Mangala II

From Wikinfo

Mangala

First Description: Thomas Hyde,1694

Cycles: One

Ranks: Two

Sowing: Single laps

Region: Turkey

Mangala is a Turkish mancala game which was very popular in the 17th and 18th century. According to Metin And, a Turkish ethnologue, the game could be related to the "mancala" of The Arabian Nights (fifteenth night), one of the first literary accounts of mancala games. The game was depicted in Turkish paintings as early as in the 16th century. In Europe, it was first mentioned in 1694 by the English traveller Thomas Hyde. Mangala was also found by Peter Emund Laurent on Chios Island (now Greece) in 1818. It might have influenced Mandoli (Hydra Island, Greece) and Ban-Ban (Bosnia). Mangala has the same rules as the Baltic German Bohnenspiel, which originated in Persia where it was known as Manqala or Manqalat.

The classic Mangala is still known in Turkey. However, the Mangala played in Gaziantep in Southeast Anatolia is not related to it at all. It is rather a close variant of La'b madjnuni ("The Crazy Game"), which was played in Damascus (Syria) in the late 19th century. Other games also called "Mangala", but again with quite different rules, are known from the Bedouins in Egypt.

Contents 1 Quote 2 Rules 3 See also 4 External Links 5 References

Quote

"There is lots of strategy in this game, yet planning cannot be done when the player is playing since the transfer from one hole to another requires very speedy action, so thinking is done when the other player is playing."

Metin And (1979)

Rules

Mangala is played on a board, which consists of 12 holes dug into the earth. Initially there are six glass beads ("boncuğu") in each hole.

Initial Position

On his turn a player distributes the contents of a hole, one by one, in a counter-clockwise direction into the succeeding holes.

If the last bead falls in a hole on either side of the board, making a total of two, four or six beads including the last bead, its contents are captured.

If this hole is preceded by other holes which contain two, four or six beads, their contents are also taken.

A player must move if he can, but passes when his holes are empty.

The game is finished when all holes are empty.

The player who captured more beads wins the game.

See also

• Al-manqala
• Bohnenspiel
• Halusa
• Mangala I

External Links

• Metin And

References

Abu abd-Allah Muhammed el-Gahshigar. 

Hezār wa-Yek Shab (Kitāb Alf Layla wa-Layla). Baghdad, Sassanid Persia 8th-9th century AD.

And, M. 

Cocuk Oyunlarinin Kültürümüzde Yeri Ve Önemi. In: Ulusal Kültür: Üc Ayhk Kültür Dergisi 1979 (4).

And, M. 

Some Notes on Aspects and Functions of Turkish Folk Games. In: The Journal of American Folklore 1979; 21 (1) 44-64.

Hyde, T.

De Ludis Orientalibus. Oxford (England) 1694, 226-232.

Güllü, A.

Mangala Oyunu Nedir? In: Elbistan Kaynarca Gazetesi November 29, 2007.

Laurent, P. E.

Recollections of a Classical Tour Through Various Parts of Greece, Turkey, and Italy. G. and W. B. Whittaker, London 1821, 27.

Shoberl, F.

Turkey: Being a Description of the Manners, Customs, Dresses, and Other Peculiarieties, Characteristic of the Inhabitants of the Turkish Empire; To Which Is Prefixed a Sketch of the History of the Turks. R. Ackerman, London (England) 1821, 220-222.

Steingass, F. J.

A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, Including the Arabic Words and Phrases to Be Met with in Persian Literature. Routledge & K. Paul, London (England) 1892, 1333.

Tokuz, G.

Yüzyılda Gaziantep'te Eğlence Hayatı (Gaziantep Üniversitesi Vakfı Yayını No. 14.). Gaziantep (Turkey) 2004.

© Wikimanqala.
By: Ralf Gering
Under the CC by-sa 2.5 license.