Question

Role of Chess in the drama "TUGLAQ" by Girish Karnad

Answer 1

SYMBOLISM IN TUGHLAQ

Girish Karnad’s “Tughlaq” contains rich and complex symbols . Karnad skillfully picturizes the life and reign of Tughlaq through the use of symbols, Karnad heightens the effect of the play . The political ideas of Tughlaq will be explored through the use of symbols . The four major symbols in this play are game of chess , prayer , sleep , and rose .

The game of chess is the recurrent symbol in this play . It vividly shows the character of emperor . The game of chess symbolizes the political gamble. In scene two it is clearly shown that Tughlaq is a skillful chess player . The political skill of Tughlaq is shown through the game of chess . He plays chess not as a pastime but as a means of solving complicated problems . According to Tughlaq politics is a game for him and the people are the mere pawns in his game. The trick used by Tughlaq to defeat the people are the moves in the game . According to Tughlaq life is a chess board where the man’s only aim is to win . Aziz , a dhobi , is the other player , who also uses people as simple pawns to achieve his aim . Because according to Aziz politics is a profitable profession . The game chess also symbolizes that the whole kingdom is filled with problems which is as complicated as the game of chess.

Prayer is also an important symbol in this play . Prayer is a symbol of religion and idealism but Karnad shows the misuse of religion through this play . Tughlaq asks the Muslims to pray five times a day according to the Holy Koran but actually this divine time is used for politics . Tughlaq uses prayer as a weapon to shelter himself from wrong deeds . He uses prayer as a tool to kill his enemies . The Muslim chieftains and Sheikh Shams -ud- din , the pacified holy man , conspire to kill Tughlaq when he is at prayer . Earlier Muhammed too used prayer as a chance to kill his father and brother . Sultan is addict about prayer . Prayer also symbolizes Tughlaq’s corrupted life . The Amirs even try to assassinate the Sultan .The word prayer has lost it’s relevance in this play.

Another important symbol is sleep . Sleep becomes much needed and ever – eluding peace that the Sultan is hankering after and which perpetually slips away from Tughlaq . This sleep comes to Tughlaq only after the end of the play when he realizes that he has a companion in his madness and that is none other than omnipotent God . The sleep on one level represents the need for rest in man’s life, at the macro level it becomes symbolic of peace which eludes man often.

The ‘Rose’ symbolizes the aesthetic and poetic susceptibilities of Tughlaq , it later on becomes a symbol of withering away of all the dreams and ideals of Tughlaq .The rose garden is a symbol of the utopia that he wants his kingdom to be. It reflects the unbridgeable gap between man’s expectations and achievements . In this play Sultan plans a beautiful rose garden because he will be deeply influenced by the poems of Sheikh Sadi of Persia . But later on the garden is heaped only with the counterfeit coins minted in his kingdom.

Tughlaq himself symbolizes the contemporary political situation of India . He reflects the chaos , disillusionment and prevailing corruption in independent India . Daulatabad is a symbol of hindu – muslim unity.It shows the mistrust that is emerging among the Hindus and Muslims in Tughlaq’s rule . Through this symbolistic technique the playwright has succeeded in creating the right political atmosphere. Thus Karnad represents the universal thought and emotion in a beautiful realistic way

Answer 2

Answer:

• Tughlaq's political prowess shines through in chess.
• He does not play chess to kill time, but to solve complex problems.
• According to Tughlaq, politics is a game for him, and people are just pawns in his game.
• The trick Tughlaq uses to beat people is movement.

Explanation:

• King Tuglaq wanted to build a secular state and moved the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, a Hindu-majority city.
• His ideas about the economy were new, but he became a capricious tyrant and could no longer rule the kingdom.
• When it came out, writer U. R. Ananthamurthy described the idealism of the country as felt it reflected the political mood of disillusionment that followed in his Nehru days.
• But it was just as understandable in moments of crisis later in our history as it is now.

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