Chess History And Reminiscences
hereafter the same tribute from you; for man's true greatness
consists in wisdom, not in territory, and troops, and riches, all
of which are liable to decay."
When Naushirawan had perused the letter from the Sovereign
of Hind, long did he ponder over its contents. Then he carefully
examined the chess board and the pieces and asked a few questions
of the Envoy respecting their nature and use.
The latter, in general terms, replied, Sire, what you wish to
know can be learned only by playing the game, suffice it for me,
to say, that the board represents a battle field, and the pieces
the different species of forces engaged in the combat. Then the
King said to the Envoy, grant us the space of seven days for the
purpose of deliberation; on the eighth day we engage to play with
you the game, or acknowledge our inferiority.
Then followed the assembling of the men esteemed learned and
wise, the sages of Iran, and seven days of perplexity. At last
Buzerjmihr hastened to the presence of Naushirawan and said:
"O, King of victorious destiny, I have carefully examined this
board and these pieces, and at length by your Majesty's good
fortune, I have succeeded in discovering the nature of the game.
It is a most shrewd and faithful representation of a battle field,
which it is proper your Majesty should inspect in the first place.
In the mean time let the Indian Ambassador be summoned into
the royal presence together with the more distinguished among
his retinue, also a few of the wise and learned of our own court
that they may all bear witness how we have acquitted ourselves in
accomplishing the task imposed upon us by the King of Kancj.
When Buzerjmihr had explained the evolutions of the ebony and
ivory warriors, the whole assembly stood mute in admiration and
astonishment. The Indian Ambassador was filled with mingled
vexation and surprise, he looked upon Buzerjmihr as a man
endowed with intelligence far beyond that of mere mortals, and
thus he pondered in his own mind: How could he have discovered
the nature and principles of this profound game? Can it be
possible that he has received his information from the sages of
Hind? Or is it really the result of his own penetrating research,
guided by the acuteness of his unaided judgment? Assuredly
Buzerjmihr has not this day his equal in the whole world. In the
meanwhile Naushirawan in public acknowledged the unparalleled
wisdom of his favourite Counsellor. He sent for the most costly
and massive goblet in his palace and filled the same with the
rarest of jewels. These, together with a war steed, richly
caparisoned, and a purse full of gold pieces he presented to
Buzerjmihr."
The other version of the first receipt of chess in Persia, based
upon eastern works and perhaps more reasonable, if not resting
upon yet better attestation, records that Burzuvia, a physician,
and the most expert that could be found in the knowledge of
languages, and art and ability in acquiring them, at the request
or command of Chosroes, King of Persia, undertook to explore the
national work of the Brahmans and the famous book, the Kurtuk
Dunmix, and the result of his mission and labours were, after
considerable research in India, the materials for and production
of the Culila Dinma, a national work greatly treasured by Chosroes
and future kings of Persia, and which work contained the art of
playing chess. This work is said to have been jointly translated
by Burzuvia and Buzerjmihr the vizier of Chosroes and it is highly
probable that the latter did assist, and thus learnt the secret, and
this seems to form the most likely solution of the circumstance of
his unraveling the mysteries of chess as alleged, without the
slightest clue, to the amazement and delight of Chosroes and his
court, when it was received as a test of wisdom and profound
secret from the King of Hind. Writers who concur in or do not
dissent from either of these accounts, yet differ as to which should
take priority in point of date, the more reasonable supposition
seems to be, that Burzuvia not unwilling to propitiate Chosroes'
favourite vizier and Counsellor, reserved his knowledge from all but
Buzerjmihr in which no doubt he exercised wise policy and did
not himself go unrewarded. The chief Counsellor and vizier of a
great King was a desirable person to conciliate in those days, and
afterwards as is abundantly proved throughout Eastern history
and dynastics from the time of Abu Bekr, Omar, Osman, Abdullah,
and the Prophet, and later from Harun, and Al Mamun (786-833)
even to the time of the enlightened Akbar, (1556-1605), continued
examples are to be found in the reigns of the rulers through all
these ages where the real sway vested in the vizier who frequently
combined a great knowledge of learning with an extraordinary
capacity for war.
------
THE TEN ADVANTAGES OF CHESS ACCORDING TO THE PERSIAN
PHILOSOPHER, ARE THUS GIVEN IN TRANSLATION.
The "first advantage" of which the commencement is wanting
in the M.S., turns chiefly on the benefits of food and exercise
for the mind in which chess is marked out as an active agent,
intended by its inventor to conduce to intellectual energy in
pursuit of knowledge, for as the human body is nourished by
eating which is its food, and from which it obtains life and
strength, and without which the body dies, so the mind of man is
nourished by learning which is the food of the soul, and without
which he would incur spiritual death; that is ignorance, and it is
current that a wise man's sleep is better than a fool's devotion.
The glory of man then is knowledge, and chess is the nourishment
of the mind, the solace of the spirit, the polisher of intelligence,
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