Chaturanga

The name means the four divisions: infantry, cavalry, elephants, chariots. The structure of an Indian army is set directly on the board. The scholarly consensus places it in northwest India in the 5th–6th century, with the clearest earliest mention from 6th-century northern India. The branch that went west became Shatranj, and eventually chess. The branch that went east became Xiangqi and shogi. One board, moving across a continent and turning into a different country's game each time — this is the starting point of the longest journey on this map. Some scholars argue for a proto-chess existing sometime between 400 BCE and 400 CE, but this is not the mainstream view.