Historical background

Historical background

The game of Awale (or Awele, Ajwa, Lela, Chisolo, Kalak, Oware, Coo, Coro Bawo, Nocholokoto, Dara, Congkak, Mancala, Bawo, Omweeso, Adita-ta, Kasonko, Layo, Gilberta, Schach, Wari, Walle ...) is one of the oldest strategy games. It seems to have come from Ethiopia, and to have spread gradually to all of Africa.
Awale is a "plank game" (mancala). It is played with an hollowed wood plank and some stones or seeds.

Nowadays, Awale can be found in almost every African region. Several variations on this game exist. With Awale, you'll be able to play some of the most well-known variations, proposed by Awale specialists like François Pingaud or Kanga Ballou. (See Bibliography).

But if you know an Awale variation that is not present in the current version, you can define it and sent it to us so that we integrate it in the next release.
Doing so, you contribute to a database collecting (and offering) all the rules of Awale played over the world.
Send your files to : awale@myriad-online.com
If you want to meet other Awale players, consult our list of planned competitions, in paragraph The World of Awale. As well, if you organize an "Awale day" in your town, contact us !

"Until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter"
(Nigeria : Igbo proverb)