The chess symbol, according to some people, the world we live in is a set of symbols. In the symbolic view of existence, everything has a special meaning in itself and it is as if objects were created to fulfill their mission of inducing the same meanings. For example, some consider the frog as a symbol of water, while others consider old age and a white beard as a symbol of wisdom, and a yoke as a symbol of obedience and submission, etc. In the following article*, Titus Burkhart, a traditionalist researcher of Islamic art, architecture and civilization, tries to describe the history of the origin of chess, not just a game, but a symbol of the connection of reason and planning with the fate of life. It is known that chess was invented in India. In the Middle Ages, Westerners got to know this game through Persians and Arabs. The proof of this is the English word "check-mate" and the German word "Schachmatt", both of which are derived from the Persian word "Shah" and the Arabic word "Mat" meaning "dead". are During the Renaissance period, some rules governing this game were changed; And Mehreh Wazir 1 and Do Phil 2 were given more room to move. From this period onward, chess gained a mathematical and complex structure and moved away from its previous simple and concrete manner without losing its basic characteristics as a symbol. In the way the first chess pieces are arranged, the strategic model of the ancient period can be clearly seen; Two corps with a battle formation on both sides, exactly as it was common in the ancient East; Infantry means the soldiers who are in the first line and the main part of the army which consists of heavy forces, i.e. war chariots or rukhs, cavalry or horses and finally elephants. The king and the vizier (lady or advisor to the king) are in the center of the forces. The shape of the chessboard is similar to the classic "Vastu-mandala" (Vastu-mandala) - a diagram that also contains the basic plan of a temple or city. It has been said 3 that this diagram is a symbol of existence as the "place of actuality" of divine powers. Therefore, the battle that takes place in the game of chess, in its most general sense, represents a battle between devas and asuras; gods and titans; And angels and demons. In fact, other meanings of this game go back to this symbolic battle. The book "Moruj al-Zahb", written by the Arab historian, Abul Hasan Ali Ibn Hossein Mas'udi - who lived in the late third century and the first half of the fourth century - is apparently the oldest work in which there is a description of the game of chess. According to Masoudi, a Hindu king named Balhit, who was a descendant of Brahman, is the creator of chess. It is clear that here, the author has confused between the two categories of "caste" which belongs to Brahmins and "kingdom". The very sacred structure of a chart with 8x8 squares, ashtapada, is a proof of the Brahmanical origin of chess. Also, the symbol of the battle type of the game, it is well with "Kshatriyas"; It connects the class of chieftains and nobles, as Masoudi points out when he mentions that the Hindus considered the game of chess (from the Sanskrit word "Chaturanga")5 as a "school of government and defense". It has been said that Shah Balhit "arranged a book on this subject [chess] for Hindus" and "made it an example of Alavi figures and heavenly bodies, namely seven stars and twelve towers, and assigned each type of piece to a star...". Here we remind that Hindus mention eight planets in the sky: the sun, the moon, five other planets that can be seen with the naked eye and Rahu; "Black Star" eclipse and eclipse. 6. Each of these eight planets are the ruler of a direction of space. Masoudi writes: "Hinduan is a secret in the game of chess, which they put in its multiple digits, and through it they reach the secret of the heavens and finally the first cause." Perhaps the author mistakenly thought that the symbol of Davarani mentioned in "ashteipada" is the same with a famous legend. According to this legend, the inventor of chess asked the king to fill the houses of the chess board with corn kernels by putting one grain in the first house and two grains in the second house and four grains in the third house and so on until the house of sixty and The fourth is the sum of seeds: 661/551/709/973/744/446/18 seeds. The periodic symbol of the chessboard lies in the fact that the spaces expand according to a base of four quarters and eight octaves from the main directions (8x8 = 4x4x4). In addition, this symbol combines the complementary circles of the sun and the moon, i.e. the twelve constellations and the twenty-eight solar signs, in an incremental form. Also, the number sixty-four, which is the sum of the squares of the chessboard, is the base multiple of the periodic number 25920, which is the size of the equinox calendar. We see that each round of the circle (in the 8x8 square frame) is under the rule of a celestial body, which is also a symbol of a divine aspect identified with a Deva. Therefore, mandala is a symbol of the objective world, the world of spirit and the world of theology with its many aspects. With these explanations, it seems that Masoudi is right in saying that "multiple numbers of chess houses near them... has a special meaning, which is remembered in the discussion of eras and times and the effect of Alevi factors in this world, which is the result of the connection of human beings with the stars. they do...". Later, King Alphonsus Hakim, the famous troubadour of Castille, became aware of the ancient symbol of the chessboard. In 1283, he wrote a book called Liberos de Aceelrex, in which he used mainly Eastern sources. 8 Alphonsus Hakim describes an ancient form of chess game called "The Game of Four Seasons", in which four players participate and the pieces They are arranged in the four corners of the chess board and move in a circular fashion, similar to the movement of the sun.
Chess symbol (1)
The chess symbol, according to some people, the world we live in is a set of symbols. In the symbolic view of existence, everything has a special meaning in itself and it is as if objects were created to fulfill their mission of inducing the same meanings. For example, some consider the frog as a symbol of water, while others consider old age and a white beard as a symbol of wisdom, and a yoke as a symbol of obedience and submission, etc. In the following article*, Titus Burkhart, a traditionalist researcher of Islamic art, architecture and civilization, tries to describe the history of the origin of chess, not just a game, but a symbol of the connection of reason and planning with the fate of life.
It is known that chess was invented in India. In the Middle Ages, Westerners got to know this game through Persians and Arabs. The proof of this is the English word "check-mate" and the German word "Schachmatt", both of which are derived from the Persian word "Shah" and the Arabic word "Mat" meaning "dead". are During the Renaissance period, some rules governing this game were changed; And Mehreh Wazir 1 and Do Phil 2 were given more room to move. From this period onward, chess gained a mathematical and complex structure and moved away from its previous simple and concrete manner without losing its basic characteristics as a symbol. In the way the first chess pieces are arranged, the strategic model of the ancient period can be clearly seen; Two corps with a battle formation on both sides, exactly as it was common in the ancient East; Infantry means the soldiers who are in the first line and the main part of the army which consists of heavy forces, i.e. war chariots or rukhs, cavalry or horses and finally elephants. The king and the vizier (lady or advisor to the king) are in the center of the forces.
The shape of the chessboard is similar to the classic "Vastu-mandala" (Vastu-mandala) - a diagram that also contains the basic plan of a temple or city. It has been said 3 that this diagram is a symbol of existence as the "place of actuality" of divine powers. Therefore, the battle that takes place in the game of chess, in its most general sense, represents a battle between devas and asuras; gods and titans; And angels and demons. In fact, other meanings of this game go back to this symbolic battle.
The book "Moruj al-Zahb", written by the Arab historian, Abul Hasan Ali Ibn Hossein Mas'udi - who lived in the late third century and the first half of the fourth century - is apparently the oldest work in which there is a description of the game of chess. According to Masoudi, a Hindu king named Balhit, who was a descendant of Brahman, is the creator of chess. It is clear that here, the author has confused between the two categories of "caste" which belongs to Brahmins and "kingdom". The very sacred structure of a chart with 8x8 squares, ashtapada, is a proof of the Brahmanical origin of chess. Also, the symbol of the battle type of the game, it is well with "Kshatriyas"; It connects the class of chieftains and nobles, as Masoudi points out when he mentions that the Hindus considered the game of chess (from the Sanskrit word "Chaturanga")5 as a "school of government and defense".
It has been said that Shah Balhit "arranged a book on this subject [chess] for Hindus" and "made it an example of Alavi figures and heavenly bodies, namely seven stars and twelve towers, and assigned each type of piece to a star...". Here we remind that Hindus mention eight planets in the sky: the sun, the moon, five other planets that can be seen with the naked eye and Rahu; "Black Star" eclipse and eclipse. 6. Each of these eight planets are the ruler of a direction of space. Masoudi writes: "Hinduan is a secret in the game of chess, which they put in its multiple digits, and through it they reach the secret of the heavens and finally the first cause." Perhaps the author mistakenly thought that the symbol of Davarani mentioned in "ashteipada" is the same with a famous legend. According to this legend, the inventor of chess asked the king to fill the houses of the chess board with corn kernels by putting one grain in the first house and two grains in the second house and four grains in the third house and so on until the house of sixty and The fourth is the sum of seeds: 661/551/709/973/744/446/18 seeds. The periodic symbol of the chessboard lies in the fact that the spaces expand according to a base of four quarters and eight octaves from the main directions (8x8 = 4x4x4). In addition, this symbol combines the complementary circles of the sun and the moon, i.e. the twelve constellations and the twenty-eight solar signs, in an incremental form. Also, the number sixty-four, which is the sum of the squares of the chessboard, is the base multiple of the periodic number 25920, which is the size of the equinox calendar. We see that each round of the circle (in the 8x8 square frame) is under the rule of a celestial body, which is also a symbol of a divine aspect identified with a Deva. Therefore, mandala is a symbol of the objective world, the world of spirit and the world of theology with its many aspects. With these explanations, it seems that Masoudi is right in saying that "multiple numbers of chess houses near them... has a special meaning, which is remembered in the discussion of eras and times and the effect of Alevi factors in this world, which is the result of the connection of human beings with the stars. they do...".
Later, King Alphonsus Hakim, the famous troubadour of Castille, became aware of the ancient symbol of the chessboard. In 1283, he wrote a book called Liberos de Aceelrex, in which he used mainly Eastern sources. 8 Alphonsus Hakim describes an ancient form of chess game called "The Game of Four Seasons", in which four players participate and the pieces They are arranged in the four corners of the chess board and move in a circular fashion, similar to the movement of the sun.