An illustration depicting the game of Snakes and Ladders, North-west or Western India, early 19th century

The game of Snakes and Ladders originated in medieval India where it was known as moksha patam, part of a family of games played using dice including chaupar and pachisi. The game is seen as a representation of man’s upward course in religious life. A person can attain salvation (moksha) through performing good deeds or be reborn as lower forms of life due to bad deeds. The ladders in the game symbolise virtues and the snakes are vices. The chart in the present illustration comprises 128 squares, each labelled and numbered in Sankrit with a translation in English below. The game begins at the bottom left corner and finishes at square 124 which is occupied here by a seated figure of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The players ascend the squares through states associated with hell, to moral and spiritual states, finally arriving at the squares associated with salvation and enlightenment. The ladders connect the ‘good’ squares and accelerate the players’ ascent while the snakes connect the ‘bad’ ones reversing their progress.

The present lot is very similar to an illustration of Snakes and Ladders in the collection of the Royal Asiatic Society in London (RAS 051.001; Head 1991, pp.141-2). Donated by Major Henry Dundas Robertson on 16 April 1831, it is thought to have been painted in Nagpur, Maharashtra in Western India and dated to circa 1800. It is painted on paper mounted on cloth, like the present example, and is of similar size.