Reflection of the Historical Epoch in Miniature Sculpture of the 13<sup>th</sup> Century Mongolian Chess Figures

Abstract

The article is a continuation of the author’s research on Mongolian chess from the mid 13 th century published in Orientalistica 2018(1). It offers a description of the survived chess figures and dates them back to the reign of Hulagu Khan (1217-1265) or, more precisely to the time of his military campaign to the Middle East. The author argues that the chess were used for learning military tactics. The craftsmen who produced chess sets supplied the faces with the features of real kings. The Buddhist style of sculptures (chess figures) betrays that as a noen was presented Ogedei Khan (1186-1241), the monarch who built the capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum (Kharkhorin) in the valley of the Orkhon River.