right, restrains the hand of his rapacity from grasping at the rights of others; and that rule they call an act of government, whose basis stands on the ordinances of equity." He then proceeds by adding, that a prophet is made the instrument of revealing the will of God, and an absolute monarch chosen to carry this will iuto execution:" and any such intelligent prince, who having fixt the centre of his operations within the circle of wisdom, shall make the counsels of the learned the rule of his government, must equally render his kingdom pros perous and flourishing, and his subjects happy and content, like unto that mighty sovereign Dabishlim Hindi, who reared the fabric of kingly power on the verbal canons of Bidpai Hakim the Brahman; and having realized what he ascertained was the practice of former sovereigns, he in consequence of that passed a long life in glory and prosperity, and now that he has exchanged this frail abode for the mansion of eternity, his renowned name and illustrious fame yet remain on the pages of the times : هر چند فکر میکنم از هر چه در جهان * نام نکو است حاصل ايام ادمي Whatever I can fancy, that has existed in this world, a good name is the best memorial of a man's past life. Homayun Fal, now made aware that his vizier was master of the story of Dabishlim and Bidpai Hakim, gets him to relate it; and thus commences the wondrous history of this book: * کلید در کنج حکمت بود زبان خردمند روشن روان که او را عیار نصیحت بود در کنج بكشاي و نقدي بيار نصیحت برآن وجہ کو با ملوک * که دروي صلاح رعیت بود under his protection the legislative ordinances of the prophet, which are typical of his law, must give currency to the edicts of government, in order that the head of the church may be encircled with the glory of sovereign dominion, and the robe of state equally edged with the fringe of veneration; for The tongue of an intelligent and enlightened mind is the key of the treasurydoor of wisdom: throw open the treasurygate and bring forth the ready hoard, that it may answer the purpose of the touchstone of admonition to them : admonish kings after such a manner, that the result may prove a benefit to their subjects. But effectually to control the appetites and passions of the subject, orientalists, the church and state are twindeem "the existence of a despotic prince brothers: absolutely requisite, who having taken چون دو تکین اند و یک انگشتري To men of understanding a prophet and a king, are but as two seals set within the same ring." Having thus given a sufficiency of the Introduction of that really valuable work, the Anwāri Sohaili, to excite an interest in your readers, I may add, that I have had a translation of the whole lying by me above twenty years; for it was my custom, when first studying the Persian language, to translate any such interesting book that had been recommended by my munshee as an exercise; and that, when another work of still greater importance has gone through the press, 1 am likely to return to, and also prepare this. How much the liberal mind of Dr. Adam Smith would have been delighted to find his sentiments on political economy, and the perfection to which the mechanical arts are carried by a division of the labor, had been so many centuries before his time anticipated by an oriental writer! It is to be regretted that most of the learned works of oriental philosophers, from their being written in prose, have perished; for the taste of an Asiatic scholar general 1818.] The Game of Chess invented in Persia. (UNI1839RSIT collections, some of them contain ly leads him to cultivate poetry, and few of them would now-a-days ing beautiful and correct drwg RNIA take the trouble of transcribing a book of dry philosophy and science: accordingly, it is only in those works of science that have been really rendered into poetry, of which there are a few systems of physic, astronomy, and even dic tionaries still remaining, and in the incidental notice in such a work as the present, and with all their best poets, that we have chiefly preserved to us the history of the arts and sciences of the East. Among a few works still left, that are purely scientific, I may mention the Ajaib-al-Makhlūcāt, Mirabilia Creaturarum, or the Wonders of Creation, by of all the beasts, fishes, birds, trees, and even monsters, described in the book: and the account of metals and gems, a subject that has attracted great public attention of late, contains in particular much curious information. It is often quoted in the Farhangi Jihangiri, the work I am at present occupied in translating; as are also the Zak زخیره خوارزم شاهی also the hirah Kharism Shahi, or Maga zine of Kh'arism Shah; and the Akhtiyārāt Bu diyai, or Selections of Rarities; al-Baldan, or Description of strange Ajaib عجایب ال بلدان and the - Ajaib عجائب الدنيا Cities; and بن محمود ال كمولي ال قزويني Zakaria-bin-Mohammed-bin-Mahmūd, al-kamūli of Cazvin, the city of his nativity, who died A. H. 674 or A. D. 1275. His principal work, for he was the author of many more, making a large quarto volume, contains, as might be expected in that age, a medley of real and fabulous history, botany, zoology, geography, &c.; and often quotes Aristotle, Pliny and Galen, as its authorities; and, along with strange stories of pigmies and cranes, simorghs and dragons, green wells and enchanted fishes, affords more interesting accounts of countries and tribes, of quadrupeds and fishes, of birds and insects, of mountains, rivers, trees, fruits and herbs, and even of medicine, astronomy, music, arithmetic, &c., than any other oriental work now extant; and if any oriental scholar would take the trouble of revising and printing it, little as such works are yet patronised in England, he might by exciting an interest on the continent of Europe, find himself remunerated, if not benefited. There are several copies of the work to be found in the public libraries of London, and in private ad-duniya, or Wonders of this World, by Azor; but it would occupy too much of your valuable pages to particularize the contents of these interesting oriental books. I meant to have concluded this essay with a story from the Anwari Sohaili, illustrative of the principle of productive and unproductive labour, with a coinciding apologue from Sadi, and another from our own adventurer; but these will of themselves be sufficient to complete a whole essay, and shall be made the subject of my next. Having observed in your last Journal a reprint of Sir William Jones's Essay on what he calls the Indian Game of Chess, I shall fill up my sheet with some short remarks on that, and in defence of having myself claimed the Persian right to the exclusion of the Indian to the invention of that game; to the book of stories generally called Pilpay's fables, and to the art of cyphering. In that account he details a Hindi game, which he calls Chaturanga, or more properly Chaturaji; and "which," in the same breath, he admits "from being more complex, is, in his opinion, more modern than the simple chess of the Persians, and that of this simple game, so exquisitely contrived," and which is to my knowledge most skilfully played, according to the Persian scheme, by the Hindu and Mussulman gentlemen of the present day in Bengal, and yet he insists so certainly invented in India, he cannot find any account in the classical writings of the Brahmans." We in Europe had it immediately from the Saracens; and it is curious, that the Arabs, who borrowed best part of their knowledge from the Persians, even to their religion, rather than acknowledge the true source, whatever they cannot claim as their own, they give to the Hindus; as the Greeks before them, who were equally indebted to the Persians, had made Pythagoras and their other travelling philosophers bring any science, their vanity durst not claim as an original right, from Egypt. But the words descriptive of the terms of this game, and the original names of the men, are the best criteria; and these will be all found to be pure Persian. And first the name of the game of chess of a die, as Vyasa details it ;—" if cinque be thrown, the king, or a pawn, must be moved; if quatre, the elephant; if trois, the horse; and if deux, the boat" and in the Koran it is among other games of chance specially prohibited; by which it would appear, that the Arabs had borrowed it from the Persians before the era of Mohammed; but after his time, being forbid the use of paintings and engraved images, they changed the handsome figures of the Persians into those uncouth forms, which we copied and long retained the use of in Europe. That learned orientalist, Doctor Thomas Hyde, is of opinion," that the word Chess is itself derived from the Persian word Shah or the king, which is often used in playing to caution the king against danger: hence Europeans and others have denominated the game (in their monkish Latin) Shachiludium and Shailudium, or the game of Shah; and the English call it Chess." And on referring to the word in my dictionary it signifies besides -Satrang, which the Far سترنگ is hangi Jihangiri explains to signify, 1. Mandrake, a root growing in China, and having a likeness to the human face : 2. The well known game of chess, because it is played with wooden figures having a hu origin and master: 2. a bridegroom: 3. whatever is distinguished for its size or excellence: and 4. MAS cheque at chess and calling shah ! putting the king in سترنک بود بازی را که معروف است : man form ,bord, done برد shah the word بدین اعتبار که صورت انسان را از : has in Persian the same import چوب ساخته اند سترنک نام نهاده it adds, "that the Arabs call it and I wonder the Arabs did not سلطان into شاه Shatranj, by which name it change the word شطرنج is now generally known: but it is curious, that the Chaturagi, which is clearly the Brahman's complicated imitation of the simple Persian game, and the Shatranj of the Arabians were games of hazard, and the moves guided by thethrows Sultan, which they do in its signification of a saint or holy man, as I observe in a fine painting of our blessed Saviour of my esteemed neighbour Mr. Neave; and which belonged to the late Vizier Asufud-Dowlah, and has written over it kasht, or the king is slain; and the first expression we have adopted universally in Europe, as all na tions have done the word king for the chief figure in the game, except the Chinese, who call it Choo-hong, signifying scientific in war: the shah has the same moves as our English king, but cannot castle. The second figure called Farzan in Persian and signifying science, wisdom and knowledge, and hence perhaps a prime minister, the Arabs have translated intoj, Wazir a minister or vicegerent, and we in English call it the queen, absurdly enough, as M. Barrington in the London Archæologia observes, when disproving the Grecian claim to this invention, for how are we to metamorphose a piadah or foot-soldier into a queen, a promotion he is entitled to on reaching the extreme of the antagonist's side of the board? Into this error we were led by the French, who have converted the Persian farz or farzan into vierge, maidenhood or virgin. According to the Persian play of this game, when a piadah or pawn reaches the last line on his adversary's checks, it is called is crowned with one of its oppo nent's pawns. first piece moved, and advances The Farzan is the one step in front, his píádah moving is supposed to be done by comone step at the same time, which mand of the king, that he may review and regulate the motions of all the other figures: afterwards it moves only diagonally in advance check at a move. or retrograde, and but one step or The next, or third in rank, is the Pil in Persian, translated by the Arabs into; hence the Italian il Alfino and French Fou or Fol, all of them corruptions of the Persian word Pil, signifying an elephant: the Hindus have also translated it into Hasti an elephant; but it is difficult to say whence we derived our corresponding name of bishop: Daines Barrington supposes the French name of Fou, signifying also a fool, to be an epithet bestowed on it by some wag, because kings and queens were attended by fools looking out for translations, and bishops are alone improved by this process. The Pil moves diagonally in advance or retrograde, always two steps at once, hopping over any piece that stands in its way, cxcept the Shah, and taking cond check from it in its range. any piece that stands on the seThe fourth in rank is the fifth is the Rokh, which my dictionary explains: 1. the cheek or face: 2. an ideal monstrous bird, which like the Ancá has no و مهره از مهرهای Farzin or distinguished, and if the existence and Farzan has been previously lost, it is entitled to rise to that rank, and Asiatic Journ.-No. 28. VOL. V. 2 X Rokh (or castle) at chess takes its name from this animal : in Sanscrit this is changed into Naucá or Róca, and signifies either a boat or car, and in Hindustani into Rot'h or Rut'ha: and it has puzzled all our etymologists, because they would not deign to refer to what could only explain it, a dictionary of the pure and antient Persian language: it has the same moves and power as the English rook or castle: thus Ostād Ansari: سترنگ جمال را تو شاهي يا رخ * مر اسپ کمال را رکابی یا رخ "Art thou a king or a castle on the chess-board of loveliness? art thou a stirrup or a rein to the steed of perfec tion?" For rokh signifies also a horse's rein. The sixth species of figure, called s píádah or foot-soldier in Persian, has the same moves and power as its corresponding English power; and as has already been remarked, on arriving at the extreme line of its adversary's checks, is promoted to the rank of farzan or general. In answer to the third of five questions put to Sadi by the Sahib Dewan, whether a person that had made a pilgrimage to Mecca, or one that had not, was the more worthy, he replies: اي اعجب پیاده عاج چون عرصه شطرنج بسر مي برد فرزين مي شود يعني شود که بود و پیاده حاج بادیه بسر مي برد و بدتر از آن مي بهتر از آن مي شود شود که بود ،، How wonderful ! that when the piadah, or ivory pawn of the chess-board, arrives at the top, it becomes a general, that is, it attains a higher station than it formerly held; but the piadah, or foot traveller on a pilgrimage to Mecca, is accomplishing the journey of the desert. and reaches its end worse that when he set out." And when Homayun Fal and Khajistah Rai reach the grove : شاه و وزیر بر یک کوشه بساط از مرکب سوداي اسپ و فیل پیاده شده ويي بازي از فرزین بند خیال فاسد برد و مات عرصه تعلقات رخ همت بر تافته در عجایب مصنوعات الهي و غرائب مبدعات نامتناهي تاملي مي فرمودند they are compared to the mover of the chief officers of the chessboard; and the Persian prose as well as poetical writers thus often allude to this most elegant of their sedentary amusements. Sir William Jones says, that the word shatranj, or rather satrang, has by successive changes been transformed into axedrez, scacchi, e'checs, chess, and check; but I think with Dr. Hyde, that the words chess and check are derived immediately from the Persian word shah, and that the name of our exchequer, and those chequered figures we see on the windowshutters of every ale-house, are derived from another common game in the East called pachichi, with which every English gentleman of Bengal has, in former days, amused himself in the apartment of his biby, and its checkered satrinj or carpet, in the form of a Saint Andrew's Cross, is a more appropriate model of it than the chess-board. In the palace of Agra they used to show a beautiful tessellated marble court with a gallery on one side, where the emperor Acbar and his favorite |