, and….*. His Majesty thinks it proper to do so from the very eighth field. If the throws of two players are the same as the throw of the preceding players, His Majesty counts them as qáim, or standing. Formerly he did not allow such equal throws. If the four pieces of an opponent are pukhtah, and he yet lose his bet, the other players are entitled to double the amount of the bet. Should any of the players leave the game for some reason, he may appoint any­one to play for him; but he will have to be responsible for the betting of his substitute. Of all winnings, the substitute is entitled to two per cent; if a player loses a bet, his substitute has to pay one per cent. If a player drops one of his pieces, or any of the players be late or inattentive, he is fined one rupee. But a fine of a muhur is exacted if any one prompts the other, or moves his pieces over too many fields, or tries to get two throws.

Formerly many grandees took part in this game; there were often as many as two hundred players, and no one was allowed to go home before he had finished sixteen games, which in some cases lasted three months. If any of them lost his patience and got restless, he had to drink a cup of wine.

Superficially considered, all this is mere play; but His Majesty has higher aims: he weighs the talents of a man, and teaches kindness.