Tablan

Item

Title (dcterms:title): Tablan
Description (dcterms:description): Tablan is a traditional Indian board game for two players, similar to Backgammon and Tâb, where the goal is to occupy more of your opponent's home squares than they do yours. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Here's a more detailed breakdown: [1, 4, 5]

Origin & History: Tablan is an ancient Hindustani game originating in India, particularly in some villages in Mysore, southwestern India. [1, 4, 5] It could have originated from the Roman games Duodecima Scripta . Tablan is a "running fight" game from Mysore in India. Two bands of twelve warriors fight their way to each other's stronghold. The game is a traditional one from India, of unknown antiquity. It is apparently related to a smaller, but more complex, game called tab, which was first described in the west in 1694. Whether tablan is the ancestor or descendant of tab is not currently known. According to R. C. Bell, tablan was still being played in the villages in Mysore, southwest India, in the second half of the twentieth century. It has been made known in the west partly by Bell's own books. (source: Cyningistan.com)

It is apparently related to a smaller, but more complex, game called tab, which was first described in the west in 1694. Whether tablan is the ancestor or descendant of tab is not currently known.
Alternative Title (dcterms:alternative): Tablaan, Tablaa, Tabul Phale
Rules (dcterms:instructionalMethod): Gameplay: [1, 3]
• Players use a 12x4 board, with each player having 12 pieces on opposite edges. [1, 3]
• The game is played with four casting sticks, each with one side marked and the other plain. [1, 2]
• Players throw the sticks alternately, counting the plain sides showing, and the player who throws a 1 starts the game. [1, 2]
• The goal is to get your pieces to the enemy's home row, and the winner is the player with the most pieces in their enemy's home row. [1, 2]

• Related Games: Tablan bears some resemblance to Backgammon and Tâb and is likely related to one or both of these games. [4, 6]
• Materials: You'll need a Tablan board, 12 pieces of each player's color, and four casting sticks. [1, 2, 5]
Creator (dcterms:creator): Ramsons Kala Pratishthana, Mysore
Source (dcterms:source): Gautam Sen Memorial Boardgames Museum
Rights (dcterms:rights): Creative Commons
Format (dcterms:format): Boardgames
Medium (dcterms:medium): Silk
References (dcterms:references): Cyningtan; Ludii Database; Bell, R. C. The Boardgame Book. First edition. Los Angeles : New York: The Knapp Press, 1979. p.58
Temporal Coverage (dcterms:temporal): From ancient times to the present
Spatial Coverage (dcterms:spatial): Southern India, particularly Mysore
Entered by (dcterms:accrualMethod): Souvik Mukherjee
Tags (dcterms:conformsTo): Race Game; Two-player; Silk; Ramsons

Media: Tablan from Ramsons