In the mid-6th century, a remarkable diplomatic encounter is believed to have happened between Shah Khosrow I Anushirvan (ruler of the Sassanid Persian Empire) and an Indian envoy who was a visitor at the court bearing a new board game — chess — as a gift and a challenge.
The Sassanid Persian Empire under Shah Khosrow I Anushirvan was renowned for its cultural and intellectual achievements, including the translation of the Panchatantra fables into Persian. By the mid-6th century, contacts between India and Persia were well-established through trade and diplomacy, paving the way for cultural exchanges.
This is where the story gets interesting! The Shahnameh, the Persian “Book of Kings”, an epic poem completed by Ferdowsi around 1010 CE, recounts how a king of Hind (India) dispatched an envoy to the court of Shah Khosrow I Anushirvan with tributes and a gift of an elaborate ebony and ivory board with carved pieces — an Indian chess set. The envoy is believed to have presented a letter on silk, which issued a bold challenge to the Persian court. The Indian ruler wagered that Persians could not decipher the rules of this unfamiliar game without instruction. If they failed, Persia must pay a heavy tribute; but if they succeeded, the Indians would acknowledge Persian superiority and pay tribute instead. The stakes for this battle of wits were immense — prestige and wealth hung in the balance.
Bozorgmehr, the youngest and wisest of Khosrow’s ministers, approached the chessboard and, after some deliberation, declared he understood the game. In essence, Bozorgmehr reconstructed the rules of Chaturanga without ever having seen it played.
Having deciphered the game’s mechanics, Bozorgmehr then demonstrated his understanding in practice. He sat down to play chess against the Indian envoy and proceeded to defeat the envoy, proving that not only had he grasped the game, but he had mastered its strategy as well. This dramatic victory confirmed the success of the Persians in meeting the challenge. True to the agreement, the Indian king was obliged to pay tribute to Khosrow I. Shah Khosrow and Bozorgmehr decided to return the courtesy with an intellectual challenge of equal stature. Bozorgmehr is believed to have devised a brand-new board game to test the Indian court in retaliation; this game was better known as nard or backgammon. By the end of the first millennium, chess was a global game, and the legend of its introduction via a royal challenge encapsulates the moment when Indian innovation met Persian ingenuity, resulting in the dissemination of one of the world’s most enduring games.
While the details of the story may be embellished, it reflects real historical interactions between India and Persia, and more importantly, the overwhelming role games played in the lives of people.
The story of an Indian envoy presenting the game of chess to a Persian shah has endured as a powerful tale of cross-cultural exchange, intellectual rivalry, and the birth of a global game. But beyond all else, it tells us how a simple game can bridge cultures and bring people together.