Mancala World
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Halusa
Other Names: Halusi
First Description: Thomas
Hyde, 1694
Cycles: One
Ranks: Two
Sowing: Single laps
Region: Iraq

Halusa or Halusi was described by Thomas Hyde in 1694 who found it at Tell Umayr (Seleucia-on-the-Tigris), eighteen miles south of modern Baghdad, Iraq. This mancala game is closely related to the Palestinian Al-manqala, the Turkish Mangala and, as it appears, even to the Baltic German Bohnenspiel, which originated in Persia.

Rules

The rules are similar to Al-manqala except for the following:

  • The game board has just six holes per row.
  • Each hole has six counters at the start.
  • Any even contents are captured, not just twos and fours.
  • Counters can be captured only from the player's own side of the board.
  • If, at his turn, a player cannot move, the counters that are left on the board are won by the player who moved last.

References

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

Copyright

Adapted from the Wikinfo article, "Halusa" http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Halusa, used under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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