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MancalaWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Mancala
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

"Mankala"redirectshere.ForatypeofcooperativeinFinland,seeCooperative.
Nottobeconfusedwithmandala.
Mancalaisafamilyofboardgamesplayedaroundtheworld,
sometimescalled"sowing"games,or"countandcapture"
games,whichdescribesthegameplay.Thewordmancala()
comesfromtheArabicwordnaqala()meaningliterally"to
move".Noonegameexistswiththenamemancalathenameis
aclassificationortypeofgame.ThiswordisusedinSyria,
Lebanon,andEgypt,butisnotconsistentlyappliedtoanyone
game.
Morethan800namesoftraditionalmancalagamesareknown,
andalmost200inventedgameshavebeendescribed.However,
somenamesdenotethesamegame,whilesomenamesareused
formorethanonegame.
Someofthemostpopularmancalagames(withregardto
distributionarea,thenumbersofplayersandtournaments,and
publications)are:
BaolaKiswahiliwidespreadalongtheeastcoastof
BaoplayersinZanzibar
Africa,andanintegralpartofSwahilicultureoneofthe
mostdifficultgamestolearnbecauseofitsrathercomplex
rules
CongkakclosevariantsinSouthAsiafromtheMaldivestothePhilippines,knownbymany
differentnames(e.g.Dakon,Ohvalhu,Sungka[1])
KalahamoderngameplayedmostlyintheUSA(whereitissimplyknownas"Mancala")and
Europe
Oware(awal,awl)closevariantsareplayedintheCaribbean,throughoutwesternAfrica,and
inimmigrantcommunitiesinNorthAmericaandEurope
ToguzkorgoolorToguzkumalakplayedinKyrgyzstanandKazakhstan,whereitisconsidered
superiortochess.

Contents
1Generalgameplay
1.1Equipment
1.2Objective
1.3Capturing
2History
3Psychology
4Seealso
5References
6Furtherreading
7Externallinks

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Generalgameplay
Mostmancalagamesshareacommongeneralgameplay.Playersbeginbyplacingacertainnumberof
seeds,prescribedfortheparticulargame,ineachofthepitsonthegameboard.Aplayermaycounttheir
stonestoplotthegame.Aturnconsistsofremovingallseedsfromapit,"sowing"theseeds(placingone
ineachofthefollowingpitsinsequence)andcapturingbasedonthestateofboard.Thisleadstothe
Englishphrase"countandcapture"sometimesusedtodescribethegameplay.Althoughthedetailsdiffer
greatly,thisgeneralsequenceappliestoallgames.

Equipment
Equipmentistypicallyaboard,constructedofvariousmaterials,
withaseriesofholesarrangedinrows,usuallytwoorfour.The
materialsincludeclayandothershapeablematerials.Some
gamesaremoreoftenplayedwithholesdugintheearth,or
carvedinstone.Theholesmaybereferredtoas"depressions",
"pits",or"houses".Sometimes,largeholesontheendsofthe
board,calledstores,areusedforholdingthepieces.
Playingpiecesareseeds,beans,stones,cowryshells,half
marblesorothersmallundifferentiatedcountersthatareplaced
inandtransferredabouttheholesduringplay.
Boardconfigurationsvaryamongdifferentgamesbutalsowithin
variationsofagivengameforexampleEndodoiisplayedon
boardsfrom26to210.ThelargestareTchouba
(Mozambique)withaboardof160(440)holesrequiring320
seedsandEnGeh(Tanzania),playedonlongerrowswithupto
50pits(atotalof250=100)andusing400seeds.Themost
minimalisticvariantsareNanoWariandMicroWari,createdby
theBulgarianethnologueAssiaPopova.TheNanoWariboard
haseightseedsinjusttwopitsMicroWarihasatotaloffour
seedsinfourpits.
Withatworankboard,playersusuallyareconsideredtocontrol
theirrespectivesidesoftheboard,althoughmovesoftenare
madeintotheopponent'sside.Withafourrankboard,players
controlaninnerrowandanouterrow,andaplayer'sseedswill
remainintheseclosesttworowsunlesstheopponentcaptured
them.

AswanshapedMalaysianCongkak
boardintheNationalMuseumof
Malaysia

Atoguzkorgoolboardwithballs,
Kyrgyzstan

Objective
Theobjectiveofmosttwoandthreerowmancalagamesistocapturemorestonesthantheopponentin
fourrowgames,oneusuallyseekstoleavetheopponentwithnolegalmoveorsometimestocaptureall
countersintheirfrontrow.
Atthebeginningofaplayer'sturn,theyselectaholewithseedsthatwillbesownaroundtheboard.This
selectionisoftenlimitedtoholesonthecurrentplayer'ssideoftheboard,aswellasholeswithacertain
minimumnumberofseeds.
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Inaprocessknownassowing,alltheseedsfromaholeare
droppedonebyoneintosubsequentholesinamotionwrapping
aroundtheboard.Sowingisanaptnameforthisactivity,since
notonlyaremanygamestraditionallyplayedwithseeds,but
placingseedsoneatatimeindifferentholesreflectsthephysical
actofsowing.Ifthesowingactionstopsafterdroppingthelast
seed,thegameisconsideredasinglelapgame.
Multiplelapsorrelaysowingisafrequentfeatureofmancala
games,althoughnotuniversal.Whenrelaysowing,ifthelast
Awaleplayers
seedduringsowinglandsinanoccupiedhole,allthecontentsof
thathole,includingthelastsownseed,areimmediatelyresown
fromthehole.Theprocessusuallywillcontinueuntilsowingendsinanemptyhole.Anothercommon
waytoreceive"multiplelaps"iswhenthefinalseedsownlandsinyourdesignatedhole.
ManygamesfromtheIndiansubcontinentusepussakanawalaps.Thesearelikestandardmultilaps,but
insteadofcontinuingthemovementwiththecontentsofthelastholefilled,aplayercontinueswiththe
nexthole.Apussakanawalapmovewillthenendwhenalapendsjustpriortoanemptyhole.Ifaplayer
endshisstonewithapointmovehegetsa"freeturn".

Capturing
Dependingonthelastholesowninalap,aplayermaycapturestonesfromtheboard.Theexact
requirementsforcapture,aswellaswhatisdonewithcapturedstones,varyconsiderablyamonggames.
Typically,acapturerequiressowingtoendinaholewithacertainnumberofstones,endingacrossthe
boardfromstonesinspecificconfigurations,orlandinginanemptyholeadjacenttoanopponent'shole
thatcontainsoneormorepieces.
Anothercommonwayofcapturingistocapturethestonesthatreachacertainnumberofseedsatany
moment.
Also,severalgamesincludethenotionofcapturingholes,andthusallseedssownonacapturedhole
belongattheendofthegametotheplayerwhocapturedit.

History
Amongtheearliestevidenceofthegamearefragmentsofa
potteryboardandseveralrockcutsfoundinAksumiteareasin
Matara(inEritrea)andYeha(inEthiopia),whicharedatedby
archaeologiststobetweenthe6thand7thcenturyADthegame
mayhavebeenmentionedbyGiyorgisofSeglainhis14th
centuryGe'eztextMysteriesofHeavenandEarth,wherehe
referstoagamecalledqarqis,atermusedinGe'eztoreferto
bothGebet'a(mancala)andSant'araz(modernsent'erazh,
Ethiopianchess).[2]Thesimilarityofsomeaspectsofthegameto
Pitmarkspresumedtobeancient
agriculturalactivityandtheabsenceofaneedforspecialized
Gebeta(i.e.mancala)boardsinthe
equipmentpresenttheintriguingpossibilitythatitcoulddateto
baseofanAksumitestele,Axum,
thebeginningsofcivilizationitselfhowever,thereislittle
Ethiopia
verifiableevidencethatthegameisolderthanabout1300years.
SomepurportedevidencecomesfromtheKurnatemplegraffiti
inEgypt,asreportedbyParkerin1909andMurrayinhisAHistoryofBoardGamesOtherThanChess.
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However,accuratedatingofthisgraffitiseemstobeunavailable,andwhatdesignshavebeenfoundby
modernscholarsgenerallyresemblegamescommontotheRomanworld,ratherthananythinglike
mancala.
AlthoughthegamesexistedinpocketsinEuropeitisrecordedasbeingplayedasearlyasthe17th
centurybymerchantsinEnglandithasnevergainedmuchpopularityinmostregions,exceptinthe
Balticarea,whereonceitwasaverypopulargame("Bohnenspiel"),andBosnia,whereitiscalledBan
Banandstillplayedtoday.MancalahasalsobeenfoundinSerbia,Greece("Mandoli",Cyclades)andin
aremotecastleinsouthernGermany(SchlossWeikersheim).
TheUSAhasalargermancalaplayingpopulation.AtraditionalmancalagamecalledWarrawasstill
playedinLouisianaintheearly20thcentury,andacommercialversioncalledKalahbecamepopularin
the1940s.InCapeVerde,mancalaisknownas"ouril".ItisplayedintheIslandsandwasbroughttothe
UnitedStatesbyCapeVerdeanimmigrants.ItisplayedtothisdayinCapeVerdeancommunitiesin
NewEngland.

Psychology
Likeotherboardgames,mancalagameshaveledtopsychologicalstudies.Retschitzkihasstudiedthe
cognitiveprocessesusedbyawalplayers.[3]SomeofRestchitzki'sresultsonmemoryandproblem
solvinghaverecentlybeensimulatedbyFernandGobetwiththeCHRESTcomputermodel.[4]DeVoogt
hasstudiedthepsychologyofBaoplaying.[5]

Seealso
Listofmancalagames

References
1. InthePhilippines,theaccentofsaidwordinwritingthediacriticmarkshouldhavecircumflex,sungk.
2. Pankhurst,Richard(2005)."Gba".InUhlig,Siegbertvon.EncyclopaediaAethiopica:DHa.Wiesbaden:
HarrassowitzVerlag.p.598.ISBN3447052384.
3. Retschitzki,J.(1990).StratgiesdesJoueursd'Awl.Paris:ditionL'Harmattan.ISBN2738406173.
4. Gobet,F.(2009)."Usingacognitivearchitectureforaddressingthequestionofcognitiveuniversalsincross
culturalpsychology:Theexampleofawal".JournalofCrossCulturalPsychology40(4):627648.
doi:10.1177/0022022109335186(https://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2F0022022109335186).
5. Voogt,A.J.de(1995).LimitsoftheMind:TowardsaCharacterisationofBaoMastership.Leiden:CNWS
Publications.

Furtherreading
Erickson,Jeff(1998)."SowingGames".GamesofNoChance
(http://compgeom.cs.uiuc.edu/~jeffe/pubs/sowing.html).CambridgeUniversityPress.
Russ,Larry(2000).TheCompleteMancalaGamesBook.NewYork:Marlowe.
Townshend,Philip(1979)."AfricanMankalainAnthropologicalPerspective".Current
Anthropology20(4):794796.doi:10.1086/202380(https://dx.doi.org/10.1086%2F202380).
JSTOR2741688(https://www.jstor.org/stable/2741688).
Deledicq,A.&A.Popova(1977).Warietsolo.LejeudecalculAfricain.Paris:Cedic.
Murray,H.J.R.(1952).AHistoryofBoardGamesotherthanChess.OxfordattheClarendon
Press.
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Townshend,P.(1982)."Bao(mankala):theSwahiliethicinAfricanidiom".Paideuma28:75
191.JSTOR41409882(https://www.jstor.org/stable/41409882).
Voogt,A.J.de(1997).MancalaBoardGames.BritishMuseumPress:London.

Externallinks
AgreatintroductionfromMSO.

WikimediaCommonshas
mediarelatedtoMancala.

(http://www.msoworld.com/mindzine/news/classic/mancala.html)
Generalinformationon"CountandCaptureGames"
(http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/VirtualExhibits/countcap/pages/index.html)
Mancala,OwareandBaohistoryanddescriptions
(http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Mancala.htm)
Inpictures:Sudan'scalculatinggame(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8635258.stm)BBC
AnonlineversionofMancala(http://www.mathgamesplay.com/board/mancala)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mancala&oldid=671845025"
Categories: Mancala Traditionalboardgames
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