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| - Congkak is short for Main Congkak (in Indonesia: Congklak; attention: "congkak" means in Indonesian "arrogant"!). Congklak is Indonesian for "cowrie shell", but some people believe that actually the name of the game originated from the word congak, which in old Malay Language means mental calculation (without writing it down). Congkak is a popular mancala game in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia. Minor variations are played on Java (Dakon), the Philippines (Sungka), the Marianas (Chongka'), southern Thailand (Tungkayon), the Maldives (Ohvalhu) and Sri Lanka (Chonka).
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| abstract
| - Congkak is short for Main Congkak (in Indonesia: Congklak; attention: "congkak" means in Indonesian "arrogant"!). Congklak is Indonesian for "cowrie shell", but some people believe that actually the name of the game originated from the word congak, which in old Malay Language means mental calculation (without writing it down). Congkak is a popular mancala game in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia. Minor variations are played on Java (Dakon), the Philippines (Sungka), the Marianas (Chongka'), southern Thailand (Tungkayon), the Maldives (Ohvalhu) and Sri Lanka (Chonka). Many Indonesians believe that the game originated in Malacca Kingdom where it became very popular and spread to the South East Asia region. This spread was due to the many travelers who visited the kingdom because it was a trading city. In the early days, Congkak was mostly played by the royal family and palace residents, however later it spread to the general population of the kingdom and today it is usually played by girls and women. As the Congkak board is often shaped like a boat it is believed that it is based on the legend of a fisherman unable to go to the sea during rainy season who lost his income during this time. To prevent boredom he created this game which is similar to his boat. A local variant of Congkak called Tsjoncka was mentioned in a herbal completed in 1701 by the German botanist Georg Eberhard Rumpf (1628-1702). He observed the game on the island of Ambon in the Moluccas in the late 17th century and described the seeds that were used to play it on a oblong board, which had twelve holes in two rows. The artist and explorer Jacques Etienne Victor (1790-1855) gave a drawing of Chinese playing Congkak in Kupang, Timor, in his book "Voyage Autour du Monde sur les Corvettes de l'Uranie 1817-20" (1825). The American ethnographer Stewart Culin gave the rules in 1894, which might have inspired the invention of Kalah, the most popular modern mancala game. Today many Congkak tournaments are organized for children in Malaysia, e.g. in Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Terengganu, Pekan and Seremban. Several hotels in southern Borneo offer Congkak courses to tourists. Since 2004, the Malaysian Embassy and the Malaysian Association in France sponsore each year a Congkak tournament to spread Malaysian culture in Europe. Another tournament is held in Wales during the Cardiff European Games, an annual meeting of Malaysians from all across Europe. In Brunei, Congkak is also played during the night of royal ceremonials such as the Istiadat Malam Berjaga-jaga at the palace or nobility's residence.
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