Bao is a traditional mancala board game played in most of East Africa including Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Comoros, Malawi, as well as some areas of DR Congo and Burundi. It is most popular among the Swahili people of Tanzania and Kenya; the name itself "Bao" is the Swahili word for "board" or "board game". In Tanzania, and especially Zanzibar, a "bao master" (called bingwa, "master"; but also fundi, "artist") is held in high respect. In Malawi, a close variant of the game is known as Bawo, which is the Yao equivalent of the Swahili name.

Bao is well known to be a prominent mancala in terms of complexity and strategical depth, and it has raised interest in scholars of several disciplines, including game theory, complexity theory, and psychology. For example, a 1658 account by French governor Étienne de Flacourt about a game played by the Sakalava people in northwestern Madagascar is sometimes quoted as the earliest reference to Bao, but scholars are more cautious about identifying Flacourt's game with Bao proper. phase, the player begins his turn sowing from the nyumba, he will only sow two seeds from the nyumba rather than its whole content; this is called "taxing" the nyumba.

The nyumba loses its special features the first time its contents are sown (taxation excluded), i.e., the first time the player chooses to relay-sow from the nyumba in a mtaji turn, or if it is captured by the opponent.

There are some variations to these rules. For example, taxing the nyumba is sometimes allowed only if there is no other legal way to begin a player's turn. Also, in some versions of the Bao relay-sowing of the nyumba in a mtaji turn is mandatory rather than optional.

End of the game

The game ends when a player is left without seeds in his or her inner row, or when he or she cannot move anymore. In both cases, this player loses the game.

Terminology

In Swahili literature on Bao, the following terms are commonly used:

  • kete: the seeds.
  • kichwa: the first and last pits in a player's inner row.
  • kimbi: the first two and last two pits in a player's inner row, i.e., the kichwa pits as well the pits adjacent to them. In some cases, the term "kimbi" is only used for the second and next to last pits in the inner row, i.e., kichwa pits are not included as kimbi pits.
  • mtaji: referring to a turn, is a turn that begins with a capture, and that may include further captures. Referring to a phase of the game, is the phase where there are no seeds left in hand. Some sources also use "mtaji" to refer to a group of seeds that, when sown, lead to a capture.
  • namua: the initial phase of Bao la kiswahili, when seeds "in hand" are introduced into the game.
  • nemo: the seeds in hand
  • nyumba: the fourth pit from the right in a player's inner row; usually distinguished by a square pit.
  • shimo (plur. mashimo): pit(s).
  • takata: refers to a turn that does not begin with a capture and, thus, that may not include any capture.

See also

  • Tanzanian draughts
  • Mancala
  • Omweso

Notes