By studying and checking the khatam kari backgammon of chess game experts, which is almost 1500 years old, it was first made in India and then this game came to Iran and then to other Islamic countries and then to Europe. According to researchers, the current rules of this game were established in Europe in the year 1550 AD and became the way they are today

But let’s go to how the game of chess first came to Iran, which is an interesting story. First, according to the findings of archaeologists, the oldest backgammon board that has been found so far was in Sistan and Baluchistan and was made during the Sassanid period, and the reason is that This game is also called lion backgammon because it is attributed to Handicrafts, the founder of the Sassanids

The story that is mentioned in historical books such as Tabari and the history of Sistan and in a part of the book of Ostad al-Biruni may be a little exaggerated and that the Hindus were taxed by the Iranians with a game may be true or false.

Due to the existence of exaggeration in some writings of the ancients and even historians, researchers with the science of archeology have come into action to confirm and determine whether this story is completely true or not. But apart from this, there is one thing that is clear: khatam kari backgammon has an Iranian shape and even its name, and this unique game was designed and made by Iranians

But the story of the origin of backgammon and chess in Iran is narrated in these historical books in such a way that during the reign of the Sassanids, during the reign of Anushirvan Khosrow, a person named Diversam the Great, who was one of the kings of India, tried to measure the wisdom of the Iranians and because his wisdom and wisdom to show more than Iranians, a checkerboard with beads made of emeralds and rubies along with exquisite gifts was taken to the court of the king of that time by one of his knowledgeable and wise people

In order to overcome the Persians, the great Indian king Diversam wrote in a letter to the Sassanid king’s court: Since you are our emperor, the wise men of your court must be superior to us. For this reason or manner, tell us what I sent to you (chess) and if you could not send us a ransom from now on

After this letter, Shah Sassani asked for forty days for his wise men to find the secret and method of this game, but none of them could find out the secret of this game, until on the last day, the 40th day of Bozorgmehr, who was a very intelligent and wise minister of the king, he was able to find the secret of this game.

He discovered and said that this game (chess) was made like a battlefield and two sides fought each other and the one who has more wisdom and knowledge is the winner of this field. also explained

The Sassanid emperor was very pleased with this and greeted the minister of knowledge three times and rewarded him with twelve thousand coins

How khatam kari backgammon was invented

In response to this game, the Sassanid minister made another interesting game and called Takht Retos of the Indian sender to him and asked him to find the secret and method of this game and bring it to him and told him that if they can understand the method of this game, we will pay the ransom. We will, otherwise they should be taxed. Diversam asked him for 40 days, but they failed to understand the secret of this game and paid the ransom to the Iranians

The very smart Sasanian minister made this game as an answer to the chess game, the way of designing this game is very interesting and creative, which we will tell you below. This clever minister has made good use of the symbols of that time and Zoroastrian beliefs

The philosophy of the khatam kari backgammon game is so interesting and strange that the Sassanid minister with his high intelligence made them from the Zoroastrian symbols and beliefs of that time.

The board is likened to the earth, the four parts of the board means the 4 seasons of Iran, the black and white seals on the board mean night and day, the number of seals for the game is the same as the days of the month, the rotation of the dice means the rotation of the sky and stars.

and also the movement of the dice in the game is likened to the movement of humans. And a very interesting point in the way this game is made are the seals, their entry into the game means birth and their exit from the board means the death of humans. There are seven pieces on each side of the game, which shows the importance of the number seven for Iranians, which the wise minister has well included in the game

Why are there 6 dice? Why not 5 or 7

The number one means the unity of God

Number 2 means heaven and earth

The number 3 means Zarathustra’s message: it means good speech, thought and action

But the number four is because the inlaid work considered the four elements of nature, namely water, wind, earth and fire, which are the source of life and life, as sacred because the existence of humans, sky and earth are from these elements and the rest of the blessings are derivatives of these elements. they knew

Number 5: Sun; Moon, star, fire, thunder (five sacred lights and the light of nature which is one of God’s blessings and in all religions God is considered a part of light)

The number 6 is because ancient Iranians and some religions believed that the world was created in 6 days or 6 stages

Note: Among the documents left from that era, which shows that this game belongs to the Iranians, is a silver dish in which Sassanid soldiers are engaged in this game

Summary: These two popular games are 1,500 years old in Iran, and the backgammon game was made completely by Iran, and the philosophy of making it in this way was designed according to the Iranian beliefs of that time. Nowadays, with the art of khatam kari backgammon , which is one of the original Iranian arts, very beautiful and elegant products are made by Esfahani artists, which will make the pleasure of playing in it many times. Dibaj players are at your service to buy backgammon and hand-made chess in Isfahan

khatam kari backgammon production steps

“Placing bone fragments with carvings in wood

“It is a tool that is made of elephant ivory and camel bone and other parts, and flowers and pictures are painted on it

“The art of decorating the surface of objects like a mosaic with small triangles, small triangles are made from various types of wood, metal, and bone

Shadervan Ali Nemat, one of the masters of inlay art, says: “Decoration of furniture and objects with geometric designs of small pieces of ivory, bone, metal, and shell

Ustad Mohsen Sani khatam kari backgammon , the son of the late Haj Mohammad Hossein Sani Khatam, says in the definition of this art according to his father: “Khatam means the end of a ritual

Khatam in today’s common way can be defined as follows: the art of decorating the wooden surface of practical and decorative objects using raw materials such as wood, bone and metal in the form of geometric shapes or knots is called Khatam. Because Khatam is the generator of knots, and originally khatam kari backgammon can be called a kind of king knot

The most important stages in the preparation of the seal, and carelessness and negligence in them cause irreparable damage to the body of this original art, are as follows

In the old days, the only unnatural color used by sealers was green, which was prepared by the rust color method. The use of different colors to prepare colored triangles became common especially since the access to raw materials such as betel nut and jujube became rare

Riding compound sixes and bars

The intended design is drawn and painted by the designer, so that the seal is wrapped based on it. Then they mount the sixes according to the plan

How to wrap the seal

The basic unit of khatam kari backgammon is a wire with a triangular cross section. We attach three wooden wires to three sides of a metal wire. We wrap thread around the resulting set to make it tight. There is another way that is the opposite of this process, that is, the wire is attached to the middle of the wood and three metal wires are attached to the sides. The obtained set is called “blade

When the glue dries, we open the threads and polish the work surface with a file. We stick six of these blades together to get “six seals” or hexagon seals. We wrap thread around the resulting set. After the glue dries, we open the threads and rub around it. At this stage, we stick six blades around the “six seals”. Meanwhile, a “star” appears. By applying the same technical method that was applied to the hexagon flowers, another type of rod is obtained which is in the shape of a triangle and is called toglu

Sticking flowers together and packing them

When the sealer has decided on the size and size of his seal work, he prepares lighter layers or bone cuts of different lengths (its width is 8.75 cm) and half of it is covered with pieces that are glued on both ends. The height of the work brings dust

The short hexagonal flowers and the trigonometric rod of the tuglu are attached to these boards or bones in such a way that all the spaces between the end pieces are filled

Then they put another khatam kari backgammon on it and they all put it between two clamp boards and put it in the gap that is cut in the tree trunk and is called Tang. Two wedges are placed in its empty spaces and both wedges are hit with a hammer until it hardens. This staple is called Tang Zangireh

Cut out the back packs and layers

At this stage, we attach two sticks with the same dimensions to the “two angles” on the back as well as on the “two angles”. This process is called “lining” the seal and it is done so that the seal does not break when sawing. We cut the lined seal in the middle and make two pieces. Meanwhile, on each piece of wood, khatam kari backgammon motifs stand out. We cut the back of each piece of Khatam obtained from step nine with a grater to a thickness of one millimeter

Longitudinal cutting of nets and mounting of sheets

The nets are cut and sliced ​​into thin slices, and this is done with a fine saw. The cuts are made in such a way that the first cut divides the layer of the two shades into two parts and the next cut splits the first layer and the process continues until twenty-four sheets with a layer of about 1.5 mm inlay on one side and On the other side, it makes 3 mm. These sheets are smoothed and sanded on a special sliding grate board and attached to the object to be decorated

The act of gluing is not done with a stapler, but the glue is applied to the thin sheets of inlay with the tip of a heated hammer

In many cases, special borders are needed, which are prepared in the same way: if this border has checkerboard designs, it is called Modakher

Finally, the inlaid surface is sanded and by applying sandalwood oil, its surface is resistant to moisture and water

Rougher and bigger seals are made from thicker sixes, which are called text. More delicate works are called (pereh varoo)

Installation of khatam kari backgammon 

In this step, we prepare the object on which the seal is to be installed. We glue the back of the khatam kari backgammon pieces and stick them on the work surface. When the entire surface of the desired object is covered with Khatam, we start to putty. Khatam putty is prepared from the combination of bone soil and silkworm. Then, with different files, we polish the seal

Geometric shapes such as triangles, rhombuses and semicircles are mostly used in Khatam motifs. Khatam makers make the shapes into beautiful patterns and by using all kinds of wood in natural colors of green, red, black, brown, as well as by using the color of oyster, bone and rice, they give a beautiful effect to these geometric shapes

In any case, the quality of Khatam depends on its fine patterns. The finer the patterns, the better the inlay. Also, the raw materials used and the master’s skill in wrapping the seal are also very important

Khatam backgammon