The Board Game Kalaha – Mancala (Kalaha – Mancala) is a strategy board game for 2 players, which originated from Babylon, Egypt, and Arabia and then spread to both the West and East.

It is the general name for many turn-based strategy board games for 2 players. It is played with small stones, beans, or seeds and rows of holes or pits in the ground, a board, or another playing surface. Stones are placed in the holes and moved around in a loop, with the main objective being to capture more marbles than your opponent.

The "Mancala" category includes many popular games:

• Ali Guli Mane or Pallanguzhi: Played in Southern India.
• Omanu guntalu in Telugu: Played in rural areas of Telangana, India.
• Bao la Swahili: Played in most of East Africa – Kenya, Tanzania, the Comoros, Malawi, and some areas of the Congo and Burundi.
• Congkak: In South Asia from the Maldives to the Philippines, also known as Dakon, Ohvalhu, Sungka, etc.
• Kalah: In North America it is the most popular variant in the Western world.
• Oware (awalé, awélé): In Ashanti, worldwide, all over West Africa, and in the Caribbean.
• Toguz korgool or Toguz kumalak: Played in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

There are more than 800 names for traditional mancala games and 200 names for new games. A study of the rules of mancala provided information about its distribution, which is connected to migration routes spanning hundreds of years. The game was played in Egypt for more than 1,000 years BC and spread to other parts of Africa, apparently by traders traveling on the Nile.

The word mancala (منقلة) comes from the Arabic word naqala (نقلة), which literally means “movement.” It is not the name of a specific game, but of the whole category of games it includes. The name is used in Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt, but it does not always refer to the same game and sometimes is also used for backgammon. It is a game that first appeared in Africa and later in ancient Near East.

General rules: Most mancala games are played in the same way. Players begin by placing a certain number of stones, as defined by each game, in every hole of the base. Each player can count the stones to plan their play. The gameplay involves removing all stones from a pit, “sowing” the stones (sequencing one stone per hole), and capturing. The English describe the play as “count and capture.” Although the details differ quite a bit, this general sequence applies to all games.

Earlier evidence for the existence of the game are ceramic fragments and carved stone boards found in Axumite areas in Matara (Eritrea) and Yeha (Ethiopia), which date back to the 6th and 7th centuries AD, respectively. The inspiration for the game comes from agricultural activity and its simplicity connects it to the beginnings of civilization. However, there is no evidence for more than 1,300 years of existence.

For many historians, mancala is the oldest game in the world based on archaeological findings found in Jordan dating to around 6,000 BC. The game may have already been played by the ancient Nabataeans.

In the Baltic Sea region it was played as bohnenspiel and in Bosnia it is still played as ban-ban. In Serbia and Greece, mancala has been found (“Mandoli” in the Cyclades). Two Mancala boards from the early 18th century are located at Weikersheim Castle in southern Germany.

In the United States it is very popular among a large part of the population. A mancala game called “warra” was still played in Louisiana in the early 20th century and a commercial version called “kalah” became popular in the 1940s.

Comes with instructions in Greek and English.

PLAYERS: 2

AGES: From 6 to 108 years old.

Includes 72 wooden marbles on a wooden base – folding case.

Size: 13.2 x 24.4 and height 4.8 cm.