The similarity of some aspects of the game to agricultural activity and the absence of a need for specialized equipment present the intriguing possibility that it could date to the beginnings of civilization itself however, there is little verifiable evidence that the game is older than about 1,300 years. ![]() Among other early evidence of the game are fragments of a pottery board and several rock cuts found in Aksumite areas in Matara (in Eritrea) and Yeha (in Ethiopia), which are dated by archaeologists to between the 6th and 7th centuries AD the game may have been mentioned by Giyorgis of Segla in his 14th century Ge'ez text Mysteries of Heaven and Earth, where he refers to a game called qarqis, a term used in Ge'ez to refer to both Gebet'a (mancala) and Sant'araz (modern sent'erazh, Ethiopian chess). History Ī 10th century ivory board from MuslimSpainĮvidence of the game was uncovered in Israel in the city of Gedera in an excavated Roman bathhouse where pottery boards and rock cuts were unearthed dating back to between the 2nd and 3rd century AD. Almost 200 modern invented versions have also been described. Sometimes more than one version can be played in a single locality.Īlthough more than 800 names of traditional mancala games are known, some names denote the same game, while some names are used for more than one game. ![]() But there are also numerous variations with the number of holes and rules by region. This version has identical rules throughout its range. The most common type has seven holes for each player, in addition to the player store holes. They differ from other mancala types in that the player's store is included in the placing of the seeds. Toguz korgool or Toguz kumalak – played in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.Ī notable subtype of mancala are the Southeast Asian mancalas like the Malaysian congkak, Indonesians congklak or dakon, and Filipino sungka, among others.Oware ( awalé, awélé, awari) – Ashanti, but played world-wide with close variants played throughout West Africa (e.g., ayo by Yorubas and ishe by Igalas) and in the Caribbean.Kalah – North American variation, the most popular variant in the Western world.Hoyito, played in the Dominican Republic.Gebeta (Tigrigna: ገበጣ) – Ethiopian and Eritrea, especially in Tigrai.Bao la Kiswahili – played in most of East Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Comoros, Malawi, as well as some areas of DR Congo and Burundi.Also called opón ayò among the Yorubas of Nigeria.It is as well called vwela by the nyemba (lucazi) people distributed between Southern Angola, Northern East Namibia and Zambia. ![]() It is also called Omanu Guntalu in Telugu, played in rural areas of Telangana, India.Ali Guli Mane or Pallanguzhi, played in Southern India.Alemungula, played in Sudan and Ethiopia.Some of the most popular mancala games (with regard to distribution area, the numbers of players and tournaments, and publications) are: The name is a classification or type of game, rather than any specific game. It is among the oldest known games to still be widely played today. Versions of the game date back to the 7th century and evidence suggests the game existed in Ancient Egypt. The objective is usually to capture all or some set of the opponent's pieces. Mancala is a generic name for a family of two-player turn-basedstrategyboard games played with small stones, beans, or seeds and rows of holes or pits in the earth, a board or other playing surface.
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