Pitt Rivers Museum Anthropology and World Archaology

 

Asia

 

Pachisi board

India

 

Collector not known

Transferred to the Museum from Oxford University’s Indian Institute in 1932

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Pachisi board, India

Pachisi has been described as the 'national game of India'. It first appeared in India several centuries ago, later spreading to other parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Pachisi is usually played on a board of cloth cut into a cross shape. It is played by four players, each with four pieces. The two opposite side are partners, and they win or lose together. The players race their counters around the board, and attempt to block their opponents. In the nineteenth century a version of the game was patented in the UK under the name Ludo.

View database record 1932.89.205