Chaturanga or catur, is an ancient Indian strategy game which is the common ancestor of the board games chess, shogi, sittuyin, makruk, xiangqi and janggi. Chaturanga developed in the Gupta Empire, India around the 6th century AD. In the 7th century, it was adopted as shatranj in Sassanid Persia, which in turn was the form of chess brought to late-medieval Europe. The exact rules of chaturanga are unknown.
Chess historians suppose that the game had similar rules to those of its successor shatranj. In particular, there is uncertainty as to the moves of the Gaja (elephant), the precursor of the modern chess bishop.
