Oware - close variants are played in the Caribbean and throughout western Africa, also in immigrant communities in North America and Europe.Kalah - the only modern game, which has become a popular pastime (mostly played in the USA, where it is simply known as "Mancala", and Europe).Congkak - close variants in South Asia from the Maldives to the Philippines, known by many different names (e.g.Bao la Kiswahili - widespread along the east coast of Africa, and an integral part of Swahili culture one of the most difficult games to learn because of its rather complex rules.Some of the most popular mancala games (with regard to distribution area, and numbers of players, tournaments, and publications) are:. However, some names denote the same game, while some names are used for more than one game. More than 800 names of traditional mancala games are known, which are played in 99 countries, and almost 200 invented games have been described. Nobody knows the exact number of mancala variants. This word is used in Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt, but is not consistently applied to any one game. No one game exists with the name mancala the name is a classification or type of game. The word mancala comes from the Arabic word naqala meaning literally "moved". Mancala is a family of board games played around the world, sometimes called " sowing" games, or "count-and-capture" games, which describes the gameplay. The nighttime spirits of the ancestors would participate in this “electoral combat”, influencing their preferred candidate to win, giving their seal of approval to the new chief through the result of one or several games.Mancala → Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese. The Alladian and Baule peoples of Ivory Coast also used this game at night and behind closed doors to determine who would be the next chief. The players only play to entice and distract the soul of the deceased and any other lurking spirits. However, sometimes, people will take this risk for ritual purposes.ĭuring funerary wakes, mancala is played at night in Dahomey, for example. It is believed that an individual’s soul could be stolen, they could be cursed with sickness, their mother could die, if they were to play during the time the spirits are active. Anyone playing at night takes extreme risks in attracting malicious spirits and offending them with mortal play. At night mancala players leave their game boards and pieces outside for the spirits’ entertainment. When a Fon girl of Dahomey has her first menstrual cycle, she will seclude herself in her home for seven days as part of her initiation, which includes playing mancala. Women who want to give birth to twins will play against pairs of girls or boys. Playing with a girl will increase the odds of the baby being born female, playing against a boy will inversely make it more likely their baby will be male. It’s thought to have an influence on the sex of unborn children, so the Baule women of Ivory Coast play a special variant of the mancala game in hopes of influencing their child’s development. Mancala can also take on a more serious aspect. The Dogon of Mali do not encourage children to play mancala for fear that it will bring misfortune to the village, but adults playing the game seemingly don’t carry the same risk. For example, The Wolof of Senegal traditionally forbid non-initiated boys from playing. In certain areas, it is seen as a man’s game, and in others areas, men don’t play, making it a female game.Īlthough mancala games have educational value in teaching arithmetic skills, some places forbid boys or girls from playing. The rules of who is allowed to play vary from place to place. The word Mancala is derived from the Arabic word Naqala (na-ka-la), which means “to move” or “to transfer” It is widely believed that Arab traders brought the game with them when traveling and it quickly spread all over Africa and the world, but it is uncertain to know where the game first originated. The board was carved out of limestone bearing a striking resemblance to modern-day Mancala boards. However, the oldest Mancala boards were found in An Ghazal, Jordan in the floor of a Neolithic dwelling. Ancient Mancala boards were found in Aksumite settlements in Matara, Eritrea, and Yeha, Ethiopia. There is archeological and historical evidence that dates Mancala back to the year 700 AD in East Africa. Mancala is one of the oldest known two-player board games in the world, believed to have been created in ancient times.
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