History
It is a game of intelligence and strategy that was played with stones and wells in the past and is now mostly played with stones on a game board by two players. Game pits carved into rocks that are thousands of years old prove that Mangala has been played since the Bronze Age. It is known that the game was played in Saka, Hun, Göktürk, Uyghur, Karakhanid, Seljuk, Ottoman, Ihşit, Tolunoğlu, and Mamluk cultural circles. Considering the remains of mechanisms similar to the stone-carved Mangala found in Göbeklitepe in Şanlıurfa, the history of the Mangala game can be traced back to the earliest periods of humanity. Mangala was recorded in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List as a joint file of Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan under the name "Traditional Intelligence and Strategy Game: Togyzqumalaq, Toguz Korgool, Mangala/Göçürme."
Rules
Though there are many variations in Anatolia, the common gameplay today is as follows: Six rows of wells (pits) are dug into soil or wood, with a total of 48 stones. Two players sit opposite each other, each placing four stones in the six wells in front of them. Players move from right to left. The large wells (reservoirs) on the right and left are for collecting stones.
The starting player takes stones from one of their wells, dropping one stone in each subsequent well to the right. If the last stone lands in their own reservoir, they get another turn. If it lands in an opponent's well and makes the total even, they collect those stones into their reservoir. If it lands in an empty well on their side, they win both that stone and the stones in the directly opposite well of their opponent.
The game ends when one player has no stones left in their wells. The player who finishes first takes all remaining stones from the opponent's wells. The winner is the player with the most stones in their reservoir at the end.
