History of the Game
It is very difficult to trace the origins and the age of the Game authentically. The numerous fields’ variations that are known, prove that the game has been changing and developing for centuries, shaping more and more variations of existing games. They reflected religious teachings, cultural values, moral and spiritual beliefs of a particular society or group.
SNAKES AND LADDERS
A popular children's game “Snakes and Ladders“ is actually a simplified version of Gyān Caupaṛ (”The Game of Wisdom"). It was brought to England from India in the second half of the XIX century when its fame started to fade in its homeland. The Indian "virtues" and "vices" were replaced by English ones to reflect the Victorian doctrines of morality.
Both adults and children really liked this game, it was not only for fun and entertainment but for studying purposes as well.
In 1943 the game arrived in the United States and also gained popularity, which remains up to these days.
VERSION BY AN INDIAN AUTHOR
Anyone who begins to explore Leela comes across the book by the Indian author Harish Johari “Leela: the game of self-knowledge”. The book was published in English in 1975, it made the game popular again.
In this book, Johari described just one version of the game. He explained the rules and meanings of the squares, based on the Hindu culture he belonged to. The author tried to adapt and translate the names of the squares into modern and accessible language.
Due to Harish Johari nowadays it is widely believed that the game was created more than 2000 years ago. However, there is no scientific research that confirms this theory. In his book itself, Johari doesn’t provide any evidence on this fact either.
The name " Leela” is also not mentioned anywhere, except for this book. The most common name of the game in earlier sources is Gyān Caupaṛ
For convenience, we will continue to use the name, Leela, referring to the 72-square game Gyān Caupaṛ.
LEELA ACCODRING TO THE SCIENCE
The phenomenon of Gyān Caupaṛ that came from the East appealed to figures from academia as well. There are Ph.D. thesis and research papers on the history, origins, and meanings of Gyān Caupaṛ (Leela).
One of them is dedicated to a comparative analysis of nearly 150 unique and mostly unpublished game charts: starting from classical Vedic tradition to Muslim version and already mentioned modern childrens’ game “Snakes and Ladders”.
The earliest versions of the game of self-knowledge dated back to the VIII-XII centuries, however, the oldest Hindu chart of 72 squares can be traced back to the XVII century. Moreover, many researchers were looking for game charts all over India, or at least their mention in ancient texts. But without success.
The fact is the Gyān Caupaṛ game was very popular in India in the XVIII-XIX centuries and slowly went out of fashion by the beginning of the XX century.
More and more scientific sources agree that the creation of the 72-squares game was influenced by many factors, cultures, and belief systems.
As a result, we have a unique game full of benefits, energy, and knowledge.