This is a family of games which probably originate from Black Africa and are at least as old as the African Neolithic. They are played throughout much of the world today. People unfamiliar with these games often refer to any game of this type as Mancala. Several of these games will be considered separately, but a few words to regard their history in general are necessary. For reference, the games of this family are listed here:
Eson Xorgol
Kalah
Wari
Endodoi
Nam-nam
Conglak
Pallanguli
Gabata
Bao
Hus
Omweso
The Mancala family of games is almost certainly Black African in origin. The history of this game is largely unknown, but there are several indications that it is extremely ancient. Claims for any game as the most ancient board game known derived by humans are largely fanciful and the true game deserving this title may no longer exist, but mancala and its relatives are most certainly nominees.
Richard Leakey’s Neolithic Kenya boards
Sahara 3000 BCE
Ancient Egyptian structures, Temple of Kurna, Pyramid of Cheops,
A connection between agricultural sowing of seeds and Mancala
Mancala games spread regionally to the Middle East, Asia, just barely into Europe and into the Americas with black slaves. Variations of Mancala are played all over Africa. In general, two rank boards are found north of the Equator, and four rank boards south of the Equator.
Although there is not currently any proof for the hypothesis, several games historians have noted the similarity between mancala and games of the backgammon family and a theoretical connection must surely be considered. The geographical distance between ancient archaeological sites yielding both varieties of boards is not great and both varieties of game stretch far back into antiquity. The most common and more specific variety of this hypothesis states that mancala games are ancestral to the race games described here as the Royal Game of Ur, The Jiroft Games, Tau, and Senet. It cannot yet be ruled out, however, that the opposite is true and some variety of these games is ancestral to Mancala. It would be quite surprising, however, if this were found to be true.
A Mancala board is not one which is easily played on a two-dimensional surface. Further, almost any devotee of the game will argue that it shouldn’t. The boards I provide here should only be used as models to construct a more functional board for the play of this game in all but the most extreme of circumstances in which no utilizable materials are at hand (prison comes to mind). Traditional boards range from very elaborate carvings of wood or other materials to simple holes in the ground. The board consists of several cups (or pits) in which the beans (playing pieces) are placed and moved during a game. Each cup should be large enough to contain several of the beans. Also, each cup should probably be concave at the bottom for more ease in picking up the beans. In addition to the regular playing cups, many types of board will have a larger cup called a store at each end. These may be used to place beans captured and removed from play by their respective player or they may be incorporated into the play of the game.
Boards
Mancala Board
Gabata Board
2 x 6 with end cups
2 x 6 w/o end cups
3 x 6
4 x 6
2 x 3
4 x 28
4 x 8
The playing pieces are often called beans and may be exactly that, but many different sets of small objects may be used so long as they are easily picked up. Ideally, the beans are all uniform. Flat, smooth, or perfectly spherical objects are not ideal. Color or other distinguishing characteristics of the pieces is not important in Mancala as the pieces are always undifferentiated as to ownership. The players will always play facing each other across the shorter axis of the game board.
Sources