of games in ancient period ranging from the various dice games to other board games. The use of cubical and oblong dice was common in the Indus Valley Harappan civilization (c. 2300 BC). Archaeological excavations have found gambling dice in monasteries and other Buddhist sites. The earliest textual mention of games in India is the Rig-Veda's mention of the use of dice (c. 1000 BC). Texts such as the Mahabharata indicate that dice games were popular with Kings and royalty, and also had ceremonial purposes. Cowry shells were also widely used. Another early reference is the list of Buddha games (circa 500 BC) which is a list from the Pali Canon that Buddhist monks were forbidden to play. This list mentions games on boards with 8 or 10 rows (Ashtapada and Daśapada), games which use floor diagrams (one game called Parihâra-patham is similar to hop-scotch), dice games and ball games. Ashtapada and Daśapada were race games. Chaturanga (which means 'quadripartite' and also 'army'), the predecessor of Chess, possibly developed in the Indian subcontinent or Central Asia during the Kushan (30–375 CE) or Gupta (320–550 CE) periods from an amalgamation of other game features and was transmitted to Sassanid Persia (where it was known as Shatranj) and China through the Silk Road. It was divided into four parts called angas, which were symbolic of the four branches of an army. Just like the real ancient Indian army, it had pieces called elephants, chariots, horses and soldiers, and was played to devise war strategies. Checkmate comes from the Persian term in the game, ‘Shah-Mat’, meaning 'the king is dead'. Another game named Chaturaji was similar but played with four sides of differing colors instead of two, however the earliest source for this four sided board game is Al-Biruni's 'India', circa 1030 AD. Historians of Chess such as Yuri Averbakh have surmised that the Greek board game petteia may have had an influence on the development of early Chaturanga. Petteia games could have combined with other elements in the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek Kingdoms. The game of Carrom is said to have originated in the Indian subcontinent. Though there isn't any particular proof, it is said that Indian Maharajas invented the game centuries ago. There was a finding of an ancient glass carrom board in Patiala, Punjab. Carrom gained popularity after World War I, and is still a widely popular board game in India.