Mancala
may well be the oldest game in the world since, like Morris variations, it can
be easily played with whatever medium happens to be around. For instance, African
people often play using hollows scooped into the earth with pebbles, rings in
the sand with cowrie or other seashells or specially carved wooden board with
seeds. It is a wholly mathematical game and its more complex versions have as
much scope as Chess despite its primitive origins.
Stone Mancala boards have been found carved into the roofs of temples in Memphis, Thebes and Luxor - the game was definitely being played in Egypt before 1400BC. It appears that the game might have evolved in Egypt from boards and counters which were used for accounting and stock taking; evidence for such record keeping boards having been found in even more Ancient Sumeria as well as Ancient Egypt.
Mancala variations are played all over Africa, the two rank Mancala board generally
being found north of the equator, the four rank boards, South of the Equator.
They also are to be found throughout the Caribbean and on the East Coast of
South America having emigrated with by slaves during the colonial expansion
era. There are also versions in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Philippines.
Mancala is played by literally hundreds of tribes throughout Africa, most of whom play their own slightly different variation and have their own special name for it. In fact, to exemplify the difficulty in delving into this subject, here are some variants of the name 'Wari':
Wari, Warri, Ware, Walle, Awari, Aware, Awaoley, Awele, Oware, Owari, Wouri
To
confuse things further, some names of Mancala games are generic referring to
all Mancala games in a particular region rather than a particular variant. Generic
names include Bao, Soro (Choro or Solo), Mangola, Gabata, Mulabalaba, Ayo and
Sadeqa. Of course these can refer to specific variants, too.
The two best know Mancala games are Ayo from Nigeria and Wari which is played without much variation across West Africa and much of the Caribbean.
There are several main ways that Mancala games differ from one another. Most obviously the number of rows on the board differentiates Mancala games into three sorts - two rank, three rank and four rank Mancala.
A second important differentiate is whether the game is single lap, multiple
lap or has "Indian-style" laps. In single lap games, a go consists
of the seeds from one hole being picked up and placed in subsequent holes. 
In
multiple lap games, if the last seed placed is in a hole already containing
one or more seeds, the contents of this hole are then picked up and the seeds
distributed in the same way again. A player's turn only comes to an end when
the last seed of a 'lap' ends up in an empty hole. Indian style laps are multiple
laps but at the end of each lap, the seeds from the hole following the hole
in which the last laps' final seed was placed are taken for the next lap. The
turn finishes when the hole following the hole in which lap's final seed was
placed is empty.
In Uganda,
they play Omweso, a four-rank game of some skill. The boards pictured were on
show at the 4th Mind Sport Olympiad, Alexandra Palace, London, August, 2000.
The rectangular board is typical of a Ugandan board while the other board is
more ornate folding up to show a carved elephant and give a carrying handle.
The game pieces are Empiki seeds. These come from the Omuyiki tree and are light
but very hard.
The Sri Lankans play a game called "Olinda Kaliya"
which uses Indian Style laps. The characteristic seeds used for the
game, bright scarlet with black tips, are from this Olinda bush.
A typical Olinda Kaliya board belonging to the author is shown below.To the right is an Olinda bush observed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.Bottom right is a Sri Lankan table pictured in the reception of the Kandalama Hotel, Sri Lanka. It is made from Mahogany and is designed in the form of an Olinda Kaliya board. The author is now the proud owner of this table - and the larger than life playing seeds that go with it. |
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The rules for Oware and a quite complex version of Bao can be obtained from Masters Games.
Omweso, the national game of Uganda - a truly marvellous country.
Play Mancala on-line from Brian Casey
Mancala Games from Hans Bodlaender - lots of links and info.
Congklak - traditional game of Indonesia from an ex-pat
Some Bao rules from The Games Cabinet
African Games and Links from Edward Brisse
Mancala Boards of the British Museum by Patty A. Hardy - great pictures!
Museum and Archive of Games in Ontario. More info from another excellent museum
Moraba-raba from the 1999 guide to South African arts, culture and heritage.
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