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Evidence in Somaliland Coast
1 pieces of evidence found.
Id DLP.Evidence.1424
Type Ethnography
Game Tamman
Date 1931-01-01 - 1931-12-31
Rules 5x5 board; the central row and colum being slightly wider than the others. Two to four players. Four pieces per player. Pieces begin on one of the central squares around the perimeter of the squares; if there are two players, they begin from opposite sides. Four cowrie shells are used as dice, with the count of the throw determined by the number of mouths which land face-up, with none facing up equaling 8. A throw of 4 gives the player another throw, and a throw of 8 gives the player two extra throws, but if these both also result in 8, the score is 0. Only the first throw matters for winning extra throws. Pieces move anti-clockwise from their origin pojnt around the perimeter of the square, until they come to the final square before returning to the origin point. They then turn left and proceed around the inner perimeter of squares in a clockwise direction, until the space directly between the origin point and the central square, from which the pieces proceed to the center. When a piece overtakes a piece owned by the opponent, and the opponent's piece is not on one of the central squares of the perimeter, the opponent's pieces are sent back to the origin point, and the player is awarded an extra throw for each piece sent back. The first player to place their four pieces in the center wins.
Content "Tamman (coast). Related to Hindu Pacisi. A rough checker of 5x5 squares is drawn on the ground—usually on a firm stretch of sand on the beach. The middle rows are somewhat broader than the others, and their squares bear distinctive names: A = 'ayn, in Arabic, "spring," or "eye"; B= dafandaf; C = habarti, "the mother." Each player has four men of a distinctive kind (stones, shells, pieces of wood, etc), which he places on one of the 'ayn. If only two people are playing they choose two 'ayn opposite each other, but if there re four players all four 'ayn are occupied. Instead of dice, four cowire-shells are thrown, and the way they fall determines the number of squares each is entitled to move. The five possible combinations are called by corrupted for of Arabic numerals:— tamman, no aperture upwards—counts as 8 points. wahid, 1 aperture upwards— counts as 1 point. Tinteyn, 2 apertures upwards—counts as 2 points. talad, 3 apertures upwards—counts as 3 points. waraq, 4 apertures upwards—counts as 4 points. Each person throws the cowries once, in turn, but if a warbaq turns up, he is entitles to an extra throw; if a tamman, he makes two extra throws but should these bring two more tamman, the total of his points is brought down to 0 A second warbaq or tamman does not entitle to any extra throw. If a man passes over other men which are of a different colour from his own, and which are not in one of the 'ayn, it is called suldan ("sultan") and each overtaken stone is a qabid (Arabic, "slave"): the slve has to go back to his 'ayn of origin, and the owner of the suldan can make an extra throw for every slave he has made. Each man must travel anti-clockwise round the outer row of squares, then clockwise round the inner one before it reaches habarti. The one whose four men get to habarti first wins the game." Marin 1931: 510-511.
Confidence 100
Source Marin, G. 1931. Somali Games. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 61: 499-511.
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