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Mancala refers to a family of two-player turn-based strategy board games played with small stones, beans, or seeds and rows of holes or pits in the earth, a board or other playing surface. The objective is usually to capture all or some set of the opponent's pieces.
Kalah is a modern variation in the ancient Mancala family of games, the oldest known version having been found carved into a stone tablet in the 16th-century BCE pyramid of Cheops. The Kalah variation was developed in the United States by William Julius Champion, Jr. in 1940. This game is sometimes also called "Kalahari", possibly by false etymology from the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
Ba-awa is a variant of the game of mancala originating in Ghana. Although played in some of the same regions as Oware, it is simpler and in traditional societies is considered a game for women and children. Ba-awa is related to games j'erin and obridjie played in Nigeria. It is also similar to mancala game anywoli played at the Ethiopian-Sudanese border.
Bao is a traditional mancala board game played in most of East Africa including Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Comoros, Malawi, as well as some areas of DR Congo and Burundi. It is most popular among the Swahili people of Tanzania and Kenya; the name itself "Bao" is the Swahili word for "board" or "board game". In Tanzania, and especially Zanzibar, a "bao master" is held in high respect. In Malawi, a close variant of the game is known as Bawo, which is the Yao equivalent of the Swahili name.
Owela, also referred to by the Khoekhoe language loanword ǁHus, is the Oshiwambo name of a traditional mancala board game played by the Nama people, Herero people, Rukwangali speakers, and other ethnic groups from Namibia. It is related to the Omweso family of mancala games played in Eastern and Southern Africa. Although this is an abstract strategy game, the consequences of individual moves are so hard to predict that it can be considered, to some extent, a game of chance.
Anywoli is a traditional mancala game played by the Anuak people of the Gambela province, in Ethiopia, as well as in the Akobo, Pochalla and Jokau regions of Sudan. The name of the game means "bringing to life". Anywoli has similarities to mancalas found in Nigeria and Ghana, such as Ba-awa and Obridjie.
Aw-li On-nam Ot-tjin is a traditional mancala game played by the Penihing people of Borneo. The first transcription of the rules of the game was completed by norwegian ethnographist Carl Sofus Lumholtz. Despite its origin, Otjin is similar to african mancalas such as Ba-awa (Ghana) and quite different than most Asian mancalas.
Ayo is a traditional mancala played by the Yoruba people in Nigeria. It is very close to the Oware game that spread to the Americas with the atlantic slave trade. Among modern mancalas, which are most often derived from Warri, the Kalah is a notable one that has essentially the same rules as Ayo.
Hawalis is a traditional mancala game played in Oman as well as Zanzibar, where it is known as Bao la Kiarabu, with slightly different rules. It is closely related to African mancalas such as Bao, Njomba, Lela, Mulabalaba (Zambia), Muvalavala (Angola) and Tschuba.
Daramutu is a traditional mancala game from Sri Lanka. It was first described in 1909 by the British engineer Henry Parker in his book Ancient Ceylon (1909). Traditionally, the game is only played by women.
En Gehé is a traditional mancala game played by the Loitha and Kisonga Maasai groups of northern Tanzania. The game was first described in 1904 by a German soldier, Moritz Merker, who was serving in the Kaiserlichen Schutztruppe in German East Africa. Merker later became the first ethnologist to study the Maasai culture.
Enkeshui is a traditional mancala game played by the Maasai of both Kenya and Tanzania. It is a rather complex mancala game, and bears some similarities to the Layli Goobalay mancala played in Somaliland.
Isolo is a traditional mancala game played by the Sukuma people in northern Tanzania. The rules of the game come in three variants, respectively for women, boys and men.
Katro is a traditional mancala game played by the Betsileo people in the Fianarantsoa Province of Madagascar. The game was first described by Alex de Voogt in 1998.
Kiothi is a traditional mancala game played by the Meru people in Kenya. The word "kiothi" simply means "to place". This mancala is closely related to the Enkeshui and the Giuthi mancalas, respectively played by the Maasai, the Kikuyu and Embu people.
Lamlameta is a traditional mancala game played by the Konso people living in the Olanta area of central Ethiopia. It was first described in 1971 by British academic Richard Pankhurst. It is usually played by men. The name "Lamlaleta" means "in couples".
Latho is a traditional solitaire game played by the Dorzé people of Ethiopia. The equipment needed to play the game is similar to that used for mancala games, i.e., a board with 2 rows of 6 "pits", and 30 counters ("seeds"). The game was first described by British academic Richard Pankhurst in 1971.
Layli Goobalay is a board game played in parts of Somalia. It is a variant of the classical count and capture game mancala, which is one of the oldest two-player strategy board games played throughout the world. Layli Goobalay means "to exercise with circles" in the Somali language.
Mbothe is a traditional mancala game played by the Pokomo people that live along the Tana River, in Kenya. Pokomo do not traditionally build gameboards; they dig pits in the ground and use small stones as counters.
References
- R. Davies, Some Arab Games and Puzzles. In «Sudan Notes & Records» 8 (1925), pp. 137–152.