Category:Caturae

Historical Background
Catura (Sanskrit चतुर or चातुर) is a Sanskrit word with various meanings. It may mean "of 4," "coach" (an enclosed carriage) or "clever," as well as "skillful at assuming different forms."

Caturaṅga (चतुरङ्ग) is roughly translated as "Chess" and is the same name of the ancient game developed in Gupta India during the 6th century. The literal translation is "having 4 limbs or parts" and is used to denote "army" in epic poetry, in which battle formations were divided into 4 parts.

Iratham, Kutharei, Sippoy and Yaanei are all playing pieces of the caturaṅga game. Among pieces currently not represented are the Minister or General (Mantri or Senapati), which is equivalent to the Queen of modern Chess, and the King (Raja).

Caturae denotes the plural and taxonomic title of this monster family; it represents a construction using Latin grammar rules, converting "Catura," in this case assumed to be a 1st declension noun, to the theoretical plural "Caturae" by adding the suffix "-ae."