How to play
Armies. Four armies sit in the four corners of an unchequered 8×8 board, each with a Rajah (king), a Gaja (elephant), a Ghoda (horse), a Rath (chariot) and four Padas (foot soldiers) in front. Play goes clockwise.
The dice. Each turn throw two long dice with faces 1, 2, 5 and 6. A 1 lets you move a Rath, a 2 a Ghoda, a 5 a Gaja, and a 6 a Rajah or a Pada. Use each die once, in either order, or leave one unused. A die whose piece cannot move is lost.
Moves. The Rajah steps one square in any direction, and once in the game may leap like a horse. The Gaja slides any distance along a rank or file. The Ghoda leaps in an L. The Rath leaps exactly two squares diagonally, over anything in between. Padas step one square straight ahead and capture one square diagonally ahead; a Pada reaching the far edge becomes the piece that began the game on that square, or a Ghoda if none did.
Letters. K is the Rajah, E the Gaja (elephant), H the Ghoda (horse), C the Rath (chariot) and p a Pada. A thin coloured ring marks a piece serving a new master.
Capturing. Move onto an enemy piece to take it. There is no check: a Rajah is captured like any other piece. When a Rajah falls, the rest of that army passes into the captor's command, and the defeated player drops out.
Winning. The first player to capture two enemy Rajahs is Maharajah and wins. With only two armies playing, one Rajah is enough.
Some traditions let a defeated player negotiate for the return of captured pieces; that diplomacy is left to the table.