Some Musings on Tables Games in the Medieval Islamic World

This is just me rambling and thinking out loud.

Before I start thinking let me address one point: I'm going to use the term Backgammon.  That term refers to one, and only one, variant of the many different games that could be played on a tables board.  In the Middle Ages that particular variant was known by many different names, Todas Tablas, Tric-Trac, and Irish to name just three.  When I use the term 'backgammon' in this post I'm referring to tables games in general.

Backgammon has a long history in the Islamic world.  I find numerous specific references to it dating back to the 10th Century.  There were books and poems written about the game, none of which, alas, seem to have survived.  I'm pretty sure we're going to find more substantive references to the game as more and more manuscripts become more widely available to members of the public and that's something to look forward to.

We also know, in passing, that the four major schools of the 10th Century all considered backgammon to be haram (forbidden) on various grounds.  But books and poems and pictures of princes playing the game!  Despite the fact that it was officially forbidden by Islam the game was very popular.  And that's one of the very interesting things about backgammon in the Islamic world.  And it appears to have carried over to the Christian world in a least one case.  If you look at Alfonso X's Book of Games you can't find an illustration of a Muslim playing backgammon or dice.  Chess yes, the other games no.  Correct me if I'm wrong, I could very well be mistaken.  We also know that many of the tafurerias (gambling halls) were located in the Moorish ghettos of Christian Spain.

It seems that backgammon was a tolerated vice that could be cracked down on whenever a new ruler ascended the throne.

Jurists considered that backgammon was haram because it was gambling and because it took time away from the study of the Quran.  Counter-arguments were advanced that it was possible to play without gambling.  That was countered with the argument that the use of dice made it inherently a game of chance.  Curiously, Islam doesn't seem to have adopted the various variations of the game that allow a player to declare his rolls and turn backgammon into a game of pure skill.

A few of the mentions of backgammon that do survive clearly consider that chance plays a strong role in the game.  In fact, one of the surviving backgammon origin myths states that backgammon precedes chess and was developed by a courtier to teach an Indian king that a man could only operate within the confines of fate; a fatalistic approach to life.  The tale goes on to say that another courtier invented chess to counter the first courtier and teach his king that man controlled his own fate.  If this point of view held any sort of sway I would expect backgammon to be far more popular, and licit, than chess in the medieval Islamic world.  My personal experiences with Islam have found a strong thread of fatalism within it: Inshallah.  The idea that a man can only work within the limits of the will of God would seem a good match with Islam.

Modern Islamic thought has taken a slightly different view.  Some of the extreme fundamentalists consider all games haram, some of the traditionalists consider chess okay while games that invoke an element of chance (dice, cards) are still forbidden, and some schools hold that backgammon, and even cards, are allowed so long as they do not involve competition for stakes or take time away from prayers.

We've got illustrations of early Islamic backgammon boards going back to the 14th Century, yet I haven't found a single Islamic example from earlier than the 17th Century and they all seem to follow the Western mode of design.  The sole exception is an 18th Century Kashmiri board I found.  Absolutely stunning in design and execution and it follows the model of early Persian boads.

One aspect I think we ought to bring to any recreation of medieval Islamic backgammon play is the use of the cup for the dice.  The use of the cup, ornate or plain as conditions merit, pleases my sensibilities and sets the game apart, providing us with a trigger that says 'this is not a Western game that I am currently playing'.  The use of the cup also argues against the traditional opening of Shesh-Besh where each player throws a single die and the high roller then has to use the dice that have been thrown for his opening move.  Shesh-Besh in fact means Six-Five and is the best opening roll possible.