Chaupar

Quick Pitch

Chaupar is an ancient Indian race game for four players, played on a cross-shaped board where you roll dice and race all your pieces from start to home — while sending opponents back to the beginning.

Hook

Picture a cross-shaped board laid out on the floor, four players seated around it, and the satisfying thud of cowrie shells cast to determine your fate. Chaupar is the older, more strategic cousin of Pachisi: you're moving four pieces around the board, trying to get them all home before anyone else does, while landing on opponents to send them packing back to the start. It was the game of Mughal emperors — played on palace floors with human pieces in some accounts — and it still rewards careful planning and bold timing.

Equipment Needed

• Cross-shaped board with a circuit of 52 squares plus short home runs for each player
• 4 tokens per player in four distinct colors (16 pieces total)
• Cowrie shells (traditional: cast a handful, count how many land with the opening facing up) or dice as a modern substitute
• Can be improvised with:
  • Paper cross with marked squares
  • Coins or buttons in four colors
  • Standard dice numbered 1–6

Setup

1. Place the cross-shaped board flat in the center; each player sits at one arm of the cross
2. Each player takes 4 tokens of their color and places them in their starting yard (off the board)
3. Determine play order — youngest player first is common, or roll to decide
4. Players enter pieces onto the board on their turn as their dice rolls allow

Rules

Objective

Move all four of your pieces around the full circuit and into your home column before any other player does the same.

The Board

The board is a plus (+) shape made of a central square and four arms. Each arm has a column of squares. Pieces travel around the outer edge of the arms in a fixed direction, then turn up the center column of their own arm to reach home.

Moving

On your turn, cast the cowrie shells (or roll the dice). The result tells you how many squares to move one piece. In the cowrie shell version, the number that counts is the number of shells landing with the opening face-up:

• 0 shells face-up: move 25 squares (a rare and powerful roll)
• 1 shell: move 1 square
• 2 shells: move 2 squares
• 3 shells: move 3 squares
• 4 shells: move 4 squares
• 5 shells: move 5 squares
• 6 shells: move 6 (or 7 in some variants)

With standard dice, simply use the number rolled. You may split a roll to move two different pieces.

Entering Pieces

Pieces begin off the board. To enter a piece, you must roll a 6 (or a "grace" roll in the cowrie version). Once on the board, pieces travel the circuit in the standard direction.

Capturing

If your piece lands on a square occupied by an opponent's piece, the opponent's piece is sent back off the board — it must re-enter from the start. Your piece lands safely in its place.

Safe Squares

Certain squares on the board are safe (usually marked with an X or star on traditional boards). A piece on a safe square cannot be captured by an opponent.

Blockades

If two of your own pieces occupy the same square, they form a blockade. Opponent pieces cannot pass through or land on a blockaded square.

Going Home

Once a piece has traveled the full circuit and reached the base of its home column, it travels up the column toward the center home square. A piece must reach home by an exact roll. The first player to bring all four pieces home wins.