Chaupar

Chaupar is a cross and circle board game very similar to pachisi, played in India. It is believed that both games were created around the 4th century. The board is made of wool or cloth, with wooden pawns and six cowry shells to be used to determine each player's move, although others distinguish chaupur from pachisi by the use of 3 tetrahedral (four sided) long dice. The game is usually played on a table or the floor.

This game is usually played in a bantering manner, and it is quite common for players to mock each other's play just before the chori's are thrown, or to attempt to distract their opponent by snorting, cracking knuckles, pretending to spit or making absurd noises to "curse" or spoil the opponent's turn.

If any of the players does not have his "thore" (to have killed at least one pawn) by the end of the game, then that player is known to have lost with a "bay-thoree" which is the most disgraceful form of losing.

There are famous stories amongst Mughals past from generation to generation about kings who played this magnificent game. One particular tale tells of a King who had 2 trained mice called "Sundhree and Mundhreee". This king would distract his opponent with details stories and tales. He would then casually pronounce "Sundhree and Mundhree"; at this point the mice would come and move the pieces around without the opponent noticing.

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Wikipedia