Backgammon: The Ancient Game that Conquered the World
Various forms of backgammon have come into existence over the years ever since the ancient times. In the Asian continent, especially in Persia, the game that was known as Nard had been played prior to 800 AD. This type of backgammon made use of two dice in order for the player to move his pieces or checkers to different pointers. The board, during that particular era, was definitely made from wood, thus, the name Nard came about as this meant "wood". At times, it was also known as Nardshir or Nardeeshir. However, some believe that it had also been called Takhteh Nard which would mean a "battle on wood".
There exists, various explanations for the game's symbolism in one early inscription which says that the board stands for a year wherein each of the sides contains twelve points that in turn, represent the months of that year. Basically, the 24 points would represent the hours possessed by a day, and of course, the thirty checkers or pieces would then represent the days that are present in a month. Both opposite sides found on a die would signify the seven days in a week, while day and night correspond to the contrasting colors of the checkers.
T'shu-p'u was the first Chinese Nard game as many historians may believe. It is said to bear its origins from Western India, and came into China during the dominion of the Wei at about 220 to 265 A.D. It then spread all throughout various Asian countries, including Japan, where it was named Sugoroku. Upon the conquest of the Arabs in Sicily, the game then began to spread throughout European territories which included Spain and Italy.
Many cultures and societies named the game Tabula because of its Roman origins. However, the game of Nard has then been spread by the Arabs all throughout the Asian Continent. Nard was the Arabic version to the game of Tabula and has been altered a little bit, possessing more features similar to the Senat game that is said to have originated in ancient Egypt. The main difference in these two variations of the game is on how many dice are being used. In the Tabula game, there are three dice present, and in the Nard game, only two dice are present and being used. Eventually though, the usage of only two dice has become more and more popular in the Tabula version as well, and became more commonly used instead of three dice.
The backgammon game took over the world and was called different names depending on the country where it is played.