Ya kwa diteng

Lelapa

The sowing game family

How Kalah, Oware, Congkak, Toguz Korgool, Pallanguzhi, Bao and Omweso relate — the history and spread of the sowing games.

A carved hardwood sowing board photographed at an angle, its two rows of round pits empty and waiting for the first seeds.

The family at a glance

two rowsfour rowsKalahModern, from the older two-row gamesOwareWest AfricaCongkakMaritime Southeast AsiaToguz KorgoolCentral AsiaPallanguzhiSouth IndiaBaoEast African coastOmwesoUganda

Seven games, two board shapes, one shared mechanic. Position on this diagram shows region and board type, not descent.

Mokgwa o le mongwe, metshameko e mentsi

Sowing games are played from Ghana to Kyrgyzstan to the Philippines. They are not one game that travelled — they are many games that found the same good idea. The family page traces how they relate.

Two-row boards

Kalah

Sow counter-clockwise, chain free turns, fill your store.

Oware

Land on two or three, take the run behind it, never starve them.

Congkak

E e tla

Maritime Southeast Asia

Toguz Korgool

E e tla

Central Asia

Pallanguzhi

E e tla

South India

Four-row boards

Bao

E e tla

East African coast

Omweso

E e tla

Uganda