User:Hakamrajjoub/sandbox
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| Genres | Board game Cross and circle game |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 |
Barjis is a two-player game of chance and skill that is played on a cross and circle board with cowry shells and pawn pieces. Rather than using a rigid board, the playing surface is usually a handmade cloth that often features flowerlike patterns along its sides. Commonly played in the Levant (the Middle Eastern mediterranean region). The game is a two-player only variation of the Indian board game called Pachisi in which players alternate turns throwing the cowry shells in order to determine the number of spaces they can move their pieces[1]. The players rotate their pieces around the board, and the first player to complete the rotation of all of their pieces, wins the game.
The board[edit]
The playing board typically has a black background, and contains a large square in the middle called the Matbakh, which means kitchen in Arabic. Attached to each side of the kitchen is an 8 x 3 rectangular grid of squares. This gives the board the appearance of an “X” that extends to the corners of the square cloth.
Each player gets four pieces that usually come in the shapes of horses or soldiers. In order to move around the board, players throw six cowry shells with seven possible combinations of throws that determine the number of squares a piece can move on a turn (similar to rolling dice)[2].
The goal of the game is for a player to get all four pieces into the kitchen before the opponent does. Players alternate turns throwing the cowries and moving their pieces according to the number of shells that land face up. Some combinations allow the player to roll again, making chance a core component of Barjis.
Moving the pieces[edit]
The starting point for each player is the middle square located next to the kitchen on the opposite side of the board from his or her opponent . Each piece travels down the middle column of this rectangle moving the number of squares granted by the value of the cowry shell throw. When the piece reaches the base of the rectangle, it can only travel along the outside edges of the rectangles in a counterclockwise fashion, until the piece returns to the rectangle where it began its journey. In that rectangle, the piece travels up the middle column, and enters the kitchen[3].
Combinations[edit]
The values of the Combinations are as follows[4][3]:
| Number of Face Up Shells | Name | Value in squares | Go again? |
| 0 | Shakka | 6 | yes |
| 1 | Dast | 10(+1) | yes |
| 2 | Dwa | 2 | No |
| 3 | thalatha | 3 | No |
| 4 | Arba’a | 4 | No |
| 5 | Banj | 23(+1) | Yes |
| 6 | Bara | 12 | Yes |
Rules[edit]
- Players sit, facing each other from opposite sides of the board.
- Each player gets 4 pawns at the start of the game, and competes to rotate his or her respective set of pawns around the board before the opponent can.
- In order for players to place a first piece on the board and begin playing, they must throw one of the two shell-throw combinations that come with a bonus, additional throw; the two throws with bonuses are:
- Dast: 10(+1)
- Banj: 23(+1)
- A piece must never occupy the middle column of any of the four rectangles unless it has just been put into play and is making its way down, or is making its way back up the middle column after traversing the entire board in order to enter the kitchen.
- The pieces of opposing players can not occupy the same square simultaneously. If one player’s piece lands on a square where the opponent’s piece is already placed, this piece occupies the square, kicking the opponent's piece off of the board, where it must begin its rotation from its starting point once again. While the opponent can continue playing with his or her other pieces in order to advance the pieces toward or into the kitchen, this particular piece needs to be put in play again with a cowry throw of Dast or Banj. There is one exception to this rule:
- On each of the four rectangles on the board are two squares that have an X shape woven into them. These are safe squares, meaning that a player cannot move to this square if it is already occupied by the piece of the other player[4][5].
History and culture[edit]
Due to similarity in name and the use of cowry shells, many game historians believe that Barjis was originally brought to the Levant from India as the game of Pachisi. It is further predicted that the game picked up the Persian names of the cowry throws when the game passed along the Silk Road on its way from India to the Middle East.
Barjis is still played in the Levant, especially among women, likely because until the mid-twentieth century, the board was a common item in the bride’s dowry in Syria and Lebanon[6][2][5]. Traditionally, the playing surface was made out of velvet, embroidered by hand, and the pieces, which are now made out of metal, were carved from wood[4].
References[edit]
- ^ Walker, Damian Gareth. A Book of Historic Games. Lulu.com. ISBN-13:978-1326066956. pp. 22-23.
- ^ a b Karam, Karen (May 16, 2017). “The Game of a Far Away Land.” Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ a b “Al’ab ‘A’iliyya.” [Damascus Games] (in Arabic). Retrieved October 27, 2018.
- ^ a b c Barsis: Lu’bat al-Nisa’ al-Suriyyat.” [Barjis: Syrian Women’s Game] (in Arabic) Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ a b “Barsis: Lu’bat Dimashq al-uola qabl mi’atay ‘am.” [Barjis: The Game number One in Damascus Two Hundred Years Ago] (in Arabic). Retrieved October 27, 2018.
- ^ Parlette, David. The Oxford History of Board Games. Oxford University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0192129987. pp. 42-43