Iran (IMNA) - According to later Sasanian and early Islamic literary traditions, a celebrated intellectual exchange took place during the reign of Khosrow I Anūshirvān (r. 531–579 CE), one of the most influential monarchs of the Sasanian Empire. The Indian ruler is said to have sent an elaborate chess set to the Sasanian court. The pieces, richly described as carved from emerald and ruby, arrived along with other valuable gifts and a letter challenging the Persians to demonstrate their intellectual superiority.
Therefore, the Persians were commanded either to explain the rules and logic of the unfamiliar game of chess. The Indian monarch also appointed a learned envoy to oversee the challenge.
Khosrow I requested forty days to consider the matter, yet none of the court scholars could decipher the game. On the fortieth day, the young but accomplished vizier Bozorgmehr (also rendered Wuzurgmihr or Buzurjmihr) rose and declared that chess was designed as a model of the battlefield, a contest of strategy in which two forces engage with foresight and precision. He proceeded to explain not only the purpose of the game but also the rules, moves, and arrangement of the pieces.
The sources recount that the Shahanshah praised his vizier three times and rewarded him with twelve thousand gold coins. Bozorgmehr then played three matches against the Indian envoy and defeated him each time, demonstrating mastery of the new game.
On the following day, Bozorgmehr presented the envoy with another board game, newly devised by the Iranians. He challenged the Indians in return: if they could explain its principles, Iran would submit tribute; if they failed, India would acknowledge intellectual defeat. The Indian ruler requested the same forty-day period, but despite the efforts of his scholars, they could not unravel the principles of the new game— backgammon (takht-e nard).
Thus, according to the legend, the Indian court conceded defeat, and their king agreed to pay tribute to Iran, symbolizing the victory of Persian wisdom.
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