Opening theory in Shatranj from 1000 years ago!

Chess.com recently released a new variant (well old variant I should say) of live Chaturanga on their chess servers (edit* I should make it clear that this is the 2 player version known as Shatranj rather than the 4-player game with dice known as Chatruranga). Chaturanga/Shatranj as we know was first developed around 500-700 AD (6th century AD). Despite its' novelty as the grandfather of chess, the game is a much more pedestrian version of the game that we know and love. With both queens and bishops (ministers and elephants in the original game) being nerfed greatly, the game becomes much slower. Instead, there is a greater emphasis on positional chess - controlling space and looking for essential pawn breaks, rather than some fast lightning combination that could arise in a normal chess game. 

Harold Murray, a chess historian, gives a harsh criticism to game's opening phase: "In shatranj the opening was uninteresting... since for a long time each side could vary its move order, without coming into contact with the opponent." A a result, due to the much slower pace of the game, early masters of shatranj came up with a number of prepared opening positions which they called "ta'bi'at" (spelled tabbiyya on wikipedia?)  - predetermined positions that they regarded as roughly equal - much like our opening theory/systems of today. In Murray's comprehensive history work A History of chess, he summarised that there was around 31 different ta'bi'at that had survived to this day. One of my favourite books of chess 40 lessons for the club player talks in particular about two of these ta'bi'ats (I guess the plural?) developed by Abu'l-Faraj al-Lajlaj a shatranj theorist who is thought to have died about 970 AD:

Double Mujannah

According to the book, Abu'l-Faraj regarded the pushing of the g and h-pawns to be a suitable strategy for success in this particular ta'bi'at. In some ways this was the first realisation by a shatranj player in the importance of pawn levers/pawn breaks. It is interesting to note as well that 40 lessons for the club player makes reference to the fact that this particular ta'bi'at was analysed by Grandmaster Mieses in 1911, who regarded this strategy by Abu'l-Faraj from 1000 years prior to be "simply splendid!"

Ta'barija