bs ▁or ▁parts " ▁and ▁in ▁ep ic ▁poetry ▁often ▁meaning ▁" ar my ". ▁The ▁name ▁comes ▁from ▁a ▁battle ▁formation ▁mentioned ▁in ▁the ▁Indian ▁ep ic ▁Mah ab har ata , ▁referring ▁to ▁four ▁divisions ▁of ▁an ▁army , ▁namely ▁ele ph antry , ▁ch ari ot ry , ▁caval ry ▁and ▁inf antry . ▁An ▁ancient ▁battle ▁formation , ▁ak sh au h ini , ▁is ▁like ▁the ▁setup ▁of ▁ch atur anga . ▁ ▁Ch atur anga ▁was ▁played ▁on ▁an ▁ 8 × 8 ▁un check ered ▁board , ▁called ▁as ht ā p ada , ▁which ▁is ▁also ▁the ▁name ▁of ▁a ▁game . ▁The ▁board ▁sometimes ▁had ▁special ▁mark ings , ▁the ▁meaning ▁of ▁which ▁are ▁unknown ▁today . ▁These ▁marks ▁were ▁not ▁related ▁to ▁ch atur anga , ▁but ▁were ▁drawn ▁on ▁the ▁board ▁only ▁by ▁tradition . ▁Ch ess ▁historian ▁H . ▁J . ▁R . ▁Murray ▁conject ured ▁that ▁the ▁as ht ā p ada ▁was ▁also ▁used ▁for ▁some ▁old ▁race - type ▁dice ▁game , ▁perhaps ▁similar ▁to ▁ch ow ka ▁b h ara , ▁in ▁which ▁the ▁marks ▁had ▁meaning . ▁ ▁An ▁early ▁reference ▁to ▁an ▁ancient ▁Indian ▁board ▁game ▁is ▁sometimes ▁attributed ▁to ▁Sub and hu ▁in ▁his ▁Vas av ad atta , ▁dated ▁between ▁the ▁ 5 th ▁and ▁ 7 th ▁centuries ▁AD : ▁The ▁time ▁of ▁the ▁ra ins ▁played ▁its ▁game ▁with ▁fro gs ▁for ▁pieces ▁[ n ay ady ut air ] ▁yellow