London, April 7 Chess, often called the "game of kings", proved to be a great equalizer during the medieval era by celebrating intellectual ability regardless of race, according to a study by the University of Cambridge.
In "Chess and Race in the Global Middle Ages," historian Dr. Krisztina Ilko has compiled international evidence to highlight how chess subverted racial stereotypes and structures.
She traces the game's origins, with the Arabic "shatranj" and Middle Persian "chatrang" deriving from a variant form of the Sanskrit word "chaturanga" or "four-limbed."
This reflects the notion that the chess pieces were inspired by the four main constituents of the late antiquity Indian army – infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants.
"Chess is and remains a game of logic, where intellectual ability matters," said Dr. Ilko.
"Chess operated on a different plane where people could engage with each other as equals, regardless of their skin color. What mattered was 'who's smarter?', 'who can win?', not 'who's more powerful or socially superior?'"
"Chess boards immediately had two contrasting colors, and the opposing chess pieces were also differentiated through color. This allowed medieval people to project ideas of skin color and race onto the game," she said.
Her study highlights how the "Shahnama," a major epic narrating Persian history, contains an image depicting how the game of chess was transmitted from India to Iran.
Scholars interpreting the 14th-century illustrations have assumed that the Persians depicted the Indian ambassador with dark skin and baggy clothes to underscore his defeat to their vizier, the highest-ranking diplomat in the Persian court.
However, Ilko disputes such an interpretation and believes that the differently styled clothing helps to highlight his distinctly foreign identity.
"He is present here not only as a challenger, but also as a champion of the powerful Indian raja, a protagonist who transmits the yet-to-be-discovered game of chess and is thus positioned as a guardian of secret Indian knowledge," she states.
While racial structures and race thinking were present in the medieval period, the new study shows that these structures and ideas could be countered, and that intellectual ability could empower people to challenge them.
"Chess became a representation of the known world, the people in it, and how society should function through orderly moves. Chess was a powerful vehicle for people from widely different places, even civilizations, to interact with each other. It was an intellectual exchange," said Ilko.
"So much has changed since the Middle Ages, but chess is more global than ever. People still play chess because it's fun, and this helps us to look at the medieval period in a different way."
"So much of what survives and is taught about this period is religious. It is especially dominated by a Christian worldview. Chess reveals a more diverse and fun Middle Ages," she said.
Ilko, from Queen's College at the University of Cambridge, is currently working on a book entitled "The Pawns of History: A New Approach Towards the Global Middle Ages."