Ludo and pachisi
AI-drafted · awaiting admin review
Ludo was patented in England in 1896, but it is a simplified version of the Indian game pachisi.
India first (well documented)Culture, games, language & ideas
Indian claim
Ludo, and the American game Parcheesi, come from pachisi, an Indian race game played on a cross-shaped board with cowrie shells.
Evidence for the Indian claim
- Britannica describes pachisi as a game of India and the ancestor of Ludo and Parcheesi.
- The Mughal emperor Akbar is reported to have played pachisi on a giant courtyard board with people as the pieces; such a board survives at Fatehpur Sikri.
Commonly credited to
Ludo was patented in England in 1896 as a new game, using a cubic die and a shaker cup, and is often thought of as a British family game.
Evidence for the other claim
- The 1896 English patent changed the rules: one die instead of cowries, and simpler movement and blocking rules.
- Claims that pachisi is many centuries older than the Mughal period are common but are not fixed by a dated board or text.
What historians and scientists say
Ludo is a British simplification of the Indian game pachisi. The 1896 patent covered the new version, not the original game.
Sources