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70. Did they play mancala in the ancient Indus Valley? if so, what did their game boards look like?

Mayank Vahia
We do have some evidence of patterns that look like a board game but the evidence is sparse and we really have no good idea about what they played. We can only speculate based on locations that look like stadia, that may be they had races and other competitive games, but we have no clear idea.

Above: Mancala board and pieces courtesy of Shylling. The earliest evidence of the game is actually from East Africa, in what are now Ethiopia and Eriteria; the word itself is derived from an Arabic word, naqala. More at Wikipedia.

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