Mankala (ገበጣ) is considered by game experts to be among the best games in the world. Mankala games are widespread. You will find them in most African countries, as well as in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Central Asia, and Arabic countries. They are also popular in parts of the Americas including eastern Brazil, Suriname, and the Caribbean islands.
Games of this type are thousands of years old. Game boards were cut into the stones of several temples in ancient Egypt. Other very old rock-cut boards were discovered in Ghana, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
The word mankala is Arabic for “transferring.” Stones or seeds are transferred from one cup to another on a board having two, three, or four rows of cups. In each region the game has its own name and its own set of rules. The two-row board is popular in North Africa, West Africa, and parts of East Africa, under such names as Wari, Oware, Ayo, and Giuthi. People in Asia play Sungka, Dakon, and Congklak on two-row boards. In eastern and southern Africa the four-row board game is most common, with names like Bao (meaning “board” in Swahili), Nchuba, and Mweso. Ethiopia has three-row versions called Gebeta (ገበጣ).
The game has been played by kings on beautiful carved wooden boards or boards of gold, and by children who scoop out holes in the ground. About four hundred years ago a king in central Africa, King Shyaam aMbul aNgoong, brought the game to his people, the Kuba, living in Congo. He induced them to give up warlike activities in favor of the peaceful arts. A statue of the king, now in the British Museum, shows him seated in front of a mankala game board.
From Math games from around the world