GUJAR KHAN: The ancient game of Chaupat, though vanishing, still remains popular among the elderly people in far-flung areas of Punjab, especially the Potohar region.

Having close similarity with Ludo, this game is common in Narar village of Kahuta, Mureed Phatik and Gul Perrha of Mandra and Chauntra and Chak Beli areas of Rawalpindi. One of the places where village folk can be seen playing the game for fun is the main market of Narar. During the cold weather, players stage the game indoors in a special room dedicated to it while during the sunny days a big tree on the hilltop village is the rendezvous for the players and spectators alike.

A visit to the hilly cottage showed that prominent players of the area were Ayaz Satti, Qadeer Satti, Shauket, Shahzad and Jawaid. They were seen busy playing on a cloth covered floor on which the cross of Chaupet designed on a coarse cloth was laid. The crafty of these players is Jawaid, who is dumb, but reckoned as a winning partner.

Raja Ayaz Satti told Dawn that Jawaid flanked with other players had special tours to Chauntra, Chak Beli and Mareed areas to have tournament matches with teams there. He said this game though vanishing among the social media addicted youth was still popular among the old folk who had made it part of their leisure times. He said once a person indulges in the game they forget their domestic chorus.

Raja Sher Ahmed Satti, another prominent figure of Narar, said Chaupet is played on a cross-shaped board, typically with four arms extending from a central square. The game is played by four or six players divided in two teams.

The crossed table is generally designed on the cloth and can also be drawn on earth by the ‘wanton boys’ while grazing their cattle. According to Mr Satti, in some areas it is also called as Chausar. Players use cowrie shells to determine their moves. The objective is to move all of one’s pieces (often represented by pawns) around the board and reach home. The movement is based on the outcome of the cowries thrown each time on earth like dice of Ludo.

Sher Ahmed Satti, who is well acquainted with the history of the game, said that the cowrie shell, also called as cowdy in local language, was used as late as the first part of the 20th century by poor people for money. The use was unofficial, not being authorised by the government as currency of the state, and its value fluctuated.

He said 50 or 60 might be worth a copper pais, which before World War II was equivalent to about half of an American cent.

Mr Satti said that this game had been common in the subcontinent since the times unknown and the famous Urdu/Hindi idiom, “Andher Nagri Chaupet Raja” (in the state of unjust and blind people, the champion of Chaupet is the ruler) takes its origin from this popular game.

Ahmed Satti regretted that this ancient game was vanishing as the young generation was obsessed with PUBG and other online games.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2024