Changes: Katra Fandatsaka

Latest revision as of 19:28, 20 December 2011

Katra Fandatsaka

Other Names: Fifangha

First Description: Étienne
de Flacourt, 1658

Cycles: Two

Ranks: Four

Sowing: Multiple laps

Region: Madagascar

Katra Fandatsaka (from latsaka "to fall") was first described under the name of Fifangha by the French traveller Étienne de Flacourt (1607–1660) who observed the game among the Sakalava in the north-west of Madagascar in 1658. The Sakalava people, which occupy the Western edge of the island from Toliara in the south to Sambirano in the north. They speak several dialects of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages spoken in southern Borneo and are numbering approximately 700,000 in population. In 1909, the complete rules were given by André-Jean Dandouau (1874-1929). The game appears to be a precursor of modern-day Bao la Kiswahili.

Rules

The rules of Katra Fandatsaka are similar to Bao la Kiswahili. The following differences have been reported by Dandouau:

The game starts with the set-up shown below and each player keeps 26 seeds (fandatsoka) in reserve.

Initial Position

There are no nyumbas and, therefore, none of the rules associated with them which make Bao la Kiswahili such a difficult game to learn.
It is permitted to capture by sowing the contents of a hole, which contains more than 16 seeds.
It is permitted to empty the front row, but it loses the game.
There is no takasia rule.

Technical Terms

Many specific words and expressions are used to describe the game.

Malagasy	Equivalent term in Bao la Kiswahili	Literal English translation	English meaning
fanaovan-katra (1), fikatrahana (2), laharana (3), fanga (4)	bao	Katra base (1), (?) (2), alignment (3), Katra board (4)	game board for playing Katra
amparalakana	kichwa	end of the range	endholes at either end of the inner AND the outer rows
ati-trano	(?)	indoors	inner row
ambani-trano	(?)	behind the house	outer row
chibon	kimbi	natural hole in the ground	turning base (the two holes at either end of the inner rows)
ratolalaka (1), bassy (2)	komwe (kete)	stones, which cannot be compressed (1), ball (2)	nickernuts used as counters
vatolalaka	namu	(?)	1. storage for the reserve seeds; 2. reserve seeds
vary	(?)	rice	occupied hole
vary be	(?)	big rice	most loaded hole
fotsiny (1), latsaka (2)	kunamua	to move in blank (1), to fall (2)	playing a reserve seed
homana	kula	to eat	to capture
mandry	kulala	to sleep	move ending in an empty hole
mameno-atrika	utitiri (?)	filling the empty ones	special technique of defense and attack involving singletons in the front row
kamo	(?)	lazy	said about the loser

References

Dandouau, A.-J.: Jeux Malgaches. In : Bulletin de l'Académie Malgache 1909; 7: 81-97.
Flacourt, E. de.: Histoire de la Grande Isle Madagascar. Paris (France) 1658, 108-110.
Freeman, J. J. & Johns, D.: A Dictionary of the Malagasy Language. London Missionary Society, Antananarivo (Madagascar) 1835.

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 The rules of Katra Fandatsaka are similar to [[Bao la Kiswahili]]. The following differences have been reported by Dandouau:
-* The game starts with the set-up shown below and each player keeps 26 [[seeds]](''fandatsoka'') in reserve.
+* The game starts with the set-up shown below and each player keeps 26 [[seeds]] (''fandatsoka'') in reserve.
+[[Image:Katra-fa1.jpg]]
 ''Initial Position''
-* There are no ''nyumbas'' and, therefore, none of the rules that are associated with them and which make [[Bao la Kiswahili]] such a difficult game to learn.
+* There are no ''nyumbas'' and, therefore, none of the rules associated with them which make [[Bao la Kiswahili]] such a difficult game to learn.
 * It is permitted to [[capturing (game mechanism)|capture]] by [[sowing (game mechanism)|sowing]] the contents of a hole, which contains more than 16 seeds.
 * It is permitted to empty the front row, but it loses the game.
@@ Line 41: / Line 43: @@
 | bgcolor="#cedff2" | '''English meaning'''
 |-
-| fanaovan-katra, fikatrahana, laharana, fanga  || bao || (?) || game board for playing Katra
+| fanaovan-katra (1), fikatrahana (2), laharana (3), fanga (4)  || bao || Katra base (1), (?) (2), alignment (3), Katra board (4) || game board for playing Katra
+|-
+| amparalakana || kichwa || end of the range || endholes at either end of the inner AND the outer rows
+|-
+| ati-trano || (?) || indoors || inner row
+|-
+| ambani-trano || (?) || behind the house || outer row
+|-
+| chibon || kimbi || natural hole in the ground || turning base (the two holes at either end of the inner rows)
 |-
 | ratolalaka (1), bassy (2) || komwe (kete) || stones, which cannot be compressed (1), ball (2) || nickernuts used as counters
+|-
+| vatolalaka || namu || (?) || 1. storage for the reserve seeds; 2. reserve seeds
 |-
 | vary || (?) || rice || occupied [[hole]]
@@ Line 50: / Line 62: @@
 |-
 | fotsiny (1), latsaka (2) || kunamua || to move in blank (1), to fall (2) || playing a reserve seed
-|-
-| chibon || kimbi || natural hole in the ground || turning base (the two holes at either end of the inner rows)
 |-
 | homana || kula || to eat || to capture
@@ Line 65: / Line 75: @@
 ==References==
 ;Dandouau, A.-J.: ''Jeux Malgaches''. In : ''Bulletin de l'Académie Malgache'' 1909; 7: 81-97.
 ;Flacourt, E. de.: ''Histoire de la Grande Isle Madagascar''. Paris (France) 1658, 108-110.
+;Freeman, J. J. & Johns, D.: ''A Dictionary of the Malagasy Language''. London Missionary Society, Antananarivo (Madagascar) 1835.
 ==Copyright==
 ''© [[User:Mr Mancala|Ralf Gering]]<br />
 Under the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ CC by-sa 2.5 license].''
-[[Category: Bao]]
+[[Category: Bao Variant]]
 [[Category: Traditional Mancala Games]]
 [[Category: Africa]]