Nard Nart

[Arpa]

Pardon me for being so bold.I think we have spoken enough about the J's and the T's, and other faex poluli. It is time to talk about ourselves and in the process have some fun.

 

Nard/Nart

(Some of us spell it ending with "da" and others with "tyun")

A long time ago the following had been duscussed;

(note that below the alternate word for nard "tavloo" is used. The latter is the turkified version of the Arabic "tawleh" which simply means table. This fact has been brought up by some of the participants below).

 

http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=1101&hl=

 

Armenian sources have this to say; (Parentheses are my notes)

Nard, tavloo khaghi takhtak@ kam khaghe@ ( the board or the game of backgammon). It is the same in the Persian, from which the Arabic loan "nard", and the Georgian "nardi" (note that in the Armenian the word is without the i ending. This seems to be a habit in the Georgian language). It seems the original root is from the Sanskrit "nard" which in fact alludes to the dice, "kaghi qve, zar"**. The original word seems to be based on the sound the dice make at casting, i.e.to bellow, to moo, to roar, to call/yell(barrachel, mrrnchel, gochel). According to some sources the game was invented by Artashir Babakan and further embelished by Burzujmihr. For this reason, at times the game is also called "nardshir". According to Firdawsi the inevention is attributed to Buzurjmihr, the philiosopher to Nushirvan who personally brought the game to India

** Qve (spelled qe-ou -e), and zar will be treated separately under the topic of language.

 

According to other sources, this one from the Britannica;

 

"Precursors of backgammon are among the most ancient of all games. A playing board suitable for backgammon, found at Ur of the Chaldees, may date from as early as 3000 BC. The ancient Greeks and Romans played a game, ludus duodecim scriptorum, "twelve-lined game"which was identical or nearly so to modern backgammon......Oriental equivalents are generally thought to be importations from the west despite legends to the contrary. Those who place the invention to the 10th c(AD?) are probably referring to a change from a board resembling to the one used in pachisi (Indian precursor to parcheesi). In early English writings, backgammon was "a game played within the tables", or more simply "tables". Chaucer alludes to such a game. The many past variants of backgammon include Irish "ticktack"(from trictrac), the french name for the game....In England Edmund Hoyle** codified the rules and strategy of backgammon in 1743, and there has been little significant change, except for the introduction of "doubling", which produced a renascence of interst at about 1925

 

Note;The calling of the rolled numbers, at least in our case is mostly Persian , with some Turkish interspersed. How do other people call the numbers?

Ladies and gentlemen, start your boards, let's see who can beat my DU SHESH and MARS!!??

I know what "du shesh" means but where does "mars" come from and what does it mean?

The more popular version of the game is called "franji" (French, European), other versions are "mahbus" from the Arabic to mean "prisoner" and "maghrebi" which literally means "western" yet it may refer to a version from Maghreb, the Arabic name for Morocco.

**Also note that the name Hoyle will appear in the majority of sites dealing with the matter.

 

One of many sites and the quote from ;

 

http://me.essortment.com/backgammonhisto_rquv.htm

 

 

Backgammon has always been my favorite of board games but it was surprising for me to discover that the game had been around for almost five thousand years. Rather than backgammon being a recent invention, it began appearing in the Mesopotamian culture of Ur around 3,000 B.C. and archaeological digs continue to turn up board games very similar to today’s fast paced and challenging game of backgammon. Backgammon in its early form is the oldest known board game in history surpassing even the game of Chess.

 

The travels of this gaming idea show up in both ancient India culture as well as Egyptian culture where a variation on the game called “Senat” was popular among both Egyptian aristocracy and the slave population. By the time backgammon reached early Greece, the Greeks decided to lay claim to inventing the game but it was only an adoption of their culture from earlier civilizations. In the Roman version, three dice were employed for the moves and the game was referred to as "Bac gamen" or "back game".

 

From Greece and Rome, the game grew in popularity finding it's way finally to Persia where it was known as "Takhteh Nard" which, roughly translated, means "Battle on Wood" and the three dice method was reduced to two by the Persian players. Then the game concept traveled into the Anglo Saxon culture by the early 7th century and, during the medieval Crusades, the game once again gained influence as a gaming activity for soldiers and traders under the name "Tables" or "Tabula". The Church attempted to outlaw the game a few times but was always unsuccessful. One did not even need a standard board to play as the board could be scratched out in dirt or sand and played with small stones. A pair of dice could also be hastily carved or painted and then abandoned or secreted in a player's home or on their person. The last attempt to outlaw what we now know as backgammon came in the early part of the 16th century from a cardinal named Woolsey. The cardinal ordered all boards burnt and declared the game "the devil's folly" but English craftsman quickly came up with the idea to fold the boards in half in a book-type arrangement to creatively disguise the board. This folded design is the standard way in which backgammon sets are made to this day proving, once again, that necessity is the mother of invention.

 

Known to medieval culture as "Bac gamen" or "back game", the name backgammon finally found its way into the English language in the mid 1600's and is still the name used today. The actual term "backgammon" is actually from the Welsh and translates as "wee battle". Edmund Hoyle, the famous writer and gamesman, published a work on backgammon in the mid 1700's in which he outlined the rules and documented the game's history. As backgammon found its way to America with the new settlers, it became a solid a fixture in early American homes alongside the game of Chess and other popular board games of the day. While backgammon fell from popularity during the Victorian age, it returned with a vengence in America in the early part of the 20th century and this is when the doubling cube finally appeared. The originator's name is, unfortunately, lost to history, but the doubling cube added a fresh challenge to the game and increased stakes for the victor. From there, tournament play was organized among backgammon players and strategy was enhanced and studied.