- Ebony Maharajah -
I acquired a 3.5" Rajathan set in sandalwood and ebony in another lucky eBay buy. It's larger than my elegent small sandalwood set but not quite the mammoth size of my elephant king. This size is good for play, though I'm not a huge fan of the mix of round royalty and flatish minor pieces. This particular set differs from most 20th century Rajathan Maharajah style sets in that pawns are represented as figures riding horses. Rather than the normal foot soldiers they appear as smaller versions of the knights. Another interesting feature of this set is the asymmetry of the pieces. Except for the kings, each piece has a carved rider who looks to one side or the other. Minor pieces are not identical, but mirror images of each other. It possible to tell the king's knight from the queen's, for instance, throughout the game by the direction to which the rider faces. Half of the pawns look left; the others look right. Royal tusks and spikes are clearly bone. This is the only set in this style I've seen with such bits being large enough to identify their material.
Rajathan sandalwood and ebony set.
Ebony camel rider.
Opposing monarchs.
White queen.
Two elephant queens.
Three elephants.
Another pachyderm trio.
White knight and royal pieces.
Elephant kings.