Board games from the city of Vijayanagara (Hampi ... - Gioco dell'Oca.

Hawalis in Oman: a first account of expertise
and dispersal of four-row mancala in
the Middle East / Alexander J. de Voogt
Townshend (1979) hinged his theory of the African origin of mancala on the available
descriptions of Arab and Asian mancala games. These descriptions showed
little diversity for Asian games and hardly any examples of mancala in the Middle
East. The diversity of rules in Africa and the absence of four-row mancala games outside
of East Africa convinced Townshend to locate the origin of mancala in Africa.
Since 1979 much research in Asia has been conducted and our knowledge of the
diversity of Asian mancala rules has increased significantly. One four-row game has been
reported in Yunnan Province, China, although this did not indicate that four-row games
have originated in China (Eagle 1995). Information from Oman, Roman Asia Minor
and other Arab countries indicates that perhaps research should start focusing on the
Middle East.
Museum research has provided examples of game boards from Syria in the British
Museum (de Voogt 1997:20, 76-77), Egypt in the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam (de
Voogt & Donkers 2002) and Palestine in the University of Pennsylvania Museum (de
Voogt 2001:45). They are all two-row mancala games and the Egyptian variations show
many different mancala rules in the descriptions provided in the literature (Murray 1952,
Deledicq & Popova 1977) and in the notes left by collectors.
Hawalis rules
The mancala game played in Oman consists of four rows of seven holes. Each hole
contains two counters, commonly white stones or pebbles. With each turn the contents
of a hole with more than one stone is pick up and spread one-by-one in counter-clockwise
direction. The players play in the two rows at their side. When the last counter
enters an occupied hole, the contents of this hole is picked up and spread in the same
way and direction. When the last counter enters an empty hole the move ends, unless it
enters an empty hole on the front row in which case it is possible to capture.
If the holes directly opposite this last counter, i.e. one hole in the front row and one
hole in the back row of the opponent, contain at least one counter each, the contents of
both holes are captured and taken from the board. If the front hole is empty, no capture
is made, but if the hole in the back row of the opponent is empty, it is still possible to
capture the counters in the front hole.
The player who has lost all the pieces has also lost the game. If a player plays an endless
move, this player has lost as well.
One is not allowed to play singletons, i.e. holes containing only one counter. Only
when all the holes of the player contain less than two counters is the player allowed to
play singletons. In that case, the single counters are not allowed to double up, i.e. they
may not enter a hole already containing one counter. When it enters an empty hole in