Ancient Indian Boardgames: Digital Documentation

Title (dcterms:title)

Unfinished Mancala, Ellora

Description (dcterms:description)

Etched games or games inscribed have been documented by scholars and board game researchers from many sites of India, both at religious and secular spaces. From sites like Lothal (Indus Valley) to game pieces found at Mohenjodaro, to reference of scholars at books like Sedentary Games and The Boardgame complied by the Anthropological Survey of India, etchings of game boards have been found on stone slabs of places where people gathered, in temple porches or floors of temples and stupa complex.
This is an unfinished mancala board documented from Kailash Temple, Ellora. There are other examples of other unfinished engravings documented from this and other sites which could indicate the graffiti or etched boards were not always measured or engraved perfectly. This board could also have been a subject of destruction or erosion due to age and lack of preservation.
The game of Mancala is considered to be one of the oldest games of the world, while its place of origin and the timeline is debatable. The earliest textual reference as stated by scholars comes from Kitab al-Aghani, or Book of Songs which does not directly mention mancala but refers to a similar game. These rows of cupules have been excavated in ancient sites like Jordan and many others including megalithic sites in India but their link as to being Mancala is debatable. This game has many variants all across the world and is popular in Africa, Asia, and parts of Eastern Europe. In India, Mancala is known by many names and the rules and variants of the game keep changing based on its region and according to the communities who play them. The number of holes in mancala differ along with the number of rows as well. In some variants the board is hand-drawn on a surface as circles with chalk or even cut holes on the soil to play the game. It is played with local seeds, stones or anything which is easily available as pieces to place inside the pits. The number of pieces per pit also vary from four to even twelve in some variants. This game is popularly a two-player game but some variants also show three players or even one in some case.
While there are abundant etched evidence of mancala spread all across Maharashtra, it has been stated by scholars and board game researchers that more recent memory of the existence of this game is absent from the region. Thus, the practice of playing the game or the regional variant belonging from this region is either lost or yet to be found.
The construction of the Kailash temple roughly dates back to the reign of Krishna I (756 – 774 CE) of the Rashtrakuta dynasty according to the Vadodara copper plate inscription. This copper inscription records and mentions Krishna I as the patron of the Kailashnatha temple and also mentions a shiva temple at Elapura or Ellora present day. This particular carving has been found beside a series of fire altars in the Kailash temple.

Alternative Title (dcterms:alternative)

Mow korkatia / Longbeuacha (Assamese ), Sat-gol (Hindi), Ali Guli Mane (Kannada), Vai Lung Thlan (Mizo), Kanji guti (Odia), Khutka boia (Punjabi ), Pallanguzhi/ Pallankuli (Tamil), Vamana Guntalu (Telugu), Chenna Maaney (Tulu), Pachgarhwa (Urdu), Til-goti, Chal goti (Mundari), Sat Gharoa (Bihar), Bakri (Chattisgarh)

Rules (dcterms:instructionalMethod)

Mancala general rules:-
Goal: The object of the game is to capture the most Stones/Seeds in your Mancala or on your side. It starts with equal number of stones or seeds on each hole or houses (5 or 6) The game ends when one player has no remaining Stones in any of their Houses.
How Players Move: The active player picks up all the stones or seeds in any of their Houses or Holes.
Moving counter-clockwise around the board, they place one stone in each of the next Houses, including their own Mancala.
Game Play:
Extra turns: When the active player places their last Stone in their own Mancala, that player immediately gets another turn.
Capturing Stones: If the active player places their last Stone in one of their own empty Houses, they get all the Stones from the opponent’s House directly across from the House where the active player placed the Stone. All captured Stones are placed in the active player’s Mancala.
Changing turns: When the active player places their last Stone in one of their opponents empty Houses or places their last Stone in any House that already contains Stones, the active player’s turn ends and it is now their opponent’s turn to be the active player. Players take turns until, after taking a move, all of either player’s Houses are empty. Any remaining Stones in a player’s
Houses go into their Mancala. When this happens, the game ends and the players count their Stones. The player with the most Stones or Seeds in their Mancala is the winner.

How to play Mancala

Contributor (dcterms:contributor)

Souvik Mukherjee and Adrija Mukherjee

Rights (dcterms:rights)

Creative Commons

Format (dcterms:format)

Graffiti Gameboard

Medium (dcterms:medium)

Graffiti Boardgame etched on Basalt Rock floor

References (dcterms:references)

Mancala- Digital Ludemi Project

Mancala Wiki

Pallanguzhi- Map Academy

Temporal Coverage (dcterms:temporal)

Ellora Kailash temple or cave 16 dates back to the 8th century CE.

Spatial Coverage (dcterms:spatial)

Ellora Cave 16, Aurangabad, Maharashtra

Variants (dcterms:isVersionOf)

Cenne Mane

Khutki Boia

Sat Gol Game

Gud Phale

Pachgharwa (five spaces/homes)

Düzalé

Kasadi

Interview with Professor Priya Sangameswaran (CSSSC): On Playing Pallanguzhi/Pallangudi in Palakkad

Rules of Pallankuzhi

Sat- Gharoa

Mawkar Katiya

Mancala, Pataleshwar (7)

Mancala, Pataleshawar (8)

Incomplete Mancala, Pataleshwar (6)

Baghchal, Pataleshwar (1)

Mancala, Pataleshwar (4)

Mancala, Pataleshwar (5)

Mancala, Pataleshwar (3)

Mancala Finished and Unfinished, Pataleshwar (1,2)

Unfinished Mancala, Ellora

Mancala, Karla (1)

Mancala, Bhaja Cave Complex

Entered by (dcterms:accrualMethod)

Adrija Mukherjee

Notes (foaf:status)

As the provenance of these etched boards are unknown, the exact variant and the rule of the game is difficult to trace.
While there are abundant etched evidence of mancala spread all across Maharashtra, it has been stated by scholars and board game researchers that more recent memory of the existence of this game is absent from the region. Thus, the practice of playing the game or the regional variant belonging from this region is either lost or yet to be found.

Tags (dcterms:conformsTo)

Mancala

Pallanguzhi

Ellora

Maharashtra

Etched

Stone

Incomplete

Two-player